View source for Rosario-class sloop

{{Short description|1862 class of British sloops-of-war}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2017}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=HMS Peterel (1860).jpg
|Ship caption=''Rosario''-class sloop {{HMS|Peterel|1860|2}}
}}
{{Infobox ship class overview
|Name=''Rosario''-class sloop
|Builders=*Pembroke Dockyard
*Devonport Dockyard
*Deptford Dockyard
|Operators=*{{navy|United Kingdom}}
*{{flagicon|Qing dynasty|1862}} Chinese Imperial Customs
*{{flagicon|Ottoman Empire}} Egyptian Government
|Class before=
|Class after=
|Subclasses=
|Cost=
|Built range=1860 - 1862
|In commission range=1862 - 1881
|Total ships building=
|Total ships planned=
|Total ships completed=7
|Total ships cancelled=6
|Total ships active=
|Total ships laid up=
|Total ships lost=0
|Total ships retired=
|Total ships preserved=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class=
|Ship displacement= 913 tons
|Ship length={{convert|160|ft|10|in|m|abbr=on}} 
|Ship beam={{convert|30|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draught={{convert|15|ft|10|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship hold depth=
|Ship sail plan=*''As built'': [[Full-rigged ship|Ship-rigged]]
*''From c.1869'': [[Barque|Barque-rigged]]
|Ship speed=About {{convert|9|kn|km/h|abbr=on}} under power
|Ship power=436 - 627 [[horsepower#Indicated horsepower|indicated horsepower]]
|Ship propulsion=*Single screw
*2-cylinder horizontal single-expansion steam engine
|Ship complement=140
|Ship armament=*''As built'': 11 guns:
*1 × [[RBL 40 pounder Armstrong gun|40-pounder (120 mm) Armstrong breech loading guns]]
*6 × 32-pounder (160 mm) muzzle-loading smooth-bore guns
*4 × [[RBL 20 pounder Armstrong gun|20-pounder (95 mm) Armstrong breech loading guns]]
*''By 1869'': 3 guns
*1 × [[RML 7 inch gun|{{convert|7|inch|mm|adj=on|sigfig=3}} 6.5-ton muzzle-loading gun]]
*2 × [[RBL 40 pounder Armstrong gun|40-pounder (120 mm) Armstrong breech loading guns]]
|Ship notes=
}}
|}
The '''''Rosario'' class''' was a class of seven [[screw sloop|screw-sloops]] of wooden construction built for the Royal Navy between 1860 and 1862. A further six vessels were ordered and laid down, but were cancelled in 1863 before launch. This was the last class of purely wooden sloops built for the Royal Navy.

==Design==
The ''Rosario'' class were designed in 1858 by [[Isaac Watts (naval architect)|Issac Watts]], the [[Director of Naval Construction]].  They were built of wood, were rated for 11 guns and were built with a full ship rig of sails (this was reduced to a [[barque|barque rig]] by about 1869).  With a length overall of {{convert|160|ft|m}} and a beam of {{convert|30|ft|4|in|m}}, they had a displacement of 913 tons.<ref name=RW>{{winfield}}</ref> These were the last sloops constructed for the Royal Navy to retain all-wooden construction; their successors, the [[Amazon class sloop|''Amazon'' class]], incorporated iron cross beams.<ref name=RW/>

===Propulsion===
All the completed vessels, with the exception of ''Shearwater'', were fitted with a Greenock Foundry Company two-cylinder horizontal single-expansion steam engine driving a single screw. With an [[horsepower#Indicated horsepower|indicated horsepower]] of between {{convert|436|hp|kW}} and {{convert|627|hp|kW}} they were capable of about {{convert|9|kn|km/h}} under steam.<ref name=RW/> ''Shearwater''{{'}}s R & W Hawthorn engine was similar in design and power.<ref name=RW/>

