Designed by Edward Reed,[1] the Royal Navy Director of Naval Construction, the hull was built of oak, with teak planking and decks, and she was equipped with a ram bow.

[1] Propulsion was provided by a two-cylinder horizontal single-expansion steam engine by Ravenhill, Salkeld & Company driving a single 15 ft (4.6 m) screw.

Dryad, Nymphe and Vestal were rearmed in the early 1870s with an armament of nine 64-pounder muzzle-loading rifled guns, four each side and a centre-line pivot mount at the bow.

Within fifty or sixty seconds after the order is given to prepare for action, the tubes can be made all ready and the firing may begin.

The "Blue Jackets" rendered valuable service during the action at Arogye on 10 April,[8] where they led the attack up the King's Road.

He captured seven slave ships[9] during his two years in the Indian Ocean, and returned to Britain a lionised figure, courted by the press.

Commander Compton Edward Domvile re-commissioned Dryad on 13 August 1874 and took her to the North America and West Indies Station.

On 15 February 1883, François Césaire de Mahy, who was a Réunion deputy and French Minister of Agriculture (and at the time also temporarily filled the post of Minister of Marine), ordered Rear Admiral Pierre to enforce French claims in Madagascar, starting the first Franco-Hova War.

Nevertheless, his dispensary was broken into, he was arrested, accused of poisoning French soldiers [footnote: Who had made themselves ill by appropriating and drinking his claret – that was all.

On 16 July, the New York Times was able to report that The Captain of the English war vessel Dryad has offended the French by landing a guard of marines at the British consulate, and placing his boats at the disposal of fugitives.

[14] In Britain, the press railed against 'French atrocities' and in France the equally virulent media insisted that the British were too inclined to exceed their rights as neutrals.

Coming at the same time as a French expedition to Indochina, and seeking to maintain cordial relations, the issues were downplayed by both governments.

It was at this battle that Captain Arthur Knyvet Wilson of HMS Hecla earned the Victoria Cross for his conspicuous bravery in fighting with his fists, and saving one corner of the British square from being broken.

On 11 March, the Naval Brigade advanced from Suakin with the troops for the dispersal of the Arab forces who were beleaguering Sinkat.

Order was at length restored, and the Naval Brigade, advancing again, had the satisfaction of regaining all their guns; the Arab forces retired after suffering a loss of 2,000 killed.