Duncan class (1859)
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| Duncan class 101-guns | |
|---|---|
| Class Overview |  |
| Type | steam two-decker line-of-battle ship |
| Name | Duncan class |
| Ships ordered | 3 |
| Laid down | 3 |
| Launched | 2
Robust changed to Bulwark class |
| Completed | 2 |
| Preceded by | Conqueror class |
| Suceeded by | Bulwark class |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage | 3,715 t |
| Displacement | 5,950 t |
| Length | 252 overall
213 ft 9.25 in keel-line |
| Beam | 58 ft extreme |
| Draught | 25 ft 6 in
Gibraltar (not masted or stores) 18 ft forward, 22 ft 6 in aft |
| Machinery | 800 nhp
Duncan (Penn) 3428 ihp Gibraltar (Maudslay) 3494 ihp |
| Speed (steam) | Duncan 13.338 kts
Gibraltar 12.48 kts (not masted or stored) |
| Trials | Duncan (Stokes Bay) 7 Aug 1860
Gibraltar (Plymouth) 17 Apr 1861 |
| Masts | |
| Main | 67 ft x 40 in |
| Fore | 61 ft x 37 in |
| Mizzen | 51 ft 6 in x 27 in |
| Armament | |
| Gun Deck | 36 x 8in/65cwt |
| Main deck | 36 x 32pdr/56cwt |
| Upper Deck | 28 x 32pdr/42cwt
1 x 68pdr/95cwt |
| Complement | 930 |
| Cost | Duncan £132,697
Gibraltar £130,235 |
| Source | |
| Lambert Battleships in Transition[1] | |
The Duncan class of 101-gun two-decker steam line-of-battle ships are considered by Professor Andrew Lambert to have been the "final statement of the British design procress" for steam two-deckers. The class consisted of the HMS Duncan and HMS Gibraltar. The Bulwark class had identical hulls. HMS Gibraltar was the last wooden steam line-of-battleship to commision as a private ship in the Royal Navy.[2]
Contents |
[edit] Design
The first British steam 101-gun two-decker was the St Jean d'Acre, which was ordered and laid down in 1851 and was "the first ship that can be directly atributed to Sir Baldwin Walker's influence. [She was] an expansion of the Agamemnon [91-guns], her superior qualities were developed in the succeeding Conqueror and Duncan classes of 101-gun ships."[3] The Duncan class were longer and broader versions of the Conqueror, which was a success as they were noticeably faster (see table below).[4]
"The early steam battleships, such as the 230-foot Agamemnon, combined a measure of speed under sail or steam with similar manoeuvring powers to the sailing ships. This persuaded Walker to try even longer hulls, the Renown being drawn out to 244 feet 9 inches and the Bulwark to 252 feet.[5] While the post-war ships, from their greater lenght and finer lines, reached higher speeds they did so at the expense of the facility and precision of their response to the helm. New ships such as the Donegal, 101 and Renown, 91 were considered slow in their stays. This lack of handiness was emphasised by their operating in company with older ships such the the St Jean d'Acre, 101 and James Watt, 91 which lacked speed, but tacked and wore far more easily. Lord Aukland had anticipated this problem in 1847.[6]"[7]
Duncan and Gibraltar "presented a very different apearance from the Baroque splendour of the early Eighteenth Century, with their regular outline bereft of almost all embellishment beyond the elliptical stern gallery and the figurehead and painted in the severe black and white bands of the era. These were the most stiking and intimidating of all wooden warships, replacing elegance with majesty. As such they were fitting precursors for the industrial architecture of the iron-clads."[8]
| Agamemnon 91-guns | St Jean d'Acre 101-guns | Conqueror class 101-guns | Duncan class 101-guns | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tonnage (B.O.M.) | 3,085 t | 3,200 t | 3,224 t | 3,715 t |
