Designed by Nathaniel Barnaby, the Royal Navy Director of Naval Construction, the hull was of composite construction; that is, iron keel, frames, stem and stern posts with wooden planking.
They were fitted with three boilers, a 2-cylinder horizontal compound expansion steam engine and a single screw. Griffon and Falcon were engined by Laird Brothers and had a feathering propeller. Flamingo and Condor were engined by John Elder & Co, and all ships had a designed 750ihp, developing about 11.5kn under power.
The class was rigged with three masts, with square rig on the fore- and main-masts, making them barque-rigged vessels.
The ships of the class were fitted with a 7-in (4½-ton) muzzle-loading rifle and two 64-pounder (64cwt) muzzle-loading rifles, except for Flamingo, which had two 20-pounder breech-loaders in place of one of the 64-pounder muzzle-loading rifles. In 1884 Flamingo and Griffon were rearmed with two 5-in Vavasseur breech loaders replacing the 7-in muzzle-loading rifle.
| Name | Ship Builder | Launched | Fate | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Devonport Dockyard | 13 December 1876 | Hulk 1893. Sold to Plymouth Port Sanitary Authority on 25 May 1923. Sold on 4 May 1931 for breaking | |||
| Laird Brothers, Birkenhead | 16 December 1876 | Sold to the Board of Trade as a hulk on 28 September 1891 and renamed Richmond | |||
| Devonport Dockyard | 28 December 1876 | Sold to George Cohen in August 1889 | |||
| Laird Brothers, Birkenhead | 4 January 1877 | Hulk in 1890. Sold to E W Payne & Company on 25 June 1920 |