Mersey-class cruiser

The Mersey-class cruiser was a class of second class protected cruiser of the Royal Navy commissioned in the late 1880s.

HMS Mersey
Class overview
Name	Mersey class
Operators	Royal Navy South African Navy
Preceded by	Calypso-class corvette
Succeeded by	Marathon class
Built	1883–1888
In commission	1887–1942
Planned	4
Completed	4
Retired	4
General characteristics
Type	2nd class protected cruiser
Displacement	4,050 tons
Length	315 ft (96 m) oa 300 ft (91 m) pp
Beam	46 ft (14 m)
Draught	19 ft 6 in (6 m)
Installed power	12 cylindrical boilers 4,500 ihp
Propulsion	direct-acting compound expansion Twin screws
Speed	17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph)
Range	8,750 miles at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement	325
Armament	2 × 8 in (203 mm) guns 10 × 6 in (152 mm) guns 3 × QF 6 pounder 3 × 3 pounder QF 9 × machine guns 2 × torpedo tubes
Armour	Deck: 2–4 in (51–102 mm) Gunshields: 2 in (51 mm) Conning tower: 9 in (229 mm)

Design

Starboard elevation, deck plan and hull section as depicted in Brassey's Naval Annual, 1888

Ships

Cruiser HMS Forth

Name	Builder	Laid down	Launched	Completed
HMS Mersey	Chatham Dockyard	9 July 1883	31 March 1885	June 1887
HMS Severn	Chatham Dockyard	1 January 1884	29 September 1885	February 1888
HMS Thames	Pembroke Dockyard	14 April 1884	3 December 1885	July 1888
HMS Forth	Pembroke Dockyard	1 December 1884	23 October 1886	July 1889

References

• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
• Ross, David (210). Ships Visual Encyclopedia. London: Amber Books Ltd. p. 65. ISBN 978-1-907446-24-5.
• Friedman, Norman (1912). British Cruisers of the Victorian Era. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-099-4.
• Winfield, Rif (1904). The Sail and Steam Navy List: All the Ships of the Royal Navy 1815-1889. Chatham Publishing. ISBN 1-86176-032-9.