HMS Ocean (1863)
.jpg) HMS Ocean in 1868
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | HMS Ocean |
| Builder | Devonport Dockyard |
| Cost | £298,851 |
| Laid down | 23 August 1860 |
| Launched | 19 March 1863 |
| Completed | 6 September 1866 |
| Commissioned | July 1866 |
| Decommissioned | June 1872 |
| Fate | Sold for scrap, 1882 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | armoured frigate |
| Displacement | 6,832 long tons (6,942 t) |
| Length | 273 ft 1 in (83.2 m) |
| Beam | 58 ft 5 in (17.8 m) |
| Draught | 27 ft 6 in (8.4 m) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | 1 shaft, 1 Horizontal return connecting-rod steam engine |
| Sail plan | Barque rig |
| Speed | 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
| Range | 2,000 nmi (3,700 km; 2,300 mi) at 5 knots (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph) |
| Complement | 605 |
| Armament | 24 × 7-inch rifled muzzle-loading guns |
| Armour | |
HMS Ocean was the last of the
Design and description
HMS Ocean was 273 feet 1 inch (83.2 m) long between perpendiculars and had a beam of 58 feet 5 inches (17.8 m). The ship had a draught of 24 feet 5 inches (7.4 m) forward and 27 feet 6 inches (8.4 m) aft. She displaced 6,832 long tons (6,942 t).[1]
Ocean had a metacentric height of 6.01 feet (1.83 m) which meant that she rolled a lot and was an unsteady gun platform.[2] Her hull was sheathed with Muntz metal to reduce biofouling. Her crew consisted of 605 officers and ratings.[3]
Propulsion
Ocean had a simple horizontal 2-cylinder
Armament
Ocean was initially armed with twenty-four seven-inch (178 mm)
Armour
The entire side of the Prince Consort-class ships, from the upper-deck level downwards, was protected by wrought iron armour that tapered from 4.5 inches (114 mm) amidships to 3 inches (76 mm) at the ends. The armour extended 5 feet 6 inches (1.7 m) below the waterline. One small conning tower was fitted on each side of the upper deck amidships, but these proved to be untenable when the ship's guns were fired. The armour was backed by the sides of the ship which were 29.5 inches (749 mm) thick.[11]
Service history
HMS Ocean was laid down on 23 August 1860 as a wooden two-deck, 90-gun ship of the line by Devonport Dockyard. The Admiralty ordered on 5 June 1861[12] that she be lengthened 23 feet (7.0 m), cut down one deck,[13] and converted to an armoured frigate for the price of £298,851.[9] The ship was launched on 19 March 1863 and commissioned in July 1866, but was not completed until 6 September 1866.[12] Ocean initially served with the Channel Fleet, but she was almost immediately transferred to the Mediterranean, and from there to the Far East; she arrived in Batavia (now Jakarta) on 15 October 1867. She was the only armoured ship ever to double the Cape of Good Hope under canvas alone.[14] During this voyage Ocean set a record in having sailed 243 nautical miles (450 km; 280 mi) on 26 August 1867 with cold boilers, the greatest distance ever covered under sail power by a British ironclad.[15]
Ocean served on the China Station for five years, 1867–1872, without docking once. The ship relieved the old two-decker
Footnotes
- ^ Ballard, p. 241
- ^ Parkes, p. 57
- ^ Ballard, pp. 116, 118
- ^ Ballard, pp. 119–120, 246
- ^ Silverstone, p. 157
- ^ Ballard, pp. 246–47
- ^ Parkes, pp. 55, 57
- ^ Ballard, p. 120
- ^ a b c Parkes, p. 55
- ^ a b Gardiner, p. 6
- ^ Ballard, p. 118, 243
- ^ a b Ballard, p. 240
- ^ Ballard, pp. 116–17
- ^ a b c Ballard, p. 125
- ^ Ballard, p. 124
- ^ "Mercantile Ship News". The Standard. No. 14730. London. 18 October 1871. p. 7.
- ^ "Ships figureheads over the gate at Castles Shipbreaking Yard". media storehouse. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
References
- Ballard, G. A., Admiral (1980). The Black Battlefleet. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-924-3.)
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - Gardiner, Robert, ed. (1979). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. Greenwich: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-8317-0302-4.
- Parkes, Oscar (1990). British Battleships (reprint of the 1957 ed.). Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-075-4.
- Silverstone, Paul H. (1984). Directory of the World's Capital Ships. New York: Hippocrene Books. ISBN 0-88254-979-0.