HMS Caledonia (1862)
 | This article includes a list of general references but lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (February 2021) |
_from_Army_and_Navy_Illustrated.jpg) Caledonia at anchor, after 1866 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | Caledonia |
| Namesake | Caledonia |
| Builder | Woolwich Dockyard |
| Laid down | 10 October 1860 |
| Launched | 24 October 1862 |
| Completed | July 1865 |
| Fate | Broken up, 1886 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Prince Consort-class ironclad |
| Displacement | 6,832 long tons (6,942 t) |
| Length |
|
| Beam |
|
| Draught |
|
| Propulsion |
|
| Sail plan | Single-topsail barque, sail area 25,000 sq ft (2,300 m2) |
| Speed | |
| Complement | 605 |
| Armament |
|
| Armour | Battery and belt: 4.5 in (110 mm) amidships and 3 in (76 mm) fore and aft |
HMS Caledonia was a broadside ironclad of the Prince Consort class. Originally laid down as a two-decker steam ship of the line of the Bulwark class, Caledonia was converted on the building stocks into an armoured frigate.
Service history
[edit]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She was temporarily withdrawn from service in 1866 for reconstruction which involved the addition of a poop deck.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.[citation needed] In July 1871, she ran aground off Santorini, Greece. She was later refloated and taken in to Malta for repairs.[1] She was a guardship in the Firth of Forth from 1872 until 1875.[citation needed][dubious – discuss] On 15 June 1873, Caledonia was in collision with the British ship Hogton Tower off St. Alban's Head, Dorset. Hogton Tower was severely damaged at the bows; Caledonia towed her in to Spithead, Hampshire. Caledonia had been serving as a Coastguard vessel at Birkenhead, Cheshire and was sailing to Portsmouth, Hampshire, for a forthcoming inspection of the fleet by the Shah of Persia.[2] She was paid off at Plymouth, and was laid up there until she was sold on 30 September 1886.[citation needed]
References
[edit]Bibliography
[edit]- Ballard, G. A. (1980). The Black Battlefleet. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-924-3.
- Clowes, William Laird Four Modern Naval Campaigns, Historical Strategical, and Tactical, first published Unit Library, 1902, reprinted Cornmarket Press, 1970.
- Friedman, Norman (2018). British Battleships of the Victorian Era. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-68247-329-0.
- Lambert, Andrew D. (1984). Battleships in Transition: The Creation of the Steam Battlefleet 1815-1860. Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-315-X.
- Parkes, Oscar (1990) [1966]. British Battleships, Warrior 1860 to Vanguard 1950: A History of Design, Construction, and Armament (New & rev. ed.). Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-075-4.
- Winfield, Rif (2014). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1817–1863: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-169-4.
Further reading
[edit]- Baxter, James Phinney. The Introduction of the Ironclad Warship, published Harvard University, 1933.
- Roberts, John (1979). "Great Britain (including Empire Forces)". In Chesneau, Roger & Kolesnik, Eugene M. (eds.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. Mayflower Books. pp. 1–113. ISBN 0-8317-0302-4.
- Reed, Edward J Our Ironclad Ships, their Qualities, Performance and Cost, published John Murray, 1869.