===Armament===
As designed, ships of the class carried a single slide-mounted 40-pounder Armstrong breech-loading gun, six 32-pounder muzzle-loading smooth-bore guns and four pivot-mounted 20-pounder Armstrong breech loaders.  By 1869 the armament had been reduced to a single [[RML 7 inch gun|{{convert|7|in|mm|adj=on}} muzzle-loading gun]] and two 40-pounders.<ref name=RW/>

==Operational lives==
===''Rosario''===
{{main|HMS Rosario (1860)}}
''Rosario'' served a four-year commission on the [[North America and West Indies Station]] and then served an eight-year commission [[Australia Station|in Australia]].  She paid off in Sheerness in 1875 and was broken up nearly ten years later.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pdavis.nl/ShowShip.php?id=177|title=HMS ''Rosario'' at William Loney website|access-date=2009-11-14}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pbenyon.plus.com/18-1900/R/03987.html|title=HMS ''Rosario'' at Naval Database website|access-date=2009-11-14}}</ref>

===''Peterel''===
{{main|HMS Peterel (1860)}}
''Peterel'' served three commissions as a warship, on the North America and West Indies Station, the Cape of Good Hope Station and the [[Pacific Station]]. In 1877 she became a lightship marking the wreck of [[HMS Vanguard (1869)|''Vanguard'']], then in 1885 she was converted into a coal depot before finally being sold in 1901, the longest lived of her class.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pdavis.nl/ShowShip.php?id=169|title=HMS ''Peterel'' at William Loney website|access-date=2009-11-14}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pbenyon.plus.com/18-1900/P/03472.html|title=HMS ''Peterel'' at Naval Database website|access-date=2009-11-14}}</ref>

===''Rapid''===
{{main|HMS Rapid (1860)}}
''Rapid'' served a commission on the [[Cape of Good Hope Station]] and then two commissions with the  [[Mediterranean Fleet (United Kingdom)|Mediterranean Fleet]] before being broken up at Malta after more than 20 years service.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pdavis.nl/ShowShip.php?id=172|title=HMS ''Rapid'' at William Loney website|access-date=2009-11-14}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pbenyon.plus.com/18-1900/R/03808.html|title=HMS ''Rapid'' at Naval Database website|access-date=2009-11-14}}</ref>

===''Shearwater''===
{{main|HMS Shearwater (1861)}}
''Shearwater'' spent a single six-year commission on the Pacific Station and was then converted into a survey vessel.  Under [[George Strong Nares]] and later [[William Wharton (hydrographer)|William Wharton]] (later Hydrographer of the Navy) she surveyed around the Mediterranean and the East coast of Africa.  She was broken up at Sheerness in 1877.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pdavis.nl/ShowShip.php?id=179|title=HMS ''Shearwater'' at William Loney website|access-date=2009-11-14}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pbenyon.plus.com/18-1900/S/04242.html|title=HMS ''Shearwater'' at Naval Database website|access-date=2009-11-14}}</ref>

===''Royalist''===
''Royalist'' served both her commissions on the North America and West Indies Station, being commanded between 1865 and 1866 by Maurice Horatio Nelson, son of [[Thomas Nelson, 2nd Earl Nelson]] and great nephew to [[Horatio Nelson]].  She was broken up at Chatham in 1875.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pdavis.nl/ShowShip.php?id=178|title=HMS ''Royalist'' at William Loney website|access-date=2009-11-14}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pbenyon.plus.com/18-1900/R/04033.html|title=HMS ''Royalist'' at Naval Database website|access-date=2009-11-14}}</ref>

===''Columbine''===
''Columbine'' served briefly in the [[Channel Squadron]] before moving to the Pacific Station.  Her second commission was on the [[East Indies Station]], which at the time was involved in a long campaign to combat slavery in the area.  Like ''Royalist'', she was broken up at Chatham in 1875.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pdavis.nl/ShowShip.php?id=146|title=HMS ''Columbine'' at William Loney website|access-date=2009-11-14}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pbenyon.plus.com/18-1900/C/01041.html|title=HMS ''Columbine'' at Naval Database website|access-date=2009-11-14}}</ref>

