HMS Camperdown (1885)

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Career

Laid down:	18 December 1882
Launched:	24 November 1885
Completed:	July 1889
Broken up:	11 June 1911
General Characteristics
Displacement:	10,600 tons
Length:	330 ft (101 m)
Beam:	68.5 ft (20.9 m)
Draught:	27.25 ft (8.3 m) maximum
Engine:	Two-shaft Maudslay compound inverted I.H.P.= 7,500 normal, 11,500 forced draught
Speed:	17.1 knots (forced draught)
Complement:	530
Armament:	Four 13.5 in (343 mm) breech loaders Four 6 in (152 mm) breech loaders Twelve 6 pounders (2.7 kg) guns Ten 3 pounder (1.4 kg) quick-firers Five above-water torpedo tubes
Armour:	Belt 18 inches upper strake, 8 inches lower strake Barbettes 14 inches to 12 inches Conning towers 12 inches to 2 inches Battery screens 6 inches Upper deck 3 inches Lower deck 2.5 inches

HMS Camperdown was a Victorian era battleship of the Royal Navy, and was the only member of the Admiral class not to be named after an Admiral.

At the time of her building there was in existence an armoured cruiser named HMS Nelson, and therefore this ship was named after one of Vice-Admiral Nelson's victories, rather than after the man himself.

She was a full sister to HMS Anson, and was an improved version of the earlier HMS Howe and HMS Rodney. In comparison to these earlier ships she had an increased thickness of barbette armour, and a lengthened armour belt. The extra armour carried increased the displacement by 350 tons; in order not to increase the draught she was lengthened by 5 feet and was given 6 inches more beam.

The 13.5 inch-calibre guns were carried in two pairs, in barbettes positioned on the centre-line at either end of the superstructure. They were carried at a height of twenty feet above the full-load water-line, and possessed firing arcs of some 270°. Each shell weighed 1,250 pounds, and would penetrate 27 inches of iron at a range of 1,000 yards.

[edit] Service History

She was commissioned at Portsmouth on 18 July 1889, and initially went into reserve. In December 1889 she was posted to the Mediterranean Fleet as flagship, where she remained until being posted as flagship of the Channel Fleet in May 1890. She was paid off in May 1892 into Fleet reserve, recommissioning in July 1892 into the Mediterranean Fleet. On 22 June 1893 she collided with and sank HMS Victoria (See HMS Victoria (1887) for details). In September 1899 she went into Category B reserve, and in May 1900 into Dockyard reserve. In July 1900 she commissioned as a coastguard ship at Lough Swilly until May 1903. She was in reserve at Chatham until 1908, and was employed at Harwich as a berthing ship for submarines until she was sold in 1911.