View source for Engineering:Flat-iron gunboat

[[File:HMS Mastiff (1871).jpg|thumb|right|300px|The flat-iron gunboat HMS ''Mastiff'' (right, painted white)]]
'''Flat-iron gunboats''' (more formally known  as '''Rendel gunboats''') were a number of classes of coastal gunboats generally characterised by small size, low [[Engineering:Freeboard (nautical)|freeboard]], the absence of masts,<ref group=Note>Some Rendel-type gunboats <u>were</u> fitted with masts (the British ''Medina'' class, the Russian ''Sivutch'' class and at least some of the Chinese alphabeticals); they are included in the article for completeness</ref> and the mounting of a single non-traversing large gun, aimed by pointing the vessel. They acquired their nickname from the physical similarity with the flat iron used for [[Engineering:Ironing|ironing]] clothes during the 19th century.

The first flat-iron gunboat was launched in 1867, and the last in 1894, with the vast majority being built in the years 1870 - 1880.  They were designed as a cheap coastal defence weapon, a role they failed to achieve successfully; they found their greatest utility in offensive coastal bombardment.  Strongly built, they lasted in some cases into the late 20th century, and saw action in both World Wars.  The hull of the British flat-iron ''Medway'' lies in shallow water off Bermuda. The Norwegian flat-iron ''Tyr''  remains in service under the name ''Bjorn West'', at last report entering Eidsvik shipyard in May 2014 for restoration.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Langes |first1=Wilhelm |title=Fjordfähren in Norwegen:  Bjørn-West |url=http://www.fjordfaehren.de/no_f/tyr1887.htm |website=Wagenfähren in Europa |publisher=Wilhelm Langes |access-date=23 December 2016  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161208221824/http://fjordfaehren.de/no_f/tyr1887.htm |archive-date=2016-12-08 |language=de |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Origin==
In 1867 [[Company:Armstrong Whitworth|Sir W G Armstrong & Company]] signed an agreement with a local shipbuilder, Dr. Charles Mitchell, whereby Mitchell’s shipyard would build warships and Armstrong’s company would provide the armaments. George Rendel was put in charge of the new venture, and the vessels designed under his leadership were based on a small craft used by the Armstrong factory to test heavy guns.<ref name=sag10/>  With the assistance of the leading gunnery expert Admiral Sir Astley Cooper-Key, he turned these craft into a gunboat designed for defensive coastal operations.<ref name=sag10>Preston, pp.10 - 11</ref>

==Description==
[[File:HMS comet.jpg|thumb|right|A painting of ''Comet'', an ''Ant''-class flat-iron gunboat, by William Frederick Mitchell]]
A typical flat-iron gunboat displaced about 250 tons, had a length of less than {{convert|100|ft|m}} and drew only {{convert|6|ft|m}}.  It was armed with a single large gun (normally 10 to 12 inches, but in the case of the Italian ''Castore'' class, a massive 16-inch weapon).  The gun, which was mounted at the bow, was designed to be raised and lowered on a hydraulic mechanism so that stability would not be compromised when making sea passages.  The gun was aimed by pointing the whole vessel, since the mounting allowed for elevation but not traversing (in the manner of an enormous [[Engineering:Punt gun|punt gun]]). No rigging of any sort was provided, and twin screws were fitted, allowing for a much reduced draught while at the same time making them highly manoeuvrable.  Top speed would have been less than {{convert|9|kn|km/h}}, but they were designed to be towed at considerably higher speeds than they were capable of making under their own power.  The crew would have numbered about 30 men.<ref name=RW/><ref name=sag162/> Larger variations were built, with the German ''Wespe'' class displacing as much as 1,157 tons.  Masted versions were produced, particularly for navies with inadequate coaling facilities and long coastlines, and commensurate with an increase in displacement, armament and rigging, crews increased to match, with the ''Wespe'' class needing 76 men.<ref name=HA/>

The original design was intended for defensive coastal operations, but was employed by the Royal Navy largely for offensive coastal bombardment, and in this sense was a natural successor to the Crimean gunboats of the "Great Armament" and the [[Engineering:Bomb vessel|bomb vessel]]s of the Napoleonic Wars. Operations of this nature require command of the sea, a situation which the Royal Navy could impose by virtue of its battlefleet throughout the period.<ref name=sag10/>

