H.M.S. Leander (1881)
and Early Belted Cruisers
Leander and the 4 ships of her class were pioneering protected cruisers: speedy warships with steel hulls and breech-loading guns. Completed with a light barkentine rig, they were a development on Britain's first steel warships, the dispatch vessels Iris and Mercury (1878). Somewhat burlier fighting ships than the 18.5-knot Iris class, the Leanders combined greater coal storage and moderate armor protection (3" belt, 1-1.5" deck) with a still-impressive speed of 16.5 knots. Having an armor belt on the hull classifies her among the first armored cruisers. Main armament was ten 6-inch BL guns, fitted with 1.5" armored splinter shields to protect the gun crews. Statistics for the Leanders: 315' long OA x 44' beam x 19'7" draft. Displacement: 4,300 tons. Crew: 278. Armament: (10) 6"/26 cal BLR Mk II. Propulsion: 12 boilers, (2) 5500-HP compound engines; twin screw. The vessels' endurance under steam alone was an impressive 11,000 miles at 10 kts. Their sail rig was removed in the late 1890s. These were among the last Royal Navy vessels to be fitted with a full sail rig. Amphion survived until 1947, much of that time as a hulk. Plan
The performance of the following class of protected cruisers, the Imperieuse and Warspite (launched 1883-84), under sail was so atrocious that after trials their captains advised the Admiralty that the sail rig was so much dead weight. Their lordships conceded the point and replaced the ships' heavy brig rig with a single steel pole mast amidships used to hoist signal flags and lanterns, with an unprotected gun emplacement in the top, an arrangement known as "military rig." With an internal armored deck but no armor belt on the hull, these two ships were classified protected cruisers. Note the moderate tumble-home amidships, a testimony to French influence on the design, with its single shielded 9.2" barbette mounting at either end and on each beam (in the "diamond pattern" universally adopted by French battleships and cruisers through about 1900), plus 6" guns in casemates. With barbettes and tumble-home hulls, these ships reflected a passing trend of the 1880s in the British fleet; their French influence avoided the extremism which made the Marine Nationale such a collection of sculptured oddities.
Statistics for the Imperieuse class: 315' x 62' x 27'4" Tonnage: 4,600 Armament: (4) 9.2", (6) 6", (6) 14" torpedo tubes. Propulsion: (2) 5,000-HP compound engines, twin screw. Speed: 16.75 kts. Armor: Deck - 3" Barbettes: 8" Conn: 9". Warspite was a well-known fixture in the landscape of the Irish Sea as she served for many years as the guardship at Queenstown (now Cobh). Later she was converted to destroyer depot ship. Imperieuse was flagship of the China Station from 1889-1894, and of the Pacific Fleet from 1896-99.
The Royal Navy abandoned sail altogether in its next build of armored cruisers, the Mersey class, launched 1887-89. Seen here is the name ship of the class around 1891. Propelled by the new and reliable triple-expansion engines, these were ordinary-looking steamers with fine lines, counter stern, ram bow, main guns in single mountings fore and aft and secondary mounted in sponsons over the sides. With single funnel and little more superstructure than shown in the Leanders, reverting to mixed 8" and 6" guns, they were regarded as very successful ships. Statistics for the Mersey: 315' length x 46' beam x 19'6" draft; 4050 tons. Armament: (2) 8" BLR, (10) 6" BLR. Armor: 3" belt, 6" conning tower, 2" shields, 1.5" deck. Speed: 18 kts.