The Mariner class was a class of six 8-gun gunvessels (sloops from 1884) built for the Royal Navy between 1883 and 1888. Four were built in the Naval Dockard at Devonport, and two elsewhere; the Acorn was built by contract at Jacobs Pill on the Pembroke River (a private yard founded in the 1870s by Sir Edward Reed), while the Melita was built in the Malta Dockyard, the only substantial ship of the Royal Navy ever to be built in the island.
Designed by Nathaniel Barnaby,[1] 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. The entire class were re-classified in November 1884 as sloops before they entered service.
Propulsion was provided by a 2-cylinder horizontal compound-expansion steam engine of 850ihp driving a single screw. This arrangement provided enough power to drive the ships at NaNkn, although Icarus and Melita recorded 12.5 knots.[1]
All the ships of the class were built as barque-rigged vessels, except Icarus, which had no main yards provided, making her a barquentine.
The class was designed and built to carry eight 5-inch 38cwt breech-loading guns,[2] one light gun and eight machine guns.[1] Melita had 40cwt guns instead of 38cwt, and Reindeer had two of her guns removed.[1]
All the ships were laid down in 1882-83. While most of the ships were completed relatively quickly, Melita took six years to build. The intention behind building her at Malta was to make use of the substantial workforce at Malta Dockyard who were otherwise (it was felt) unemployed when the Mediterranean Fleet was away. The experiment cost £10,000 more than the British-built versions, and incurred substantial delay; it was not repeated, and Melita remained the only warship of any significant size ever built in Malta for the Royal Navy.[3]
| Name | Ship builder | Launched | Fate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Devonport Dockyard | 23 June 1884 | Boom defence in 1903. Lent to Liverpool Salvage Association as a salvage vessel in 1917. Laid up from 1922 to 1929. Sold to Hughes Bolckow, Blyth on 19 February 1929 | ||
| Devonport Dockyard | 14 November 1883 | Boom defence in 1904. Lent to Liverpool Salvage Association as a salvage vessel in 1917, renamed Reindeer I. Sold to Halifax Shipyard Ltd as a salvage ship on 12 July 1924. Abandoned at sea in March 1932 | ||
| Devonport Dockyard | 6 August 1884 | Tender to Britannia at Dartmouth in 1896; tender to Osborne College, Cowes in February 1903. Salvage vessel in June 1917. Sold to Hughes Bolckow, Blyth on 6 November 1928 | ||
| Devonport Dockyard | 27 July 1885 | Sold on 12 April 1904 | ||
| Milford Haven Shipbuilding Co | 6 September 1884 | Sold to Harris, Bristol on 15 December 1899. Broken up at Milford Haven in 1904 | ||
| Malta Dockyard | 20 March 1888 | Boom defence in May 1905. Salvage vessel in December 1915, renamed Ringdove. Sold to Falmouth Docks Company on 9 July 1920, renamed Ringdove’s Aid. Sold again in 1926 to Liverpool and Glasgow Salvage Association, renamed Restorer, and finally broken up in 1937 |