List of breastwork monitors of the Royal Navy
The
Reed designed the first ship (HMVS Cerberus) at the request of the
HMS Glatton was derived from the design of the first breastwork monitors, but sacrificed the rear turret for thicker armour and larger guns with which to attack enemy ports. She was given a deep
With the exception of Cerberus, all of these ships were sold off for scrap during the first decade of the 20th century.[7] Cerberus was sold in 1924 and used as a breakwater; her wreck still exists off Half Moon Bay in Australia.[8]
Key
Main guns | The number and type of the main battery guns |
Armour | Waterline belt thickness |
Displacement | Ship displacement |
Propulsion | Number of shafts, type of propulsion system, and top speed generated |
Service | The dates work began and finished on the ship and its ultimate fate |
Laid down | The date the keel began to be assembled |
Commissioned | The date the ship was commissioned or completed |
Cerberus class
The two Cerberus-class ships were the first breastwork monitors to be built. Cerberus was ordered in 1866 by the Colony of Victoria to supplement the shore-based fortifications of
Both ships were fitted with three temporary masts for their delivery voyages, although only Cerberus had her freeboard raised with the addition of temporary
Ship | Main guns | Armour | Displacement | Propulsion | Service | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Laid down | Completed | Fate | |||||
HMVS Cerberus | 4 × 10 in (254 mm) rifled muzzle loaders[14]
|
8 inches (200 mm)[14] | 3,340 long tons (3,394 t)[14] | 2 screws, 2 steam engines, 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph)[14] | 1 September 1867[14] | September 1870[14] | Sold 24 June 1924[8] |
HMS Magdala | 6 October 1868[14] | November 1870[14] | Sold January 1903[11] |
HMS Abyssinia
HMS Abyssinia was a smaller and cheaper version of Cerberus designed by the Dudgeon shipyard when the India Office ran out of money after it ordered HMS Magdala. She was intended as a partner for the larger ship in the defence of Bombay and had the same armament but one less inch of armour, and she was one knot slower. The ship was rearmed with eight-inch breech-loading guns in 1892 before being sold for scrap in 1903.[15]
Ship | Main guns | Armour | Displacement | Propulsion | Service | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Laid down | Completed | Fate | |||||
HMS Abyssinia | 4 × 10-inch (250 mm) rifled muzzle loaders[11] | 7 inches (178 mm)[11] | 2,901 long tons (2,948 t)[11] | 2 screws, 2 steam engines, 9 kn (17 km/h; 10 mph)[11] | 23 March 1868[14] | October 1870[14] | Sold 1903[14] |
HMS Glatton
The design of HMS Glatton was also derived from that of Cerberus, although she exchanged one turret for heavier guns and armour. She was given a deeper draught for better seakeeping abilities, but retained the low freeboard of the older ships to make her a smaller target, making it difficult to weather head seas in heavy weather. Nominally intended for coast defence, she was designed to attack the defences of deep-water ports like Brest and Cherbourg.[5]
Glatton was immediately assigned as
Ship | Main guns | Armour | Displacement | Propulsion | Service | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Laid down | Completed | Fate | |||||
HMS Glatton | 2 × 12-inch (300 mm) rifled muzzle loaders[18]
|
12 inches[18] | 4,912 long tons (4,991 t)[18] | 2 screws, 2 steam engines, 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph)[18] | 10 August 1868[18] | 24 February 1872[18] | Sold 1903[17] |
HMS Hotspur
HMS Hotspur was inspired by a series of French coast-defence ships with the ram as their primary weapon. The layout of Glatton was modified with a fixed turret and her freeboard was increased over that of the older ship. The single 12-inch gun was mounted on a turntable and could pivot at each gun port to maximise its arc of fire. It was nominally capable of firing forward, but this proved to damage the upper deck.[19]
Hotspur remained in reserve until 1876 after she was commissioned. She served with
Ship | Main guns | Armour | Displacement | Propulsion | Service | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Laid down | Completed | Fate | |||||
HMS Hotspur | 1 × 12-inch (305 mm) rifled muzzle loader[21] | 11 inches (279 mm)[21] | 4,331 long tons (4,400 t)[21] | 2 screws, 2 steam engines, 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)[21] | 2 October 1868[21] | 17 November 1871[21] | Sold August 1904[20] |
HMS Rupert
