HMS Narcissus was one of seven armoured cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the mid-1880s. Future Admiral Ernest Gaunt served aboard her in 1896 as First Lieutenant. She was sold for scrapping on 11 September 1906.
Narcissus had a length between perpendiculars of 300feet, a beam of 56feet and a draught of 24feet. Designed to displace 5040LT, all of the Orlando-class ships proved to be overweight and displaced approximately 5535LT. The ship was powered by a pair of three-cylinder triple-expansion steam engines, each driving one shaft, which were designed to produce a total of 8500ihp and a maximum speed of 18kn using steam provided by four boilers with forced draught. The ship carried a maximum of 900LT of coal which was designed to give her a range of 8000nmi at a speed of . The ship's complement was 484 officers and ratings.[1]
Narcissuss main armament consisted of two breech-loading (BL) 9.2adj=onNaNadj=on Mk V guns, one gun fore and aft of the superstructure on pivot mounts. Her secondary armament was ten BL 6adj=onNaNadj=on guns, five on each broadside. Protection against torpedo boats was provided by six quick-firing (QF) 6-pounder Hotchkiss guns and ten QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss guns, most of which were mounted on the main deck in broadside positions. The ship was also armed with six 18-inch (457 mm) torpedo tubes: four on the broadside above water and one each in the bow and stern below water.[1]
The ship was protected by a waterline compound armour belt 10inches thick. It covered the middle 200feet of the ship and was 5inchesft6inchesin (ftin) high.[1] Because the ship was overweight, the top of the armour belt was below the waterline when she was fully loaded.[2] The ends of the armour belt were closed off by transverse bulkheads 16inches. The lower deck was 2inches-3inchesin (-in) thick over the full length of the hull. The conning tower was protected by 12inches of armour.[1]
Narcissus, named for the eponymous figure from Greek legend,[3] was laid down on 27 April 1885 by Earle's Shipbuilding at their shipyard in Hull. The ship was launched on 15 December 1886, and completed in July 1890.[4] In 1901 she was rearmed and refitted to serve as instructional tender to the Excellent gunnery school, and in late May 1901 was passed into the Fleet Reserve at Portsmouth for this service.[5] She took part in the fleet review held at Spithead on 16 August 1902 for the coronation of King Edward VII,[6] and on 1 September that year became flagship of the Admiral-superintendent of Portsmouth, when Rear-Admiral Reginald Friend Hannam Henderson hoisted his flag on taking up that position.[7]
Narcissus was sold for scrap on 11 September 1906[4] and broken up by Thos. W. Ward.