Few other navies of the time could hope to exercise much more than local sea control for limited periods, and these vessels were of limited use for shore bombardment in the hands of smaller or less effective operators. Nevertheless, these small vessels with their powerful punch were clearly attractive to the small and medium-size navies of the late 19th century, since they offered the status of big guns without the cost of large warships.  This may account for some of the later vessels carrying monstrous 15- and 16-inch guns; flat-irons armed in this fashion were not used for long, probably because their weapons were all but useless except against a stationary target in a flat calm.  The defining failure of flat-iron gunboats as coastal defence weapons was in China, where British-built gunboats were used against the French, at the Battle of Fuzhou, and the Japanese, at the Battle of Weihaiwei.  In general the flat-iron gunboats found themselves outmanoeuvred and smothered by shellfire from the more stable enemy cruisers; many failed to get off more than one or two shots.

{{cquote|At 2.08 a Rendel gunboat came round Pagoda Point, and fired her 16-ton gun at the ''Duguay'', but missed her. Immediately the guns of the fleet were concentrated upon this luckless craft, and the torrent of descending and exploding shells was so great that it literally stopped her way. Two minutes she remained almost stationary, a helpless target; then, with a crash, her magazine exploded, and she dived headlong to the bottom.|20px|20px|H W Wilson, ''Ironclads in action''<ref>{{cite book|first=H W|last=Wilson|title=Ironclads in action; a sketch of naval warfare from 1855 to 1895, with some account of the development of the battleship in England|url=https://archive.org/details/ironcladsinacti00wilsgoog|publisher=Sampson Low, Marston & Co|location=London|year=1896|page=[https://archive.org/details/ironcladsinacti00wilsgoog/page/n53 10]}}</ref>}}

In contrast to their failure as coastal defence gunboats, the occasions when they were used for coastal bombardment were more successful; Argentine gunboats were used in 1890 to bombard rebels during the Revolution of the Park,<ref name=HA/> Greek gunboats bombarded Turkish forces during the Greco-Turkish War of 1897 and both ''Bustard'' and ''Excellent'' (formerly HMS ''Handy'') were part of the force that bombarded the Belgian coast during [[Social:World War I|World War I]].<ref name=sag162/>  According to Professor Andrew Lambert the Royal Navy flat-irons succeeded in their task of deterrence, and  were a key asset to the capability of coastal offensive operations.<ref>Preston p.11</ref>

==Operators==

===Australia===
[[File:Gayundah01.jpg|thumb|right|''Gayundah'' beached off Woody Point, 2006]]
[[File:HMAS Protector Remains S01.JPG|thumb|right|''Protector'' at Heron Island, 2008]]The Australian colonies of the [[Place:British Empire|British Empire]] purchased a number of gunboats for coastal defence during the 1880s, and while they were described as "flat-irons", they were masted, and ''Protector'' was almost the size of a light cruiser.<ref name=RW/> The remains of both ''Protector'' and ''Gayundah'' remain visible today.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:left"
!Class||Vessels||Tonnage||Guns||Remarks
|-
|HMVS ''Albert''||{{center|1}}||{{center|350}}||8-inch (12.5-ton) BL||Armstrong type B1
|-
|HMVS ''Victoria''||{{center|1}}||{{center|530}}||10-inch (25-ton) BL & 2 × 13-pdr BLs||Armstrong type D
|-
|HMCS ''Protector''||{{center|1}}||{{center|920}}||8-inch (12.5-ton) BL, 5 × 6-in (4-ton) BLs, 4 × 3-pdrs||Armstrong type F1
|-
|''Gayundah'' class||{{center|2}}||{{center|360}}||8-inch (12.5-ton) BL & 6-inch (4-ton) BL||Armstrong type B1
|}

===Argentina===
Argentina purchased four flat-iron gunboats from Laird Brothers, Birkenhead and J & G Rennie & Co, Greenwich,<ref name=Sondhaus153>Sondhaus p.153</ref> in 1875; they were grouped in two classes: ''Pilcomayo'' and ''Constitución''.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.histarmar.com.ar/InfGral-5/Rendell-03Arg.htm |title= LOS CAÑONEROS RENDELL - ARGENTINA |last1=Osvaldo |first1= Sídoli |language=es |date=2009 |website= Historia y Arqueologia Marítima (Histarmar) |publisher= Carlos Mey |access-date=2014-09-13 }}</ref>  Described as ''bombarderas'' (bombarders) in Argentina, they were later variously employed as tankers, transports and pontoons, in some cases into the 1950s.<ref name=HA/>

