HMS Devastation (1871)

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HMS Devastation was built by the British Royal Navy at the Pembroke Dockyard, Wales in 1871. She is considered the first true capital ship built by any nation at the time, the development of the monitor-type ship into the ocean-going battleship.

Devastation was built in the 1870s, a time in which steam power was well established among the world's larger naval powers. However, most ships built at this time were not only equipped with a steam engine but also masts for auxiliary power. This also led to a tendency to mount gun turrets as broadsides. Devastation, designed by Sir Edward J. Reed, changed all of this when she was built without masts and her primary armament of two turrets each with two 12-inch (305 mm) muzzle-loading guns were placed on the top of the hull, allowing each turret to have a 280 degree arc of fire. The ship could attain a speed of 13.84 knots (25.6 km/h) and had a range of 5,500 nautical miles (8,850 km), both of which were considered good in their day. In 1891, the 12-inch guns were replaced with 10-inch breech-loading guns and she was refitted with new engines.

She was deployed to serve near the waters of the United Kingdom and the Mediterranean Sea. Afterwards, she was refitted again and assigned to the First Reserve Fleet based in Scotland. The ship was broken up in 1908.

Devastation-class battleship

Devastation | Thunderer

List of battleships of the Royal Navy