HMS Rupert was an enlarged version of Hotspur with a rotating turret, two smaller guns, and heavier armour. Her machinery was unsatisfactory and she could only make 12 knots rather than her designed 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph). The ship was comprehensively reconstructed in 1891–93 when her old muzzle-loading guns were replaced by breech-loading 9.2-inch (234 mm) guns, her machinery was replaced and a number of light quick-firing guns were added for torpedo boat defence.[22]
Rupert was sent to the Mediterranean after she was commissioned and served there from 1876 to 1880. She was thereafter held in reserve at Portsmouth until being mobilised for the Particular Service Squadron during the Russian war scare from April to August 1885. She was then assigned as guard ship at Hull until 1890. After reconstruction she became guard ship at Pembroke Dock until 1895, then at Gibraltar between 1895 and 1902, then relieved Hotspur as guard ship at Bermuda until her sale in 1907.[23]
Ship | Main guns | Armour | Displacement | Propulsion | Service | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Laid down | Completed | Fate | |||||
HMS Rupert | 2 × 10-inch (254 mm) rifled muzzle loaders[24] | 11 inches (280 mm)[24] | 5,440 long tons (5,527 t)[24] | 2 screws, 2 steam engines, 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph)[24] | 6 June 1870[24] | 1 July 1874[24] | Sold 1907[14] |
Cyclops class
The Cyclops-class ships were slightly larger versions of Cerberus, and one knot faster. They were ordered to satisfy demands for local defence during the war scare of 1870. They were ostensibly for coast defence purposes, but the
Ship | Main guns | Armour | Displacement | Propulsion | Service | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Laid down | Completed | Fate | |||||
HMS Cyclops | 4 × 10-inch rifled muzzle loaders[27] | 8 inches (200 mm)[27] | 3,480 long tons (3,536 t)[27] | 2 screws, 2 steam engines, 11 kn (20 km/h; 13 mph)[27] | 10 September 1870[27] | 4 May 1877[27] | Sold 7 July 1903[28] |
HMS Gorgon | 5 September 1870[27] | 19 March 1874[27] | Sold 12 May 1903[28] | ||||
HMS Hecate | 24 May 1877[27] | ||||||
HMS Hydra | 31 May 1876[27] | Sold 7 July 1903[28] |
Conqueror class
The Conqueror-class monitors were enlarged versions of HMS Rupert with improvements based on suggestions from one of Rupert's captains. The useless foremast was removed, and breech-loading guns and heavier compound armour were added. The rear superstructure was enlarged to better accommodate the crew and secondary armament. Six 14-inch torpedo tubes were fitted above water.[29]
Both ships were assigned as tenders to the gunnery schools in Devonport and Portsmouth, although Conqueror did participate in
Ship | Main guns | Armour | Displacement | Propulsion | Service | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Laid down | Completed | Fate | |||||
HMS Conqueror | 2 × breech loaders[31]
|
12 inches[31] | 6,200–6,440 long tons (6,299–6,543 t)[31] | 2 screws, 2 steam engines, 14 kn (26 km/h; 16 mph)[31] | 24 April 1879[31] | March 1886[31] | Sold April 1907[30] |
HMS Hero | 11 April 1884[31] | May 1888[31] | Sunk as target 18 February 1908[30] |
See also
Notes
- ^ Parkes, p. 166
- ^ Ballard, p. 219
- ^ Gardiner, p. 23
- ^ Brown, pp. 56–57
- ^ a b Brown, pp. 57–58
- ^ Gardiner, pp. 22, 24, 28
- ^ Gardiner, pp. 21–22, 24, 28
- ^ a b c d Heritage Division, p. 21
- ^ Brown, p. 57
- ^ Gardiner, p. 21
- ^ a b c d e f Parkes, p. 169
- ^ Silverstone, p. 249
- ^ Silverstone, p. 223
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Parkes, p. 167
- ^ Gardiner, p. 22
- ^ Brown, p. 58
- ^ a b Parkes, p. 174
- ^ a b c d e f Parkes, p. 171
- ^ Parkes, pp. 178–79
- ^ a b Parkes, p. 181
- ^ a b c d e f Parkes, p. 177
- ^ Gardiner, p. 24
- ^ Parkes, p. 186
- ^ a b c d e f Parkes, p. 182
- ^ Beeler, p. 102
- ^ Parkes, pp. 212, 215
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Parkes, p. 213
- ^ a b c Parkes, p. 215
- ^ Gardiner, p. 28
- ^ a b c Parkes, p. 296
- ^ a b c d e f g h Parkes, p. 293
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 - Beeler, John (2001). Birth of the Battleship: British Capital Ship Design 1870–1881. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-213-7.
- Brown, David K. (2003). Warrior to Dreadnought: Warship Development 1860–1905 (reprint of the 1997 ed.). London: Caxton Editions. ISBN 1-84067-529-2.
- Gardiner, Robert, ed. (1979). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. Greenwich: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-8317-0302-4.
- Heritage Division (2010). Australia's National Heritage (PDF) (2nd ed.). Canberra, ACT: Australian Government Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts. OCLC 553788235. Archived from the original(PDF) on 30 July 2008.
- 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.