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:left"
!Class||Vessels||Tonnage||Guns||Remarks
|-
|''Pilcomayo'' class||{{center|2}}||{{center|416}}||{{convert|9.4|in|mm|adj=on}} MLR & 2 × {{convert|3|in|mm|adj=on}} guns||Scrapped in 1930s
|-
|''Constitución'' class||{{center|2}}||{{center|416}}||{{convert|9.4|in|mm|adj=on}} MLR & 2 × {{convert|3|in|mm|adj=on}} guns||Scrapped in 1950s
|}

===Chile===
The Chilean government entered into talks to purchase two vessels similar to the Argentine units, but did not see the purchase through.<ref name=HA>[http://www.histarmar.com.ar/InfGral-5/Rendell-01.htm Historia y Arqueología Marítima - Los Cañoneros Rendell (Spanish)]</ref>

===China===
Between 1875 and 1880 China purchased 13 flat-iron gunboats from Britain and built another (''Tiong Sing'') at [[Place:Shanghai|Shanghai]].<ref name=Sondhaus133>Sondhaus p.133</ref> After the two ''Jiansheng'' class, the British-built boats were given names from the Greek alphabet, from ''Alpha'' through to ''Lambda'', thus becoming known as the "alphabetical" gunboats.  Although quickly given Chinese names, the class names seem to have stuck.  A further pseudo-Rendel gunboat (''Hoi Tung Hung'') was built locally to the lines of the "alphabetical" flat-irons, but constructed from wood sheathed in iron.  ''Fusheng'' and ''Jiansheng'' were lost in the Battle of Fuzhou in 1884 at the beginning of the Sino-French War.<ref name=Sondhaus152>Sondhaus p.152</ref> Four Chinese Rendel gunboats also took part in the Battle of the Yalu River against the Japanese in 1894.<ref>H W Wilson, ''Ironclads in action; a sketch of naval warfare from 1855 to 1895, with some account of the development of the battleship in England'', Sampson Low, Marston & Co, London. 1896.</ref> Eight Chinese flat-iron gunboats were sunk or captured by Japan at the battle of Weihaiwei in 1895.<ref name=HA/>

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:left"
!Class||Vessels||Tonnage||Guns||Remarks
|-
|''Jiansheng'' class||{{center|2}}||{{center|256}}||{{convert|10|in|mm|adj=on}}||Destroyed at the Battle of Fuzhou in 1884
|-
|[[Engineering:Chinese ironclad Tien-sing|''Tiong Sing'']]||{{center|1}}||{{center|200}}||{{convert|6.7|in|mm|adj=on}}||Built at Shanghai. Destroyed at Weihaiwei by the Japanese Navy
|-
|''Alpha'' class||{{center|2}}||{{center|420}}||{{convert|11|in|mm|adj=on}}||Scrapped in 1895
|-
|''Gamma'' class||{{center|2}}||{{center|420}}||{{convert|15|in|mm|adj=on}}||Decommissioned in 1905
|-
|''Hoi Tung Hung''<ref group=Note>Not strictly a flat-iron.  Built of wood sheathed with iron in imitation of the "alphabetical" flat-irons.</ref>||{{center|1}}||{{center|430}}||{{convert|15|in|mm|adj=on}}||Destroyed at Weihaiwei by the Japanese Navy
|-
|''Epsilon'' class||{{center|4}}||{{center|440}}||{{convert|15|in|mm|adj=on}}, 2 × 12-pdr||Captured at Weihaiwei by the Japanese Navy
|-
|''Iota'' class||{{center|3}}||{{center|440}}||{{convert|15|in|mm|adj=on}}, 2 × 12-pdr||Two captured at Weihaiwei by the Japanese Navy
|}
<gallery>
Image:Chien-sheng gunboat.jpg|Chinese ''Jiansheng''-class gunboat ''Jiansheng'' (建勝)
File:Chinese Rendel gunboat Longxiang.jpg|Chinese ''Alpha''-class gunboat ''Longxiang'' (龍驤)
</gallery>

