The Condor-class gunvessel was a class of four Royal Navy composite gunvessels of 3 guns, built between 1876 and 1877. They were all hulked or sold before 1893, giving them an active life of less than 15 years.
Construction
Design Designed by Nathaniel Barnaby,Lyon & Winfield the Royal Navy Director of Naval Construction, the hull was of composite construction; that is, iron keel, frames, stem and stern posts with wooden planking.
Propulsion They were fitted with three boilers, a 2-cylinder horizontal compound expansion steam engine and a single screw. Griffon and Falcon were engined by Laird Brothers and had a feathering propeller. Flamingo and Condor were engined by John Elder & Co, and all ships had a designed , developing about under power.
Sail plan The class was rigged with three masts, with square rig on the fore- and main-masts, making them barque-rigged vessels.
Armament The ships of the class were fitted with a 7-in (4½-ton) muzzle-loading rifle and two 64-pounder (64cwt) muzzle-loading rifles, except for Flamingo, which had two 20-pounder breech-loaders in place of one of the 64-pounder muzzle-loading rifles. In 1884 Flamingo and Griffon were rearmed with two 5-in Vavasseur breech loaders replacing the 7-in muzzle-loading rifle.
Ships NameShip BuilderLaunchedFateDevonport Dockyard13 December 1876Hulk 1893. Sold to Plymouth Port Sanitary Authority on 25 May 1923. Sold on 4 May 1931 for breakingLaird Brothers, Birkenhead16 December 1876Sold to the Board of Trade as a hulk on 28 September 1891 and renamed RichmondDevonport Dockyard28 December 1876Sold to George Cohen in August 1889Laird Brothers, Birkenhead4 January 1877Hulk in 1890. Sold to E W Payne & Company on 25 June 1920
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