The protected cruiser behind Bermuda's improvised passenger service

HMS Charybdis belonged to the eight-ship Astraea class of protected cruisers. The reading gives a length of 320 feet and a beam of 49 feet, with eight boilers and twin-screw triple-expansion machinery capable of 21 knots under forced draught. Her original armament comprised two 6-inch guns, eight 4.7-inch guns, ten 6-pounders, one 3-pounder, and four torpedo tubes. A 2-inch armoured deck protected a ship carrying a complement of 318. She joined the 12th Cruiser Squadron at the outbreak of the First World War, but a collision in 1915 led to her being laid up in Bermuda. These particulars describe the warship that later had to be altered to accommodate passengers and cargo.