===Denmark===
Five boats in three classes were built in Danish shipyards in 1874 to 1876.  Three were decommissioned at the turn of the 20th century, and the other two were decommissioned after World War I having served as repair ships.<ref name=HA/>

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:left"
!Class||Vessels||Tonnage||Guns||Remarks
|-
|''Oresund'' class||{{center|3}}||{{center|240}}||{{convert|10|in|mm|adj=on}} & 4 × 1-pdrs||Scrapped between 1912 and 1919
|-
|''Moen'' class||{{center|1}}||{{center|410}}||{{convert|10|in|mm|adj=on}}, 2 × 2-pdrs, 1 × 1-pdr||Scrapped in 1901
|-
|''Falster'' class||{{center|1}}||{{center|383}}||{{convert|10|in|mm|adj=on}}, 2 × 2-pdrs, 1 × 1-pdr||Scrapped in 1918
|}

===Germany===
[[File:SMS Natter (1880).jpg|thumb|right|''Wespe''-class gunboat SMS ''Natter'']]
The German Navy (''Kaiserliche Marine'') built eleven large Rendel gunboats (''Panzerkanonenboot'') of the ''Wespe'' class at AG Weser, [[Place:Bremen|Bremen]] between 1875 and 1881. One, SMS ''Salamander'', was lost in 1910.<ref name=HA/> Two smaller gunboats of ''Brummer'' class were built later in 1884.<ref name="ChesneauKoleśnik1979">{{cite book|author1=Roger Chesneau|author2=Roger Chesneau Eugène M. Koleśnik|author3=N. J. M. Campbell|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_318ns9rtAUC&pg=PA259|access-date=16 November 2012|year=1979|publisher=Conway Maritime Press|isbn=978-0-85177-133-5|page=261}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:left"
!Class||Vessels||Tonnage||Guns||Remarks
|-
|''Wespe'' class||{{center|11}}||{{center|1157}}||{{convert|12|in|mm|adj=on}}||Decommissioned 1909 - 1911
|-
|''Brummer'' class||{{center|2}}||{{center|929}}||{{convert|8.3|in|mm|adj=on}}||Decommissioned 1903 - 1907
|}

===Greece===
[[File:Greece Gunboat Aktion.jpg|thumb|right|Greek gunboat ''Aktion'']]In 1881 Greece had 2 Rendel gunboats built at the Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company for the shallow waters of the Ambracian Gulf.  They saw action in the Greco-Turkish War of 1897 and Balkan Wars, served the Piraeus and Keratsini net barrage during World War I and were scrapped after World War I.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://greek-war-equipment.blogspot.com/2011/03/1881-1919-steam-gunboat-aktion.html|title=A history of military equipment of Modern Greece (1821 - today)|access-date=2011-10-07}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:left"
!Class||Vessels||Tonnage||Guns||Remarks
|-
|''Spetses''||{{center|1}}||{{center|433}}||{{convert|11|in|mm|adj=on}}, 1 × 6-inch||Renamed ''Akteon'' in 1889. Scrapped in 1919
|-
|''Amvrakia''||{{center|1}}||{{center|433}}||{{convert|11|in|mm|adj=on}}, 1 × 6-inch||Scrapped in 1931
|}

===Italy===
Italy built two Rendel gunboats at Spezia Dockyard in 1874.<ref name=WI68>Anderson, p.68</ref> In the late 1880s 2 large Rendel gunboats were designed and built by Armstrong Mitchell & Co.'s Elswick Works to a contract by the Italian War Ministry. They were constructed in Elswick's Tyneside yard in the United Kingdom, disassembled and shipped to Italy for reassembly in the Armstrong facility at Pozzuoli.<ref name=brook/><ref group=Note>By coincidence, the manager of the Armstrong's Pozzuoli works was George Rendel, who had taken on the position in the hope that the warm Italian weather would improve his health.</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:left"
!Class||Vessels||Tonnage||Guns||Remarks
|-
|''Guardiano'' class||{{center|2}}||{{center|259}}||{{convert|8.2|in|mm|adj=on}}<ref name="Anderson, p.58">Anderson, p.58</ref>||Sold ''circa'' 1900<ref name=WI78>Anderson, p.78</ref>
|-
|''Castore'' class||{{center|2}}||{{center|522}}||{{convert|16|in|mm|adj=on}},<ref name=brook>Brook, Peter. "Armstrongs and the Italian Navy" from Preston, Antony (ed.). ''Warship 2002-2003''. London: Conway Maritime Press, 2003. pp. 108-110. {{ISBN|0-85177-926-3}}.</ref> 1 × 1.5-inch||Converted to barges and scrapped in 1911 & 1925
|}

