Ships Cover for HMS Adventure (1891), HMS Dove (1893), HMS Herald (1890), HMS Mosquito (1890) and HMS Pioneer (1892), all shallow-draft paddle gunboats for African service. The contents of this Cover are very brief and sparse, comprising a trial report for Mosquito, stability calculations and cost estimates for Herald and Mosquito, statements of dimensions and weights for Adventure, Herald and Pioneer, schemes of complement for Adventure and Pioneer, and alterations carried out to all the vessels during their very brief period in RN service. The most coherent series of paper relates to concerns raised by the colonial authorities as to the unsuitability of the Lake Nyassa gunboats for their intended role, and the DNCs response. The date range is unsurprisingly brief, the earliest papers dating from March 1890 and the last February 1902, shortly before Herald and Mosquito were sold. The other three had been transferred to the British Central Africa government between 1894 and 1896.