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FIGHTING SHIPS OF THE WORLD
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CRUISERS
RAINBOW 2nd rank protected cruiser (1893/1910)


Photo



Rainbow as built

Ships


Name No Yard No Builder Laid down Launched Comp Fate
Rainbow     Palmer, Jarrow, UK 30.12.1889 25.3.1891 1.1893 // 8.1910 depot ship 1914


Technical data


Displacement normal, t

3600

Displacement full, t 
Length, m

91.4 pp 95.7 oa

Breadth, m

13.3

Draught, m

5.64

No of shafts

2

Machinery

2 3-cyl VTE, 3 double-ended and 2 single-ended cylindrical boilers

Power, h. p.

natural draught: 7000

forced draught: 9000

Max speed, kts

natural draught: 18.5, forced draught: 19.7

Fuel, t

coal 535

Endurance, nm(kts)

8000(10)

Armour, mmsteel; deck: 51 - 32, gunshields: 114, engine hatch: 127, CT: 76
Armament

2 x 1 - 152/40 QF Mk I/II, 6 x 1 - 120/40 QF Mk I/II/III/IV, 8 x 1 - 57/40 6pdr Hotchkiss Mk I, 1 x 1 - 47/40 3pdr Hotchkiss Mk I, 4 x 1 - 11.9/78, 4 - 356 TT (aw, 1 bow, 2 beam, 1 aft)

Complement

273



Standard scale images


<i>Sirius </i>1891
Sirius 1891


Graphics


<i>Rainbow </i>as built
Rainbow as built


Project history

The 21 ships of this class were provided under the Naval Defence Act of 1889. In design they were enlarged versions of the Medea class with the main armament modified to mixed calibre QF guns only. The two 152mm guns were placed on the centreline of the forecastle and poop and the 120mm were mounted 3 on each side of the upper deck amidships. The 57mm guns were all on the upper deck, 4 being amidships, between the 120mm, and 2 forward and 2 aft firing through embrasured ports for ahead and astern fire. The 120mm guns were not fitted on sponsons and the class were severely criticised for their lack of ahead and astern fire and for lack of gunpower generally in comparison to foreign cruisers of similar type. Two TT were fitted broadside abreast the mainmast on the upper deck and could be trained through an arc of 90°; one was carried in the bow, also on the upper deck; and a stern tube was fitted at main deck level.     The engines, being vertical instead of horizontal, were mounted side by side and separated from each other by a centreline bulkhead. The after boiler room contained two double-ended boilers while the forward room contained one double-ended and two single-ended boilers. Most of the class achieved the designed speed on trial and they were generally regarded as good steamers, and while several suffered early deterioration of their machinery and consequent loss of speed many others proved capable of achieving their designed speed until late in their careers. Ten of the class were sheathed in wood and copper for tropical service which added 200t to the displacement and resulted in a 0.3kt loss in designed speed.

Although larger than the Medea class, the Apollos had the same layout with a turtle back forecastle and a low freeboard, and although slightly better than their predecessors, they were wet ships and poor sea boats which would have found great difficulty in fighting their waist guns in a seaway.

Ship protection

The protective deck was 32mm thick on the flat and 51mm on the slope, and the engine cylinders, where they projected above this deck, were protected by a 127mm armoured glacis around the engine room hatch.

Modernizations

None.

Naval service

 No significant events.

© Ivan Gogin, 2015