===Japan===
Japan captured six Rendel gunboats from China on 12 February 1895 at the Battle of Weihaiwei. They were listed for disposal in 1906 and broken up by 1907.<ref name="JentschuraJung1999">{{cite book|author1=Hansgeorg Jentschura|author2=Dieter Jung|author3=Peter Mickel|title=Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869-1945|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uBlxHAAACAAJ|access-date=7 October 2011|date=1 April 1999|publisher=Arms & Armour Press|isbn=978-1-85409-525-1|page=117}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:left"
!Class||Vessels||Tonnage||Guns||Remarks
|-
|''Epsilon'' class||{{center|4}}||{{center|440}}||{{convert|11|in|mm|adj=on}}, 2 × 3-inch<ref name="JentschuraJung1999"/>||Captured from China. Rearmed as shown
|-
|''Iota'' class||{{center|2}}||{{center|440}}||{{convert|11|in|mm|adj=on}}, 2 × 3-inch<ref name="JentschuraJung1999"/>||Captured from China. Rearmed as shown
|}

===Mexico===
Two gunboats were commissioned from Armstrongs in 1875, but appear to have been heavily sparred, single-screw iron gunboats with an extensive sail area. Their short, broad dimensions and single large gun cause them to be taken for flat-irons, but illustrations show that they are not of the same type.<ref name="Anderson, p.58"/>  They were scrapped in 1920.

===Netherlands===
Thirty-one flat-iron gunboats were built in the Dutch shipyards Christie, Nolet & De Kuyper and Feijenoord Mij in the years 1870 to 1880. ''Vahalis'' and the ''Hydra'' class were nearly all decommissioned before World War II (''Sperwer'' was retained until 1960 as a training ship, and ''Brak'' sank in 1902).<ref name=HA/> Ten of the ''Wodan'' class lasted long enough to be sunk or captured by the advancing German army in 1940.<ref name=HA/>

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:left"
!Class||Vessels||Tonnage||Guns||Remarks
|-
|''Vahalis''||{{center|1}}||{{center|337}}||3 × 4.7-inch<ref>Anderson, p.60</ref>||Sold in July 1906<ref name=WI78/>
|-
|''Hydra'' class||{{center|14}}||{{center|216}}||{{convert|11|in|mm|adj=on}}, 1 × 2-inch & 3 × 1-pdrs||Scrapped in 1911
|-
|''Wodan'' class||{{center|16}}||{{center|240}}||{{convert|11|in|mm|adj=on}} & 3 × 1-pdrs||
|}

===Norway===
Eight flat-iron gunboats were built to a British design in Norwegian shipyards.  They were all refitted as minelayers before World War I.  ''Æger'' was decommissioned in 1932, but the others were all captured by Germany in 1940, and with the exception of ''Uller''<ref group=Note>''Uller'' was captured by invading German army, used to mine the entrance to the Norwegian-held Sognefjorden, and bombed by a Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service [[Engineering:Heinkel He 115|Heinkel He 115]] on 1 May 1940.  She was scuttled by her German-held sister, ''Tyr''.</ref> they survived WWII. They were gradually decommissioned by the Royal Norwegian Navy after World War II, but the ''Gor''-class gunboat ''Tyr'' was still operating as the civilian ferry ''Bjørn West'' 100 years after she was built.<ref name=HA/>

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:left"
!Class||Vessels||Tonnage||Guns||Remarks
|-
|''Vale'' class||{{center|5}}||{{center|260}} ||{{convert|10.5|in|mm|adj=on}}||Refitted as minelayers before WWI.  
|-
|''Gor'' class||{{center|2}}||{{center|290}} ||{{convert|10|in|mm|adj=on}}||Refitted as minelayers before WWI.  
|-
|HNoMS ''Æger''||{{center|1}}||{{center|413}} ||{{convert|8.2|in|mm|adj=on}}||Decommissioned in 1932
|}

