HMS Hotspur (1870)

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Career
Laid down:	October 2, 1868
Launched:	March 19, 1870
Completed:	November 17, 1871
Broken up:	1904
Specification
Displacement:	4,331 tons
Length:	235 ft
Beam:	50 ft
Draught:	19 ft light, 20 ft 8 inches deep load
Engine:	Two-shaft Napier reciprocating, I.H.P.= 3,500
Speed	12.65 knots
Complement:	209
Armament 1871:	An armoured ram One 12-inch muzzle-loading rifle Two 64-pounder muzzle-loading rifles
Armament 1883:	An armoured ram Two 12-inch muzzle-loading rifles Two 6-inch breech-loaders Eight 3-inch quick-firers Eight machine guns
Armour:	Belt 11 inches tapering to 8 inches Breastwork 8 inches Turret 10 inches front, 8.5 inches rear Conning tower 10 inches front, 6 inches rear Deck 2.75 inches tapering to 1 inch

HMS Hotspur was an ironclad warship of the Royal Navy in the Victorian era, who carried artillery but whose primary weapon was the ram.

1 Background
2 Design
3 Service History
4 References

[edit] Background

It had been recognised since the time of the Roman Empire or before that a ship, while it might carry weaponry, was itself a potent weapon if used as a missile against other ships. In the era of sail-powered warships with their intrinsic limitations of speed and manoeverability the practice of ramming opponents fell by default into disuse, although the concept remained alive. With the advent of steam-powered vessels, with their enhanced speed and lack of dependence for direction on the wind, the ram as a potent weapon of attack gained credibility in Naval circles and in Ship Constructors' departments. This first became apparent in the American Civil War, when many attempts were made by ships on both sides to ram their opponents, with almost uniform lack of success. (The Confederate Merrimac rammed and holed the Federal Cumberland, but neither ship sank).

The battle which most influenced the exaggerated faith in the ram as a weapon was the battle of Lissa between Austria-Hungary and Italy in 1866. The Austrian Ferdinand Max rammed the (stationary) Italian Re d'Italia, which immediately heeled over and sank. This resulted in all ironclad battleships designed for the next forty years being built to carry a ram; a weapon which, while causing the loss of a number of ships accidentally, never sank another major enemy warship of any nationality.

[edit] Design

Hotspur was designed to work with the Fleet, to bring into action her main weapon, her ram. This projected some ten feet ahead of her bow perpendicular, and was reinforced by an extension of the armoured belt. It was assumed that the bearings upon which a usual turret turned would not survive the shock of the impact consequent upon the use of the ram against an enemy ship. Her single 12-inch gun was therefore positioned in a fixed cupola perforated by four firing-ports through which the gun could be discharged. None of these ports allowed the gun to be fired straight ahead, where a potential ramming target would be situated. It was therefore only possible to engage these targets with the gun if the ramming attack missed. As the maximum speed of Hotspur was slower than virtually all of her potential targets, it quickly became apparent that ramming attacks on ships under way were almost guaranteed to miss, and she quickly descended from being a ship held to be of great military value to be the most useless member of the battle-fleet.

She was reconstructed by Laird & Sons Co., and was given a revolving turret containing two 12-inch guns, new boilers and additional armour.

[edit] Service History

Hotspur was commissioned at Devonport in 1871, and remained in reserve until 1876. She served with HMS Rupert in the Sea of Marmara during the Russo-Turkish war of 1878. She the returned to Devonport, where she remained until her major reconstruction, undetaken by Laird & Sons Co. between 1881 and 1883. Her only active service thereafter was with the Particular Service Squadron of 1885. She was guardship at Holyhead until 1893, was again in reserve until 1897, and was posted thereafter to serve as guardship at Bermuda, where she stayed until sold.