Description and Armament
Built at William Armstrong & Co, Newcastle-on-Tyne, England, Protector was built to a standard type F1 flat-iron gunboat design, but was one of the largest of its type, and was classified as a light cruiser, with a displacement of 920 tons. Her length was 180 feet 6 inches (55.02 m), with two compound surface-condensing engines that produced 1,500 horsepower (1,100 kW). Her top speed was 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph). To conserve fuel (coal) she was also originally rigged as a topsail schooner.
For her size, Protector was exceptionally heavily armed. Her largest weapon was the 8-inch (203 mm) Armstrong Rifled Breech-Load gun mounted at the bow. The gun weighed 12 tons and could fire a 180-pound (82 kg) shell 7,500 yards (6,900 m) using a charge of 90 lb (41 kg) of black powder.
Other armaments included five 6-inch (152 mm) Woolwich-Armstrong Rifled Breech-Load guns; four 3-pounder 1.85 calibre Hotchkiss QF guns and five 10-barrel (1.6 m3) Gatling machines guns. Her small arms consisted of: 200 0.45 Martini-Henry rifles Mk IV; 100 Breech-Load revolvers; 100 cutlasses and 30 boarding pikes.
At the outbreak of World War I, her armament was increased to include two 4-inch (100 mm) guns, two 12-pounder guns and four 3-pounder guns.
Read more about this topic: HMAS Protector (1884)
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