===Russia===
Russia built ten Rendel gunboats in three classes between 1874 and 1881.<ref name=HA/><ref name="Watts1990">{{cite book|author=Anthony John Watts|title=The Imperial Russian Navy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ftVqQgAACAAJ|access-date=7 October 2011|date=October 1990|publisher=Arms and Armour|isbn=978-0-85368-912-6}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:left"
!Class||Vessels||Tonnage||Guns||Remarks
|-
|''Ersh'' class||{{center|1}}||{{center|321}} ||{{convert|11|in|mm|adj=on}}||Scrapped in 1906
|-
|''Nerpa'' class||{{center|1}}||{{center|380}} ||{{convert|6|in|mm|adj=on}}||Scrapped in 1888
|-
|''Burun'' class||{{center|8}}||{{center|380}} ||{{convert|11|in|mm|adj=on}}, 2 × 3.4-inch<ref name="Watts1990"/>||3.4-inch guns replaced by 2½-pounders. Scrapped between 1902 and 1907
|}

[[File:Sivuch1884-1904.jpg|thumb|right|The Russian gunboat ''Sivutch'']]
Two ''Sivutch''-class gunboats were also constructed which had a brig rig (later replaced by a ship rig, and later still de-rigged). They were armed with a single 9-inch gun and a single 6-inch gun aft. Visually they were very similar to the British ''Medina'' class.<ref name="Watts1990"/>

===Sweden===
Sweden built 10 Rendel gunboats in [[Place:Stockholm|Stockholm]] and Norrköping between 1868 and 1876.<ref name=WI68/>
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:left"
!Class||Vessels||Tonnage||Guns||Remarks
|-
|''Garmer'' class||{{center|3}}||{{center|241 - 271}} ||{{convert|9.4|in|mm|adj=on}} or 10.6-inch<ref name=WI68/> ||Scrapped ''circa'' 1898<ref name=WI78/>
|-
|''Hildur'' class||{{center|7}}||{{center|457}} ||{{convert|9.4|in|mm|adj=on}}<ref name=WI68/>||Sold ''circa'' 1919<ref name=WI78/>
|}

===United Kingdom===
[[File:HMS arrow flatiron.JPG|thumb|right|A model of an ''Ant''-class gunboat]]
The Royal Navy had two classes of flat-iron gunboats built in the 1870s and 1880s, and several one-off prototypes.<ref name=sag162 /> As built they were equipped with a single 9- or 10-inch muzzle-loading rifled gun (MLR).<ref name=sag162 /> They were of sound construction, and many stayed in service in support roles, with a number ending up as gunnery tenders,<ref name=sag77>Preston pp.77 - 78</ref> lighters, tank vessels and dredgers.<ref name=RW/> One notable gunnery tender was ''Bustard'', which was rearmed prior to World War One.<ref name=sag162 /> During World War I ''Bustard'', ''Drudge'' and ''Handy'' (renamed ''Excellent'' from 1891), and possibly ''Mastiff'' (renamed ''Snapper'' in 1914) and ''Ant'', took part in a bombardment of the Belgian coast.<ref name=WI53>Anderson, p.53</ref> The majority of the flat-iron gunboats had been scrapped before the mid-20th century<ref name=sag162 /> but ''Handy'' survived until she was broken up in 2008 amid safety concerns.<ref name=Jordan170>{{Citation| year=2009| contribution=Warship notes| editor-last=Jordan| editor-first=John|title=Warship 2009| publisher=Anova Books | page=170|isbn=978-1-84486-089-0 }}</ref>

