Vigilant-class gunvessel

	Surprise
Class overview
Name	Vigilant-class gunvessels
Builders	C J Mare & Company, Leamouth; R & H Green, Blackwall Yard; J & R White, Cowes; Wigram & Son, Blackwall Yard; Young, Magnay & Co, Limehouse; Fletcher & Fearnall, Limehouse;
Operators	Royal Navy; Chinese Imperial Customs; Egyptian Government;
Cost	£27,437 (Foxhound) - £33,906 (Renard)
Built	1855-1856
In commission	1856–1872
Completed	14
Lost	2
General characteristics
Type	Second-class wooden gunvessel
Displacement	860 tonnes
Tons burthen	669 79/94 bm
Length	180 ft 0 in (54.9 m) (gundeck); 160 ft 7.5 in (49.0 m) (keel);
Beam	28 ft 4 in (8.6 m)
Draught	8 ft 0 in (2.4 m) (designed)
Depth of hold	14 ft 0 in (4.3 m)
Installed power	200 nhp; 593 to 778 ihp (442 to 580 kW);
Propulsion	2-cylinder horizontal single-expansion steam engine; Single screw;
Sail plan	Barque-rigged
Speed	11 kn (20.4 km/h)
Complement	80
Armament	As designed:; 2 × 68-pounder Lancaster guns on pivots; 2 × 12-pdr howitzers; As completed:; 1 × 7-inch/110-pdr breech loader; 1 × 68-pdr muzzle-loading rifle; 2 × 20-pdr breech loaders;

The Vigilant-class gunvessel of the Royal Navy was an enlarged version of the Arrow-class gunvessel of 1854. Both classes were designed for shallow-water operations in the Baltic and Black Seas during the Crimean War. 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, Osprey was wrecked on the coast of Africa in 1867 and the rest were all sold during the 1860s, with Sparrowhawk lasting until 1872.

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