HMS Rattler (1843)

Rattler (left) and Alecto (right) in their 1845 competition
History
United Kingdom
NameHMS Rattler
Ordered24 February 1842
BuilderSheerness Dockyard
Cost£9,400 plus £17,413 for fitting
Laid downApril 1842
Launched13 April 1843
Commissioned12 December 1844 Woolwich
Honours &
awards
Burma 1852
FateBroken up, 1856
General characteristics
Class & typeScrew sloop
Displacement1,112 tons
Tons burthen8888094 (bm)
Length195 ft (59.44 m) overall

176 ft 6 in (53.80 m) gundeck,

157 ft 9.5 in (48.09 m) keel for tonnage
Beam32 ft 8 in (9.96 m) maximum, 32 ft 6 in (9.91 m) for tonnage
Draught11 ft 5+12 in (3.49 m) (mean)
Depth of hold18 ft 7.5 in (5.68 m)
Installed power
  • 200 nhp
  • 437 ihp (326 kW)
Propulsion
Sail planBarquentine
Speed10.074 knots (18.657 km/h)
Complement180
Armament
  • 1 × 8-inch (60 cwt) pivot gun
  • 8 × 32-pounder (25cwt) broadside guns

HMS Rattler was a 9-gun steam screw sloop of the Royal Navy, and one of the first British warships to be completed with screw propulsion. She was originally ordered as a paddle wheel 4-gun steam vessel (Steam Vessel Second Class – SV2) from Sheerness Dockyard on 12 March 1841. She was reordered on 24 February 1842 as a propeller type 9-gun (867-ton BM type) sloop from HM Royal Dockyard, Sheerness, as a new vessel. William Symonds had redesigned the ship as a screw propeller driven vessel.

She was the fifth ship so named since the name was first introduced into the Royal Navy for a 16-gun sloop launched by Wilson of Sandgate on 22 March 1783 and sold on 6 September 1792.