HMS Katoomba (1889)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Pandora and HMAS Katoomba.

300px HMS Katoomba in Hobart, Tasmania in 1903.
History
United Kingdom
Name:	Pandora
Namesake:	Pandora Katoomba, New South Wales
Builder:	Armstrong Whitworth, Elswick, Tyne and Wear
Laid down:	15 August 1888
Launched:	27 August 1889
Completed:	1 December 1890
Renamed:	Katoomba
Fate:	Sold for scrap, 10 July 1906
General characteristics
Class & type:	Pearl-class cruiser
Displacement:	2,575 tons
Length:	278 ft (84.7 m) (oa) 265 ft (80.8 m) (pp)
Beam:	41 ft (12 m)
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
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)

HMS Katoomba was a Pearl-class cruiser built for the Royal Navy, originally named HMS Pandora, built by Armstrong Whitworth, Elswick, Tyne and Wear and launched on 27 August 1889. Renamed on 2 April 1890, as Katoomba as the flagship of the Auxiliary Squadron of the Australia Station. She arrived in Sydney with the squadron on 5 September 1891. She was damaged in a collision with the tug Yatala in Port Adelaide on 29 December 1891. She left the Australia Station on 16 January 1906. She was sold for £8500 on 10 July 1906 and broken up at Morecambe.

File:Pearl class cruiser diagram Brasseys 1897.jpg

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