Defence class battleship

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Class overview
Builders: Palmer Brothers, Jarrow
Westwood & Baillie, Poplar
Built: 1859–1862
In commission: 1861–1935
Completed: 2
General characteristics
Type: Ironclad battleships
Displacement: Resistance: 6,070 tons
Defence: 6,150 tons
Length: 302 ft (92 m) o/a
280 ft (85 m) p/p
Beam: 54 ft 2 in (16.5 m)
Draught: 24 ft 6 in (7.5 m) forward
26 ft (7.9 m)aft
Propulsion: Single-shaft Penn trunk engines; I.H.P 2,540
Sail plan: Barque rig, sail area 24,500 sq ft (2,280 m²)
Speed: 10.75 kn (19.91 km/h) under power
10.5 kn (19.4 km/h) under sail
Complement: 460
Armament: 6 × 7 in (180 mm) breech-loaders
10 × 68 pounders
2 × 32 pounders
After 1867 refit:
2 × 8 in (200 mm) muzzle-loading rifles
14 × 7 in (180 mm) muzzle-loading rifles
Armour: 4.5 in (110 mm) with 18-inch (460 mm) teak backing
4.5 inch bulkheads

The Defence Class of ironclad battleships were the class which historically immediately followed the first two British ironclads, HMS Warrior and HMS Black Prince. The class consisted of two ships, HMS Defence and HMS Resistance.

In 1859 the Admiralty was as yet not convinced that the cost of the HMS Warrior class, which had significantly exceeded the costs of all previous warships, had to be accepted as the norm. It had been noted that the armour plate of 4.5 inches (110 mm) thickness as fitted to these vessels was adequate to deflect all ordnance currently afloat, and Their Lordships therefore requested a class of ships which, while carrying the same armour as the Warriors, was cheaper and smaller. The designer, Isaac Watts, submitted a plan on November 24, 1859, in which he made it clear that he could only incorporate enough engine power for 10.75 knots (20 km/h), which would leave the French ironclad La Gloire some two knots faster, and able to avoid action if she so chose.

In view of the French programme of ironclad construction, which showed signs of overtaking the British, the Admiralty proposed that six ships of this design be constructed. Political considerations however ultimately ensured that only two were ordered on 14 December 1859. The Prime Minister of the day, Lord Palmerston, was not convinced that the day of the wooden line-of-battle ship had passed.

Sir Nathaniel Barnaby, a future Constructor of the Navy, considered that in terms of combat a Defence-class ship was worth one quarter of a Warrior.

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