HMS Devastation (1871)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 HMS Devastation in 1896. |
|
| Career (UK) |  |
|---|---|
| Laid down: | November 1869 |
| Launched: | Portsmouth 12 July 1871 |
| Commissioned: | 1873 |
| Status: | Scrapped May 1908 |
| General Characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 9180 tons standard 13000 tons maximum |
| Length: | 285 ft (87 m) |
| Beam: | 62 ft 3 in (19.0 m) |
| Draught: | 27 ft 6 in (8.4 m) |
| Propulsion: | Coal fired steam engines, twin screws As built rectangular 30 psi (210 kPa) boilers, two Penn trunk engines |
| Speed: | 14 knots (26 km/h) maximum (following 1890 modernisation) |
| Complement: | 410 |
| Armament: | Four 35 ton 12 in (305 mm) muzzle loading rifles, six 6 pounder (2.7 kg) guns. Eight 3 pounders |
| Armour: | 10 to 12 in (254 to 305 mm) belt |
HMS Devastation was the first of two Devastation-class mastless turret ship built the British Royal Navy. This was the first class of ocean-going capital ship which did not carry sails, and the first which mounted the entire main armament on top of the hull rather than inside it. For the first fifteen years of their lives, they were the most powerful warships in the world.
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 |
