HMS Landrail, Portland UK, 23-08-2023

HMS Landrail,1866, Landrail was one of two Curlew-class torpedo gun vessels, the other being HMS Curlew, they where 950 tonnes, 54 meters long, 8.5 meters wide, with a draft of 3,2 meters, they had , sails and 2 HC direct action, 4 cylindrical boilers, 1500 HP, with a maximum speed of 14.5 knots and a range of 10,000 miles, armament, 1, 6” Breach loading gun on the front, 3, 5” Breach Loading guns, 7, 4.45” guns, 1, 14” Torpedo on the bow, and a further 2 - 14” Torpedos, through 4 ports and a crew of 46, I think you would agree a well armed vessel for such a small ship!

The Curlew class were what we might be described as an attempt to modernise the gun-vessel but as the resultant type fulfilled no real need in the Navy, they were not repeated and soon became obsolete.

They were of similar size and general arrangement to a standard composite gun-vessel but were constructed of steel with a finer, shallower hull and more powerful, forced draught machinery to provide a higher speed, had no sailing rig and were given torpedos as well as a gun armament.

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