HMS Defence (1861)

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Career (UK) RN Ensign
Ordered: 14 December 1859
Builder: Palmer Brothers, Jarrow
Laid down: 14 December 1859
Launched: 24 April 1861
Completed: 12 February 1862
Commissioned: 4 December 1861
Fate: Broken up, August 1935
General characteristics
Class and type: Defence class battleship
Displacement: 6,150 tons
Length: 280 ft (85 m) pp,
302 ft (92 m) overall
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 knots (19.9 km/h) under power
10.5 knots (19.4 km/h) under sail
Complement: 460
Armament: 4 × 5 inch breech-loaders
8 × 7 inch breech-loaders
10 × 68 pounders
After 1867 refit:
2 × 8 inch muzzle-loading rifles
14 × 7 inch muzzle-loading rifles
Armour: 4.5 inch with 18 inch teak backing
4.5 inch bulkheads
For other ships of the same name, see HMS Defence.

HMS Defence was the lead ship of the Defence Class of 1859, her sister ship being HMS Resistance.

After completion in 1862 she served in the Channel Fleet until 1866, when she paid off in Plymouth for refit and re-armament. She returned to the Channel Fleet in 1868, and in 1869 she was sent to the North America station to relieve HMS Royal Alfred. She served in the Mediterranean from 1871 to 1872, and had a further lengthy refit in Plymouth between 1872 and 1874. She was the guardship on the Shannon from 1874 to 1876, and then served a further three years in the Channel until 1879. She was guardship in the Mersey until 1885, after which she saw no further sea-going service. In 1890 she was converted into a floating workshop, and was renamed Indus I in 1898. She was broken up at Plymouth in August 1935.

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