HMS Wallaroo

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Persian.

HMS Wallaroo was a Pearl-class cruiser built for the Royal Navy, originally named HMS Persian, built by Armstrong, Mitchell, Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne and launched on 5 February 1890.^[2]

HMS Wallaroo on the Brisbane River
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Persian (1890) HMS Wallaroo (1890–1906, 1920) HMS Wallington (1919–1920)
Builder	Armstrong, Mitchell, Elswick
Laid down	15 August 1888
Launched	5 February 1890
Completed	27 January 1891
Fate	Sold for scrap, February 1920
General characteristics
Class and type	Pearl-class cruiser
Displacement	2,575 tons
Length	278 ft (84.7 m) (oa) 265 ft (80.8 m) (pp)[1]
Beam	41 ft (12 m)[1]
Draught	15 ft 6 in (4.7 m)
Installed power	7,500 shp (5,600 kW) 4 × boilers
Propulsion	2 × screws; 2 × 3-cylinder triple-expansion steam engines[1]
Speed	19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph)
Complement	210
Armament	8 × QF 4.7 inch (120 mm) guns 8 × 3-pounder guns 4 × 14-inch (356 mm) torpedo tubes
Armour	Deck: 1–2 inches (25–51 mm) Gun shields: 2 in Conning tower: 3 inches (76 mm)

Renamed on 2 April 1890, as Wallaroo as part of the Auxiliary Squadron of the Australia Station. She arrived in Sydney with the squadron on 5 September 1891.^[2] She was placed into reserve upon arrival until 9 May 1894. She was sent to serve in China during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900. On 6 January 1904 while sailing off Montague Island, one of her boilers exploded killing four and wounding three. She left the Australia Station on 11 January 1906.^[2]

She was attached to HMS Indus as a training ship for mechanics at Devonport.^[2] She became a guard ship at Chatham in November 1914.^[3] She was then stationed off Brightlingsea, Essex, as the base ship for the boom and net-protected Swin Anchorage, returning to Chatham in 1916. Her captains between late 1914 and 1916 included Commanders Calderon, Ingham, and West, with Rear-Admiral Charles Napier as overall commander of the Brightlingsea naval base also named "Wallaroo". The ship was often overflown by raiding Zeppelins and once fired on one. She was renamed HMS Wallington in March 1919.^[4] She was sold in 1920, as Wallaroo to G. Sharpe for breaking up.^[2]

A Pearl-class cruiser from Brassey's Naval Annual, 1897

Notes

1. Winfield, p. 276
2. Bastock 1988, pp. 103–104.
3. Osborne, Mike (2017). If the Kaiser Comes – Defence Against A German Invasion of Britain in the First World War. England: Fonthill Media Limited. p. 96. ISBN 9781781555750.
4. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921, p. 14

References

• Bastock, John (1988). Ships on the Australia Station. Frenchs Forest, Australia: Child & Associates. ISBN 0-86777-348-0.
• Brook, Peter (1999). Warships for Export: Armstrong Warships 1867–1927. Gravesend, Kent, UK: World Ship Society. ISBN 0-905617-89-4.
• Gardiner, Robert, ed. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1985. ISBN 0-87021-907-3.
• Winfield, R.; Lyon, D. (2004). The Sail and Steam Navy List: All the Ships of the Royal Navy 1815–1889. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-032-6. OCLC 52620555.