HMS Hector (1862)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
|
| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Laid down: | March 1861 |
| Launched: | 26 September 1862 |
| Completed: | 22 February 1864 |
| Fate: | Broken up 1905 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Hector class battleship |
| Displacement: | 6,710 tons |
| Length: | 280 ft (85 m) pp |
| Beam: | 56 ft 3 in (17.1 m) |
| Draught: | 25 ft (7.6 m) |
| Propulsion: | Napier connecting-rod 3,260 IHP |
| Sail plan: | Barque-rig, sail area 24,500 sq ft (2,280 m²) |
| Speed: | 12.6 knots (23.3 km/h) |
| Complement: | 530 |
| Armament: | 4 × 7 inch breech loaders 20 × 68 pounders Re-armed 1867 2 × 8 inch muzzle-loading rifles 16 × 7 inch muzzle-loading rifles |
| Armour: | 4.5 inch main belt and bulkheads Battery 4.5 inch amidships and 2.5 inch fore and aft |
The Royal Navy broadside ironclad HMS Hector was commissioned at Portsmouth in January 1864. She was the first ship of the Hector class to be built, her only sister ship being HMS Valiant.
She served with the Channel Fleet until 1867, when she paid of to undergo re-armament. She formed part of the Southern Reserve Fleet between 1868 until 1886; during this time her only military activity occurred when she was detailed to service in the Particular Service Squadron under the command of Admiral Hornsby during the Russian war scare of June to August, 1878.
She paid off at Portsmouth in 1886 and remained there, partly dismantled until 1900, when she briefly became part of the HMS Vernon torpedo school. In the course of fulfilling this function she became the first warship to have wireless telegraphy installed.
She was described as being among the worst sea-boats in the Fleet, with neither enough length to drive through the waves nor a full enough forward section to lift over them.
She was the first British ironclad warship to receive engines manufactured by her builders.
[edit] References
- Oscar Parkes British Battleships ISBN 0-85052-604-3
- Conway, All the World's Fighting Ships ISBN 0-85177-133-5
