Archer was laid down at J & G Thomson's Clydebank shipyard on 2 March 1885 as the lead ship of her class of torpedo cruisers, was launched on 23 December that year and completed by Commander John Ferris on 11 December 1888 in Devonport.[1]
Torpedo cruisers were small, relatively fast, ships intended to defend the fleet against attacks by hostile torpedo boats, while themselves being capable of attacking hostile fleets with torpedoes. The Archer class were enlarged derivatives of the earlier, and carried a heavier armament than the previous class.[2]
Archer was 2402NaN2 long overall and 2252NaN2 between perpendiculars, with a beam of 362NaN2 and a draught of 14feet. Displacement was 1770LT normal and 1950LT full load.[1] The ship's machinery consisted of two horizontal compound steam engines rated at 2500ihp under natural draught and 3500ihp, which were fed by four boilers and drove two shafts for a speed of .[1] 475 tons of coal were carried, sufficient to give a range of at 10kn, and three masts were fitted.[1] [3]
Armament consisted of six 6-inch (5 ton) guns, backed up by eight 3-pounder QF guns and two machine guns. Three 14-inch torpedo tubes completed the ship's armament. Armour consisted of a NaNinches deck, with 1inches gunshields and 3inches protecting the ship's conning tower. The ship had a complement of 176 officers and ratings.[1]
Archer served on the Cape of Good Hope and West Coast of Africa Station from 1889 to 1890.[4] Archer was serving on the China Station in July 1894, when on the eve of the First Sino-Japanese War, Japanese Forces surrounded Seoul. Archer landed an armed party to protect the British Consul-General after a confrontation between him and Japanese troops.[5] She served on the Australia Station from 7 September 1900 until 5 December 1903, under Commander John Philip Rolleston.[6] She was decommissioned in 1905 and sold in April 1905 for £4,800 to Forrester, Swansea for scrap.[7]