For many years it was assumed that the Royal Navy flat-irons were a failure at their perceived role of coastal defence.<ref name=sag162/>  Professor Andrew Lambert later argued powerfully that they were designed for coastal assault as successors to the gunboats of the Crimean War "Great Armament", and that they succeeded in their deterrent role.  He describes them as a "part of a sophisticated, layered approach to the tactical problem of defeating large-scale coastal defence systems."<ref name=sag10/> The Royal Navy listed them as "Gunboats for the Attack and Defence of Coasts" in its confidential Pink List.<ref name=sag10/>  Due to their lack of speed and limited armament they were of little value in defence of a coast or harbour, but they were ideally suited for bombardment of shore fortifications where the Royal Navy enjoyed complete command of the sea.<ref>Preston p.8</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:left"
!Class||Vessels||Tonnage||Guns||Remarks
|-
|HMS ''Staunch''||{{center|1}}||{{center|164}}||9-inch (12-ton) MLR||The first flat-iron gunboat. 
|-
|HMS ''Plucky''||{{center|1}}||{{center|193}}||9-inch (12-ton) MLR||
|-
|{{sclass|Ant|gunboat|4}}||{{center|20}}||{{center|241}}||10-inch (18-ton) MLR||
|-
|{{Sclass|Gadfly|gunboat|4}}||{{center|4}}||{{center|241}}||10-inch (18-ton) MLR||Identical to, and sometimes listed as part of the ''Ant'' class
|-
|{{sclass|Medina|gunboat|4}}||{{center|12}}||{{center|363}}||3 × 6.3-inch MLR ||Fitted with a barquentine rig
|-
|{{Sclass|Bouncer|gunboat|4}}||{{center|2}}||{{center|265}}||10-inch MLR||Similar to ''Ant'' class, but longer and employing steel instead of iron
|-
|HMS ''Handy''||{{center|1}}||{{center|508}}||7.5-inch & 1 × 4-inch<ref group=Note name=Drudge/>||Sold by [[Company:Armstrong Whitworth|Armstrong Mitchell]] in 1884 to the Royal Navy after trialling a 13.5-inch gun mounting
|-
|HMS ''Drudge''||{{center|1}}||{{center|890}}||9.2-inch BL<ref group=Note name=Drudge>''Drudge'' and ''Handy'' were designed for testing the 13.5-inch main armament of the ''Royal Sovereign'', and both were later taken into the Royal Navy.  Their armament in military service may have changed over the years; both became tenders to HMS ''Excellent'', the Royal Navy's gunnery school. ''Drudge'' was armed at one stage with the 9.2-inch BL Mk IX; it is likely this would have changed to allow training on the latest weapons as they came into service.</ref>||Built for the Ordnance Department and transferred to the Royal Navy in 1901
|}

''Staunch'' and ''Plucky'' were essentially prototypes built in 1867 and 1870.<ref name=sag162 /> ''Handy'' and ''Drudge'' were built in the 1880s for testing the mounting of 13.5-inch guns intended for the {{sclass|Royal Sovereign|battleship|1}}s.<ref name=RW>{{winfield}}</ref><ref name=sag162>Preston pp.162-166</ref>

The ''Medina'' class were a development of the flat-iron concept which resulted in an iron coastal gunboat fitted with three masts and carrying three 6.3-inch 64-pounder rifled muzzle-loading guns.  Naval historian Antony Preston described them as "the most grotesque craft ever seen".<ref>Preston p.167</ref> The hull of ''Medway'' remains visible on satellite imagery at {{coord|32|22|32.7|N|64|41|13|W}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bermudaconservation.squarespace.com/storage/wrecks/Report%20of%20Maritime%20Archaeological%20Survey%20-%20the%20Myers%20Slip%20Vessel%20WEB.pdf|author1=Nathan Richards|author2=Calvin Mires|author3=Joseph C. Hoyt|author4=Peter Campbell|title=Report of Maritime Archaeological Survey: The Myers Slip Vessel (Suspected Remains of HMS ''Medway''), Bermuda, May 2008|publisher=East Carolina University|access-date=2012-03-14}}{{dead link|date=October 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=Note}}

==References==
{{reflist}}
&nbsp;
* {{cite book |title=Naval warfare, 1815-1914 |last=Sondhaus |first=Lawrence |year=2001  |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-21478-0}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Anderson |first1=Richard M  |year=1976 |title=The Rendel Gunboats |journal=Warship International |volume=XIII |issue=1 |pages=49–78 |publisher=International Naval Research Organisation }}

[[Category:Ship types]]
[[Category:Gunboats]]

{{Sourceattribution|Flat-iron gunboat}}