===''Africa''===
{{main|HMS Africa (1862)}}
Of all the class, ''Africa'' had by far the shortest career in the Royal Navy, but one of the most unusual.  Sold to the Imperial Chinese Customs shortly after launch, and renamed ''China'', she became part of [[Sherard Osborn]]'s "Vampire Fleet", along with [[HMS Jasper (1857)|''Jasper'']] and [[HMS Mohawk (1856)|''Mohawk'']].  The venture came to nothing when it became apparent that command would not rest with the Emperor, but instead with local Mandarins. Osborn resigned his command, and the ships were resold to the Egyptian government in the mid-1860s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pdavis.nl/ShowShip.php?id=138|title=HMS ''Africa'' at William Loney website|access-date=2009-11-14}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pbenyon.plus.com/18-1900/A/00090.html|title=HMS ''Africa'' at Naval Database website|access-date=2009-11-14}}</ref>

==Ships==
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:left"
!Name||Ship Builder||Launched||Fate
|-
|{{HMS|Rosario|1860|2}}||Deptford Dockyard||17 October 1860<ref name=BC>{{cite web|url=http://www.battleships-cruisers.co.uk/cruisers.htm|title=''Rosario''-class sloops at Battleships-Cruisers website|access-date=2009-11-14}}</ref>||Prison ship for young criminals in South Australia from 1874, sold for breaking 31 January 1884<ref name=RW/>
|-
|{{HMS|Peterel|1860|2}}||Devonport Dockyard ||10 November 1860<ref name=BC/>||Light vessel from 1877, coal hulk from 1885, sold October 1901<ref name=RW/>
|-
|{{HMS|Rapid|1860|2}}||Deptford Dockyard ||29 November 1860<ref name=BC/>||Broken up at Malta in September 1881<ref name=RW/>
|-
|{{HMS|Shearwater|1861|2}}||Pembroke Dockyard ||17 October 1861<ref name=BC/>||Broken up at Sheerness in 1877<ref name=RW/>
|-
|{{HMS|Royalist|1861|2}}||Devonport Dockyard ||14 December 1861<ref name=BC/>||Broken up at Chatham in 1875<ref name=RW/>
|-
|{{HMS|Columbine|1862|2}}||Deptford Dockyard ||2 April 1862<ref name=BC/>||Broken up at Chatham in 1875<ref name=RW/> 
|-
|{{HMS|Africa|1862|2}}||Devonport Dockyard ||14 February 1862<ref name=BC/>||Sold to Chinese Imperial Customs 18 August 1862, renamed ''China'' and sailed to join [[Sherard Osborn]]'s "Vampire Fleet".  Resold to the Egyptian Government 30 December 1865.<ref name=RW/> 
|-
|''Circassian'' (ex-''Enterprise'')||Deptford Dockyard || - ||Cancelled 12 December 1863
|-
|''Acheron''||Deptford Dockyard || - ||Cancelled 12 December 1863
|-
|''Bittern''||Devonport Dockyard || - ||Cancelled 12 December 1863
|-
|''Fame''||Deptford Dockyard || - ||Cancelled 12 December 1863
|-
|''Cynthia''||Devonport Dockyard || - ||Cancelled 12 December 1863
|-
|''Sabrina''||Pembroke Dockyard || - ||Cancelled 12 December 1863
|}

==Citations==
{{reflist}}

==References==
*{{cite book |title=From Sail to steam, naval recollections 1878-1905 |author=[[Charles Cooper Penrose Fitzgerald|C. C. Penrose-Fitzgerald]].  |year=1916}}  
*{{Cite Colledge2006}}

{{Commons category|Rosario class sloop}}

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{{Rosario class sloop}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosario class sloop}}
[[Category:Rosario-class sloops| ]]
[[Category:Sloop classes]]
[[Category:Victorian-era sloops of the United Kingdom| Rosario]]