HMS Caledonia (1862)
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| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Builder: | Woolwich Dockyard |
| Laid down: | 1860 |
| Launched: | October 24, 1862 |
| Completed: | July 1865 |
| Broken up: | 1886 |
| Specification | |
| Displacement: | 6,832 tons |
| Original length: | 252 ft (76.8 m) |
| Length on conversion: | 273 ft (83.2 m) |
| Original beam | 57 ft (17.4 m) |
| Beam on conversion: | 58 ft 6 inches (17.8 m) |
| Original draught: | 25 ft (7.6 m) light, 26 ft 6 inches (8.1 m) deep load |
| Draught on conversion: | 24 ft (7.3 m) light, 26 ft 9 inches (8.2 m) deep load |
| Engine: | One-shaft Maudsley horizontal reciprocating
I.H.P. 3,750 |
| Speed under power: | 12.5 knots (23.2 km/h) |
| Rig: | Single-topsail barque, sail area 25,000 sq ft (2,300 m²) |
| Speed under sail: | 11.5 knots (21.3 km/h) |
| Complement: | 605 |
| Armament 1865: | Ten 7-inch breech loading rifles
Eight 100-pounder smoothbore Twelve 68-pounder smoothbore |
| Armament 1867: | Four 8-inch muzzle-loading rifles
Twenty 7-inch muzzle-loading rifles |
| Armour: | Battery and belt 4.5 inch amidships
and 3 inch fore and aft |
HMS Caledonia was a broadside ironclad of the Prince Consort class.
Originally laid down as steam two-decker line-of-battle ship of the Bulwark class, HMS Caledonia, HMS Triumph (later renamed Prince Consort) and HMS Ocean were converted on the building stocks to armoured frigates.
The three ships of the Prince Consort class were intended to improve on HMS Royal Oak, which is often referred to as a half-sister to the rest of the class. In reality, the greater engine power was offset by the increased weight of engines and coal which had to be carried, so that the class had almost a two foot greater draft as compared to Royal Oak, which caused their performance to be essentially identical.
[edit] Service History
HMS Caledonia was not completed until July 1865 due to a delay in the delivery of her main armament. Once this was installed, she was commissioned as Second-in-Command of the Mediterranean Fleet, becoming the first ever armoured flagship of the Royal Navy.
She was temporarily withdrawn from service in 1866 for reconstruction, which involved the addition of a poop deck. Following this, she was flagship of the Channel Fleet until 1867, when she was paid off for re-armament.
HMS Caledonia was flagship of the Mediterranean Fleet until 1869 (relieving HMS Victoria, the last three-deck Royal Navy flagship) until 1872. She was a guardship in the Firth of Forth from 1872 until 1875.
She was paid off at Plymouth, and was laid up there until she was sold on September 30, 1886.
[edit] References
- Oscar Parkes British Battleships ISBN 0-85052-604-3
- Conway All the World's Fighting Ships ISBN 0-85177-133-5
- Battleships-Cruisers.co.uk
- Ballard, Admiral G.A. The Black Battlefleet, published Nautical Publications Co. and Society for Nautical Research, 1980. ISBN 0 245 53030 4
- Baxter, James Phinney The Introduction of the Ironclad Warship, published Harvard University, 1933.
- Brown, David K. Warrior to Dreadnought, Warship Development 1860-1905, published Chatham Publishing, 1997. ISBN 1 86176 022 1
- Clowes, William Laird Four Modern Naval Campaigns, Historical Strategical, and Tactical, first published Unit Library, 1902, reprinted Cornmarket Press, 1970.
- Conway All the World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905, published Conway Maritime Press, 1979. ISBN 0-8317-0302-4
- Lambert, Andrew Battleships in Transition, the Creation of the Steam Battlefleet 1815-1860, published Conway Maritime Press, 1984. ISBN 0 85177 315 X
- Parkes, Oscar British Battleships, first published Seeley Service & Co, 1957, published United States Naval Institute Press, 1990. ISBN 1-55750-075-4
- Reed, Edward J Our Ironclad Ships, their Qualities, Performance and Cost, published John Murray, 1869.
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