H.M.S. Waterwitch (1866)

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H.M.S. Waterwitch (1866)
Builder: Thames Ironworks, Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Blackwall[1]
Laid down: 1864[2]
Launched: 28 Jun, 1866[3]
Commissioned: 1867[4]
Sold: 1890[5]
H.M.S. Waterwitch was one of three Vixen Class armoured gunboats completed for the Royal Navy.

Construction & Service

Constructed at a cost of £58,775, Waterwitch was unique in that she employed hydraulic propulsion, which never produced a sufficient speed.

She participated in the 1867 Naval Review at Spithead. The press found her unique in another way, describing her as "probably the ugliest craft sent afloat since the time of the Ark."[6]

In late 1886, she was identified as one of forty-one vessels of various types the Navy had decided to dispose of due to their lack of practical value in the event of war.[7]

Captains

See Also

Footnotes

  1. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 111.
  2. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 111.
  3. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 111.
  4. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 111.
  5. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 111.
  6. "Naval & Military Intelligence." The Times (London, England), 9 July 1867, p. 5.
  7. "Naval & Military Intelligence." The Times (London, England), Tuesday, Nov 09, 1886; pg. 7; Issue 31912.


Vixen Class Armoured Gunboat
  Viper Vixen Waterwitch  
<– Britomart Class Small Fry (UK) H.M.S. Staunch –>
<– Britomart Class Gunboats (UK) H.M.S. Staunch –>