NAVYPEDIA

Ships

Name	No	Yard No	Builder	Laid down	Launched	Comp	Fate
Aetna			J Scott Russell, Millwall	9.10.1854	---	---	fire 3.5.1855
Meteor			C J Mare & Co, Limehouse	9.10.1854	17.4.1855	4.7.1855	BU 1861
Thunder			C J Mare & Co, Limehouse	9.10.1854	17.4.1855	21.7.1855	BU 6.1874
Glatton			R & H Green, Limehouse	9.10.1854	18.4.1855	3.8.1855	BU 1864
Trusty			R & H Green, Limehouse	9.10.1854	3.5.1855	13.6.1855	BU 1864

Technical data

Displacement normal, t	Aetna, Meteor, Thunder: 1469bm Glatton, Trusty: 1535bm
Displacement full, t
Length, m	52.6 pp
Breadth, m	Aetna, Meteor, Thunder: 13.4 Glatton, Trusty: 13.8
Draught, m	2.64
No of shafts	1
Machinery	sails + 1 2-cyl HSE, boilers
Power, h. p.	150hp
Max speed, kts	4.5 - 5.5
Fuel, t	coal
Endurance, nm(kts)
Armour, mm	iron; side: 114 - 89
Armament	14 x 1 - 206/15 68pdr 95cwt SBML
Complement	200

Project history

Wooden-hulled. Copies of French batteries employed in the Crimean War. Intended to carry 16 guns but two guns were deleted to keep down the draught. Although complete as single-screw, Meteor and possibly others were quickly altered to triple-screw, with wing shafts presumably driven through a belt arrangement. Aetna was fired and launched herself 3.5.1855 (two days earlier than planned date) when she was nearly complete, but her remained incomplete and later BU on river bank.

Ship protection

114-89mm iron plates protected the sides.

Modernizations

1861, Trusty: fitted with Captain Coles's 'shield' and used for experiments.

Naval service

No significant events.