Forester-class gunboat

HMS Foxhound
Class overview
Name	Forester-class gunboats
Builders	William Doxford, Sunderland Robert Napier & Sons, Govan Earle’s Shipbuilding, Hull Barrow Iron Shipbuilding J & G Thomson, Govan
Operators	Royal Navy
Preceded by	Ariel class
Succeeded by	Banterer class
Cost	Hull £14,150, machinery £6,550 (Foxhound)[1]
Built	1874–1877
In commission	c.1874–1931
Completed	12
Lost	0
General characteristics [1]
Class and type	Composite gunboat
Displacement	First 6 ships: 440 tons Last 6 ships: 455 tons
Length	125 ft 0 in (38.1 m) pp
Beam	23 ft 6 in (7.2 m)
Draught	8+1⁄2–10+1⁄2 ft (2.6–3.2 m)
Installed power	60 nhp 387–515 ihp (289–384 kW)[2]
Propulsion	1 ×2-cylinder horizontal compound-expansion steam engine[Note 1] 2 × boilers 1 × screw
Sail plan	Three-masted barquentine rig
Speed	10 kn (19 km/h)
Complement	60
Armament	2 × 6-inch (150 mm) 64-pounder (56cwt) muzzle-loading rifles 2 × 4-inch (100 mm) 20-pounder Armstrong breech loaders

The Forester-class gunboat was a class of 4-gun composite gunboats built for the Royal Navy between 1874 and 1877. Although half had been sold by 1890, the rest survived into the 20th century as coal hulks, base vessels and other secondary uses. Foxhound survived as a hulk on the Blackwall Reach of the Thames until 1975, when she was broken up. They were built of composite construction, that is, with iron keel, stem and stern posts, and iron framing, but planked with wood.

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