Gleaner-class gunboat
# Gleaner-class gunboat

The Gleaner (or Pelter)-class gunboat was a class of six gunboats built for the Royal Navy in 1854 for use in the Crimean War.

## Design

The Gleaner class was designed by W.H. Walker (who also designed the subsequent Dapper and Albacore classes). The ships were wooden-hulled, with steam power as well as sails, but of shallow draught for coastal bombardment in the shallow waters of the Baltic and Black Sea during the Crimean War.

### Propulsion

Two-cylinder horizontal single-expansion steam engines built by John Penn and Sons, with two boilers, provided 60 nominal horsepower through a single screw, sufficient for 7.5 knots (13.9 km/h; 8.6 mph).

### Armament

Ships of the class were armed with one 68-pounder smooth bore muzzle loading cannon (SBML), one 32-pounder SBML (originally two 68-pounder SBMLs were planned but the forward gun was substituted by a 32-pounder) and two 24-pounder howitzers.

## Ships

| Name | Ship builder | Launched | Fate |
| - | - | - | - |
| Pelter | W & H Pitcher, Northfleet | 28 August 1854 | Sold for breaking January 1864, breaking up completed by Tolpult on 1 February 1864 |
| Pincher | W & H Pitcher, Northfleet | 5 September 1854 | Breaking completed on 17 February 1864 |
| Badger | W & H Pitcher, Northfleet | 23 September 1854 | Broken up at Portsmouth in June 1864 |
| Snapper | W & H Pitcher, Northfleet | 4 October 1854 | Became a coal hulk in 1865, sold in 1906 |
| Gleaner | Deptford Dockyard | 7 October 1854 | Sold at Montevideo in April 1868 |
| Ruby | Deptford Dockyard | 7 October 1854 | Broken up October 1868 |
