Editing HMS Alert (1856) (section)

==Construction==
The wooden sloops of the ''Cruizer'' class were designed under the direction of [[Lord John Hay (Royal Navy rear-admiral)|Lord John Hay]], and after his "Committee of Reference" was disbanded, their construction was supervised by the new [[Surveyor of the Navy]], [[Baldwin Walker|Sir Baldwin Walker]]. Ordered together with her co-ship {{HMS|Falcon|1854|2}} on 2 April 1853,<ref name=RW/> ''Alert'' was [[Keel laying|laid down]] at the Royal Dockyard, [[Pembroke Dock|Pembroke]] in January 1855. It was fitted at Chatham<ref name=CCG/> with a two-cylinder horizontal single-expansion [[Marine steam engine|steam engine]], which was supplied by Ravenhill & Salkeld at a cost of £6,052 and generated an [[indicated horsepower]] of {{convert|383|hp|kW|abbr=on}}; driving a single [[Propeller|screw]], this gave a maximum speed of {{convert|8.8|kn|km/h|lk=in}}. The class was given a [[barque]]-rig sail plan.