HMS Aurora (1887)

HMS Aurora was one of seven Orlando-class cruiser armoured cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the mid-1880s. The ship spent a brief time in reserve before she was assigned to the Channel Squadron for two years in 1890. In 1893 Aurora became a coast guard ship in Ireland for two years before she was placed in reserve again. The ship recommissioned in 1899 for service on the China Station and some of her crew participated in the Battle of Tientsin in 1900 during the Boxer Rebellion. Aurora returned home two years later and was again reduced to reserve. She was taken out of service in 1905 and sold for scrap on 2 October 1907.

Design and description
The Orlando-class cruisers were enlarged versions of the Mersey-class cruiser with more armour and a more powerful armament. Like their predecessors, they were intended to protect British shipping. Aurora had a length between perpendiculars of 300 ft, a beam of 56 ft and a draught of 24 ft. Designed to displace 5040 LT, all of the Orlando-class ships proved to be overweight and displaced approximately 5535 LT. The ships were powered by a pair of three-cylinder triple-expansion steam engines, each driving one shaft, which were designed to produce a total of 8500 ihp and a maximum speed of 18 kn using steam provided by four boilers with forced draught. The ship carried a maximum of 900 LT of coal which was designed to give her a range of 8000 nmi at a speed of 10 kn. The ship's complement was 484 officers and ratings.

Aurora's main armament consisted of two breech-loading (BL) 9.2 in Mk V guns, one gun fore and aft of the superstructure on pivot mounts. Her secondary armament was ten BL 6 in guns, five on each broadside. Protection against torpedo boats was provided by six quick-firing (QF) 6-pounder Hotchkiss guns and ten QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss guns, most of which were mounted on the main deck in broadside positions. The ship was also armed with six 18-inch (457 mm) torpedo tubes: four on the broadside above water and one each in the bow and stern below water.

The ship was protected by a waterline compound armour belt 10 in thick. It covered the middle 200 ft of the ship and was 5 ft high. Because the ship was overweight, the top of the armour belt was 2 ft below the waterline when she was fully loaded. The ends of the armour belt were closed off by transverse bulkheads 16 in. The lower deck was 2 - 3 in thick over the full length of the hull. The conning tower was protected by 12 in of armour.

Construction and service
Aurora, named for the eponymous Roman goddess of the dawn, was the eighth ship of her name to serve in the Royal Navy. She was laid down on 1 February 1886 by Pembroke Dockyard. The ship was launched on 28 October 1887 by Mrs. Sophia Morant, wife of Captain George Morant, Captain-Superintendent of the dockyard and completed in July 1889 at a cost of £258,390. Aurora went straight into reserve at Devonport after completion, but was commissioned for service with the Channel Squadron in 1890–92. She was transferred to Bantry, Ireland, in 1893 to serve as the local coastguard ship until 1895. That year the ship was reassigned to the Devonport Reserve and remained there until 1899. Aurora participated in Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee Fleet review on 26 June 1897 at Spithead.

Aurora was recommissioned for service in the Far East in 1899 under the command of Captain Edward Bayly and some of her crew, including Bayly, took part in the Battle of Tientsin in July 1900 during the Boxer Rebellion. In early February 1902 she was ordered to leave, homebound, arriving at Aden on 3 March, at Malta 17 March, and at Plymouth on 26 March. Officers and crew received the China War Medal (1900) on 15 April, before she paid off at Devonport two days later. Upon her return, Aurora left in August 1902 for Clydebank to be refitted, and was placed in Devonport Reserve in 1904 before she was taken out of service the following year. The ship was sold for scrap to Payton, of Milford Haven, Wales, on 2 October 1907 for £12,700.