{{Short description|1867 class of British screw sloops}} {{distinguish|Eclipse-class cruiser}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2017}} {{Use British English|date=July 2017}} {{Infobox ship |section1={{Infobox ship/image |image=HMS Sirius (1868).jpg |image_caption=HMS ''Sirius'' }}

|section2={{Infobox ship/class overview |name=*''Eclipse'' class |builders=* Devonport Dockyard * Portsmouth Dockyard * Chatham Dockyard * Sheerness Dockyard * Deptford Dockyard |operators={{navy|United Kingdom}} |class_before={{sclass|Amazon|sloop|4}} |class_after={{sclass|Fantome|sloop|4}} |cost= |built_range=1867–1870 |in_service_range=1867–1921 |in_commission_range= |total_ships_completed=7 |total_ships_scrapped=7 }}

|section3={{Infobox ship/characteristics |hide_header= |header_caption=(as built) |type=Wooden screw sloop (later corvette) |tons_burthen=1,268 bm |displacement={{convert|1760|LT|t}} |length={{convert|212|ft|m|abbr=on|1}} (p/p) |beam={{convert|36|ft|m|abbr=on|1}} |draught={{convert|16|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on|1}} |depth={{convert|21|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on|1}} |power={{convert|1946|-|2518|ihp|lk=in|abbr=on}} |propulsion=*1 shaft *1 × 2-cylinder horizontal steam engine *4 or 6 × boilers |speed={{convert|12|-|13|kn|lk=in}} |range= |complement=180 |sail_plan=Barque or Ship rig |armament=*2 × 7-inch rifled muzzle-loading guns *4 × 6.3-inch 64-pounder rifled muzzle-loading guns |notes= }} }} The '''''Eclipse'' class''' was a class of seven 6-gun wooden screw sloops built for the Royal Navy between 1867 and 1870. They were re-armed and re-classified as 12-gun corvettes in 1876. Two further vessels were proposed but never ordered.

==Design==

A development of the {{sclass|Amazon|sloop|4}}, they were designed by Edward Reed, the Royal Navy's Director of Naval Construction. The hull was of wooden construction, but with iron cross-beams, and a ram bow was fitted.<ref name=RW>Winfield, pp. 290–91</ref>

===Propulsion===

Propulsion was provided by a two-cylinder horizontal steam engine driving a single screw. ''Spartan'', ''Sirius'' and ''Tenedos'' had compound steam engines, and the remainder of the class had single-expansion steam engines.

===Sail plan===

All the ships of the class were built with a ship rig, but this was replaced with a barque rig.

===Armament===

The ''Eclipse'' class was designed with two 7-inch (6½-ton) muzzle-loading rifled guns mounted in traversing slides and four 64-pounder muzzle-loading rifled guns.<ref name=RW/> They were re-classified as corvettes in 1876, carrying a homogenous armament of twelve 64-pounder muzzle-loading rifled guns.

== Ships == {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:left" !Name||Ship Builder|||Launched|||Fate |- |{{HMS|Danae|1867|2}}||Portsmouth Dockyard||21 May 1867||Lent to the War Department as a hulk in 1886 and sold on 15 May 1906<ref name=RW/> |- |{{HMS|Blanche|1867|2}}||Chatham Dockyard||17 August 1867||Sold to Castle for breaking in September 1886 |- |{{HMS|Eclipse|1867|2}}||Sheerness Dockyard||14 November 1867||Lent to the War Department for use as a storage hulk between 1888 and 1892. Anchored in the Hamoaze as a floating magazine and No. 3 (Devonport) Division, Metropolitan Police barracks on census night in 1911. Sold in 1921.<ref name=RW/> |- |{{HMS|Sirius|1868|2}}||Portsmouth Dockyard||24 April 1868||Sold to Castle for breaking at Charlton in 1885<ref name=RW/> |- |{{HMS|Spartan|1868|2}}||Deptford Dockyard||14 November 1868|||Sold to Castle for breaking on 7 November 1882<ref name=RW/> |- |{{HMS|Dido|1869|2}}||Portsmouth Dockyard||23 October 1869||Hulked in 1886. Renamed ''Actaeon II'' in 1906. Sold to J B Garnham for breaking on 17 July 1922<ref name=RW/> |- |{{HMS|Tenedos|1870|2}}||Devonport Dockyard||13 May 1870||Sold to G Pethwick of Plymouth for breaking in November 1887<ref name=RW/> |- |''Proserpine''||align="center"|-||align="center"|-||Authorised on 18 December 1866 but never ordered<ref name=RW/> |- |''Diomede''||align="center"|-||align="center"|-||Authorised on 18 December 1866 but rescinded on 30 April 1867<ref name=RW/> |}

== Notes == {{reflist}}

==Bibliography== * {{cite journal|last=Ballard|first=G. A.|date=1938|title=British Sloops of 1875: The Smaller Ram-Bowed Type|journal=Mariner's Mirror|publisher=Society for Nautical Research|location=Cambridge, UK|volume=24|pages=160–75|issue=April}} * {{cite book|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905|editor1-last=Chesneau|editor1-first=Roger|editor2-last=Kolesnik|editor2-first=Eugene M.|publisher=Conway Maritime Press|location=Greenwich, UK|date=1979|isbn=0-8317-0302-4|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/conwaysallworlds0000unse_l2e2}} * {{winfield}}

==External links== {{Commons category|Eclipse class sloop}}

{{Eclipse class sloop}}

Category:Sloop classes Category:Eclipse-class sloops Category:Ship classes of the Royal Navy Eclipse Category:Victorian-era corvettes of the United Kingdom