Alarm-class torpedo gunboat

	HMS Jason
Class overview
Name	Alarm class
Builders	Naval Construction & Armament, Barrow; Laird Brothers, Birkenhead; Devonport Dockyard; Sheerness Dockyard; Thornycroft, Chiswick;
Operators	Royal Navy
Preceded by	Sharpshooter class
Succeeded by	Dryad class
Built	1892–1893
In commission	1893–1924
Completed	11
Lost	3
Scrapped	8
General characteristics
Type	Torpedo gunboat
Displacement	810 long tons (820 t)
Length	242 ft (74 m)
Beam	27 ft (8.2 m)
Draught	12 ft 6 in (3.81 m) maximum
Installed power	3,500 ihp (2,600 kW); except Speedy - 5,000 ihp (3,700 kW);
Propulsion	Twin 3-cylinder vertical triple-expansion steam engines; Locomotive boilers; Twin screws; (except Speedy - water-tube boilers);
Speed	18.7 knots (34.6 km/h; 21.5 mph)
Complement	91
Armament	Jason, Hebe, Circe, Onyx, Leda:; 1 × fixed bow 14 in (360 mm) torpedo tube; 2 × revolving 14 in torpedo tubes; 2 × fixed 14 in torpedo tubes; 2 × QF 4.7 in (120 mm) guns; 4 × 3-pounder guns; 1 × Gardner machine gun; Alarm, Jaseur, Niger, Reynard, Speedy, Antelope:; 1 × fixed bow 18 in (450 mm) torpedo tube; 2 × revolving 18 in torpedo tubes; 2 × QF 4.7 in guns; 4 × 3-pounder guns; 1 × Gardner machine gun;

The Alarm-class torpedo gunboat was the penultimate class of torpedo gunboat built for the Royal Navy. The class was contemporary with the early torpedo boat destroyers, which were faster and thus better suited to pursue of enemy torpedo boats. By the First World War, ships of the class had either been sold, converted to submarine depot ships or minesweepers, or reduced to harbour service. Three of the 11 completed torpedo gunboats of the Alarm class were lost during the war while serving in the minesweeping role.