The Vigilant-class gunvessel of the 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...

 was an enlarged version of the Arrow-class gunvessel

Arrow class gunvessel

The Arrow class comprised six second-class screw-driven vessels built as despatch vessels for the Royal Navy in 1854, mounting 6 guns. In 1856 they were redesignated as second-class gunvessels.-Design:...

 of 1854. Both classes were designed for shallow-water operations in the Baltic and Black 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...

. Fourteen of the class were completed, but were ready too late to take part in that conflict. Cormorant was sunk in action at the Taku Forts

Taku Forts

The Dagu Forts , also called the Peiho Forts are forts located by the Hai River estuary, in Tanggu District, Tianjin municipality, in northeastern China. They are located 60 km southeast of the Tianjin urban center.-History:The first fort was built during the reign of the Ming Jiajing...

, Osprey was wrecked on the coast of Africa in 1867 and the rest were all sold during the 1860s, with Sparrowhawk lasting until 1872.

Design

The class were designed as second-class despatch and gunvessels. They were intended to operate close inshore 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...

 and were essentially enlarged versions of the Arrow-class gunvessel

Arrow class gunvessel

The Arrow class comprised six second-class screw-driven vessels built as despatch vessels for the Royal Navy in 1854, mounting 6 guns. In 1856 they were redesignated as second-class gunvessels.-Design:...

, which has been designed by the Surveyor’s Department in 1854.

Propulsion

A two-cylinder horizontal single expansion steam engine produced (varying between vessels) between 593 ihp and 778 ihp through a single screw, and gave a top speed of about 11 knots.

Armament

Although designed with a pair of 68-pounder Lancaster muzzle-loading rifles, the Vigilant class were finished with one 7 inches (177.8 mm)/110 pounds (49.9 kg) Armstrong breech-loading gun, one 68 pounds (30.8 kg) Lancaster muzzle-loading rifled gun

68-Pounder Lancaster gun

68-Pounder Lancaster guns were a rifled muzzle-loading cannon that fired a 68 pound shell. They were fitted in pairs to the Arrow-class gunvessel. The cannon was designed with an oval bore and had a range of about 6500 yards. The gun suffered from a tendency to burst....

 and two 20-pounder breech loaders.

Ships

Name	Ship Builder	Launched	Fate
	R & H Green	25 October 1855	Broken up by White at Cowes in 1868
	R & H Green	22 November 1855	Broken up by Castle at Charlton, arriving on 31 August 1866
	C J Mare & Company	20 March 1856	Sold to Castle for breaking at Charlton on 7 October 1864
	C J Mare & Company	20 March 1856	Ordered to be sold at Bombay on 25 February 1869
	J. & R. White	26 January 1856	Sold to Marshall, Plymouth in 1864 and broken up in 1865
	J. & R. White	22 February 1856	Sold on 2 June 1865 and broken up by White at Cowes in November 1866
	Money Wigram & Son	6 March 1856	Broken up by Marshall, Plymouth in November 1866
	C J Mare & Company	24 April 1856	Broken up by Castle at Charlton in March 1866
	C J Mare & Company	16 August 1856	Broken up by Castle at Charlton in August 1866
	Young, Magnay & Company	11 January 1856	Sold to the Chinese Imperial Customs on 20 September 1862, renamed Peking and sailed in April 1863 (to join Sherard Osborn Sherard Osborn Sherard Osborn , was a Royal Navy admiral and Arctic explorer.-Early life:Born in Madras, he was the son of an Indian army officer... ’s “Vampire Fleet”). Resold to the Egyptian Government on 30 December 1865
	Young, Magnay & Company	9 February 1856	Sold at Esquimault in 1872
	Fletcher & Fearnall	22 March 1856	Wrecked on the South East African coast near Klippen Point on 30 May 1867
	Fletcher & Fearnall	19 May 1856	Sunk in action with the Taku forts Battle of Taku Forts (1859) The Second Battle of Taku Forts, in June 1859, was an Anglo-French attack on a series of Chinese forts protecting Taku, China during the Second Opium War...  in the Peiho river, China, on 28 June 1859
	R & H Green	13 March 1856	Sold to Marshall, Plymouth on 8 March 1870