Intrepid-class gunvessels were a class of six Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 first-class wooden gunvessels built in 1855-56. They were rated as sloops from 1859 to 1862,Except Victor, which remained a gunvessel throughout the period and were scrapped by 1865. Victor was sold to the Confederate States of America as the raider CSS Rappahannock

CSS Rappahannock

CSS Rappahannock, a steam sloop-of-war, was built on the River Thames in 1855 as an Intrepid-class gunvessel for the Royal Navy and named HMS Victor. Although a handsomely modelled vessel, numerous defects occasioned her sale in 1863...

, but she was interned by the French at Calais and never fulfilled her intended function.

Design and construction

Designed in 1855, the Intrepid-class gunvessels were intended to serve in the shallow waters of the Black and Baltic seas during the Crimean War

Crimean War

The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...

. They were built quickly, and of inferior wood, which explains their short lifespan of 10 years.

Propulsion

A two-cylinder horizontal single-expansion steam engine produced between 930 ihp and 1302 ihp through a single screw, giving a speed of about 10.5 knots (20.6 km/h). Twin funnels distinguished them from most other British classes of gunvessel.

Sail plan

The vessels of the class were designed to be barque-rigged, which required less manpower than the traditional full-rigged ship.

Armament

The Intrepid-class gunvessels were designed with one 68-pounder muzzle-loading rifle and four 32-pounder (25cwt) muzzle-loading smoothbore guns. This armament was later replaced with a single 7-inch/110-pounder breech loader, one 40-pounder breech loader

RBL 40 pounder Armstrong gun

The Armstrong RBL 40 pounder gun was an early attempt to use William Armstrong's new and innovative breechloading mechanism for medium artillery.-Design history:...

 and four 20 pounder breech loaders

RBL 20 pounder Armstrong gun

The Armstrong Breech Loading 20 pounder gun, later known as RBL 20 pounder, was an early modern 3.75 inch rifled breech-loading light gun of 1859.-History:The gun was effectively a larger version of the successful RBL 12 pounder 8 cwt Armstrong gun...

.

Ships

The first pair were ordered on 18 April 1855, the second pair were ordered on 15 May 1855, and the final pair were ordered on 27 July 1855. A further two were ordered on 9 April 1856 from Pembroke Dockyard, but were cancelled.

Name	Ship Builder	|Launched	|Fate
	Pembroke Dockyard	20 December 1855	Broken up by Castle, Charlton, arriving in August 1866
	Pembroke Dockyard	19 January 1856	Sold to Marshall in October 1864 for breaking at Plymouth in 1865
	Money Wigram & Son	2 November 1855	Sold as Scylla to Gordon Coleman & Company in November 1863, who resold her later the same month to the Confederacy as the raider CSS Rappahannock. She was interned by the French at Cherbourg and never served the Confederacy at sea
	Money Wigram & Son	13 November 1855	Sold to Marshall on 7 October 1864 for breaking at Plymouth in 1865
	J Scott Russell	22 March 1856	Sold to Castle, Charlton for breaking in 1864
	J Scott Russell	21 April 1856	Sold to White, Cowes for breaking on 2 June 1865