HMS Pegasus (1878)

Pegasus anchored at Port Hamilton
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Pegasus
Builder	Devonport Royal Dockyard
Cost	Hull £36,697, machinery £12,809[1]
Laid down	9 May 1877
Launched	13 June 1878
Commissioned	5 March 1879
Fate	Sold on 11 August 1892[1]
General characteristics [1][2]
Class and type	Doterel-class screw composite sloop
Displacement	1,130 tons
Length	170 ft (52 m)
Beam	36 ft (11 m)
Draught	15 ft 9 in (4.80 m)
Installed power	972 indicated horsepower
Propulsion	Two-cylinder horizontal compound-expansion steam engine Three cylindrical boilers Single 13 ft 1 in (3.99 m) screw
Sail plan	Barque rigged
Speed	11.4 kn (21.1 km/h)
Range	1,480 nmi (2,740 km) at 10 kn (19 km/h)
Complement	140
Armament	Two 7-inch (90cwt) muzzle-loading rifled guns Four 64-pound guns Four machine guns One light gun

HMS Pegasus was a Doterel-class screw composite 6-gun sloop launched on 13 June 1878. She was sold for scrap in 1892.

The Doterel class were a development of the Osprey-class sloops and were of composite construction, with wooden hulls over an iron frame. The original 1874 design by the Chief Constructor, William Henry White was revised in 1877 by Sir Nathaniel Barnaby and nine were ordered. Of 1,130 tons displacement and approximately 1,100 indicated horsepower, they were capable of approximately 11 knots and were armed with two 7" muzzle loading rifled guns on pivoting mounts, and four 64-pound guns (two on pivoting mounts, and two broadside). They had a crew complement of approximately 140 men.^[1]

Pegasus was laid down at Devonport Royal Dockyard in 1877 and launched on 13 June 1878.^[1] She was commissioned on 5 March 1879,^[1] and was classified as both a sloop of war and as a colonial cruiser. She was capable of attaining 11.4 kn (21.1 km/h) under full steam or 15 knots under sail.^[1]

The primary purpose of ships of her class was to maintain British naval dominance through trade protection, anti-slavery, and long term surveying. Pegasus served on the China Station.

With a view to forestalling Russian intentions, on 16 April 1885 Pegasus, Agamemnon and Firebrand occupied Port Hamilton, a small group of islands in the Jeju Strait off the southern coast of the Korean Peninsula. The base was demolished and the occupation ended on 27 February 1887 after the Russian threat had diminished.

Pegasus was sold to George Cohen for breaking on 11 August 1892.^[1]