| Displacement | 4,614 t | 5,499 t | 5,720 t | 5,950 t |
| Overall length | 230 ft 3 in | 238 ft | 240 ft | 252 ft |
| Keel length | 193 ft 3 in | 202 ft 5 in | 204 ft 10 in | 213 ft 9.25 in |
| Breadth (extreme) | 55 ft 4 in | 55 ft 4 in | 55 ft 4 in | 58 ft |
| Depth in hold | 24 ft 6 in | 25 ft | 24 ft 5 in | 25 ft 6 in |
| Engines (nhp) | 600 | 600 | 800 | 800 |
| Engines (ihp) | 2,268 | 2,136 | Conqueror - 2,812
Donegal - 3,103 |
Duncan - 3,428
Gibraltar - 3,494 |
| Speed under steam (kts) | 11.243 | 11.199 | Conqueror - 10.806
Donegal - 11.912 |
Duncan - 13.338
Gibraltar** - 12.48 |
** Note that Gibraltar's trial speed was undertaken without masts or stores.
Source: Lambert[9]
[edit] Key Dates
The following table shows key dates for the Duncan class.[10]
| Ship | Builder | Ordered | Laid Down | Launched | Trials | Commissioned | Last in Commission as Sea-Going Ship | Sold |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duncan | Portsmouth | 29 Nov 1856 | 2 May 1857 | 13 Dec 1859 | 7 Aug 1860 | 6 Jan 1864 | 28 Feb 1870 | 11 Oct 1910 |
| Gibraltar | Devonport | 31 Mar 1855 | Oct 1858 | 16 Aug 1860 | 17 Apr 1861 | 8 Sep 1863 | 12 Jan 1867 | 16 Mar 1899 |
[edit] Career HMS Duncan
10 Feb 1862: Reduction in the number of guns carried in peacetime to 89.[11]
6 Jan 1864: Commanded by Captain Robert Gibson, flagship of Vice-Admiral James Hope, North America and West Indies.[12]
Whilst serving on the North America and West Indies Station, Captain John Bythesea VC was carried on the books of Duncan as second captain from 1st April 1866 to Spring 1867, for specails service as Naval Attache in Washington.[13]
15 Jun 1867 - 10 Sep 1867: Commanded by Captain George Hancock, Coast Guard, Leith (Queensferry) (replacing Trafalgar).[14]
10 Sep 1867 - 28 Feb 1870: Commanded (until paying off) by Captain Charles Fellowes, Coast Guard, Leith (and flagship of Commodore of John Walker Tarleton's Coast Guard squadron comprising Duncan, Donegal, Revenge, Irresistible, Lion, Dauntless and Argus).[15] HMS Repulse replaced Duncan as Coast Guard, Queensferry by 20 Aug 1870.[16]
1 Apr 1873 - 1 Jan 1875: Commanded by Captain George Willes Watson, Sheerness, replacing Pembroke.[17]
1 Jan 1875: Commanded by Captain Charles Thomas Curme, flagship of Vice-Admiral George Fowler Hastings, Sheerness.[18]
From some time in 1878 - 1 Jan 1879: Commanded by Captain Thomas Bridgeman Lethbridge, Sheerness.[19]
1 Jan 1879 - 27 Jul 1881: Commanded by Captain Thomas Baker Martin Sulivan, Sheerness. Tenders: Hydra, Porcupine, Trent and Wildfire.[20]
27 Jul 1881 - 31 Dec 1881: Commanded (until paying off at Sheerness) by Captain John D'Arcy, Sheerness (replaced by the Naval Barracks at Sheerness, renamed Duncan, but retained with a small crew as "saluting ship").[21]
In 1890 she was Chatham. Machinery probably removed. That year she was listed as harbour service and renamed Pembroke.[22]
1895: Receiving ship, Chatham.[23]
By Sep 1905 she had been renamed Tenedos II.[24]
11 October 1910 Sold for breaking up at London for £7,525.[25]
[edit] Career HMS Gibraltar
8 Sep 1863 - Dec 1864: Commanded (from commissioning at Plymouth) by Captain James Charles Prevost, Mediterranean Fleet. [26]
Dec 1864 - 12 Jan 1867: Commanded (until paying off at Plymouth) by Captain Robert Coote, Mediterranean Fleet.[27]
1871 onwards: Lent to the Belfast Training Ship Committee as training ship for boys in Belfast.[28]
1889: renamed Grampian.[29]
16 Mar 1899: Sold to Castle for breaking up at Charlton.[30]
[edit] Notes
- ^ Lambert, "Battleships in Transition", p122-4.
- ^ Lambert, "Battleships in Transition", p124.
- ^ Lambert, "Battleships in Transition" p33 and 35.
- ^ Lambert, "Battleships in Transition" p123-4.
- ^ Surveyor before the Committee on Marine Engines PP859 xv p47
- ^ Aukland to Napier, 25 Oct 1857, Napier Mss, National Maritime Museum reference NAP/1
- ^ Lambert, "Battleships in Transition" p63.
- ^ Lambert, "Battleships in Transition" p67.
- ^ Lambert, "Battleships in Transition" p122-4.
- ^ Lambert, "Battleships in Transition", p123-4. HMS Duncan. HMS Gibraltar.
- ^ The Times newspaper, 11 Feb 1862.
- ^ Lambert, "Battleships in Transition", p124. History HMS Duncan. Lambert says that she became flagship in 1865 and paid off in 1868.
- ^ biography John Bythesea
- ^ History HMS Duncan. Note the discrepancy with dates in Lambert.
- ^ Lambert, "Battleships in Transition", p124. History HMS Duncan. Lambert claims she became Coast Guard at Leith in 1868. Inclusion of Argus is suspect.
- ^ History HMS Repulse
- ^ Lambert, "Battleships in Transition", p124. History HMS Duncan. Lambert claims she was at Sheerness 1870-90.
- ^ History HMS Duncan.
- ^ History HMS Duncan.
- ^ History HMS Duncan.
- ^ History HMS Duncan.
- ^ Lambert, "Battleships in Transition", p124. History HMS Duncan.
- ^ Lambert, "Battleships in Transition", p124. History HMS Duncan.
- ^ Lambert, "Battleships in Transition", p124. History HMS Duncan.
- ^ Lambert, "Battleships in Transition", p124. History HMS Duncan.
- ^ Lambert, "Battleships in Transition", p124. HMS Gibraltar.
- ^ Lambert, "Battleships in Transition", p124. HMS Gibraltar.
- ^ Lambert, "Battleships in Transition", p124. HMS Gibraltar. Note Lambert says 1871, whereas the online history says 1872.
- ^ HMS Gibraltar.
- ^ Lambert, "Battleships in Transition", p124. HMS Gibraltar.
[edit] References
Lambert, Andrew Battleships in Transition, the Creation of the Steam Battlefleet 1815-1860, published Conway Maritime Press, 1984. ISBN 0 85177 315 X
The Times newspaper, 11 Feb 1862.
History HMS Repulse</ref>
