HMS Howe (1885)
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| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Builder: | Pembroke Dockyard |
| Laid down: | June 7, 1882 |
| Launched: | April 28, 1885 |
| Completed: | July 1889 |
| Fate: | Broken up, 1910 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 10,300 tons |
| Length: | 325 ft (99 m) pp |
| Beam: | 68 ft (21 m) |
| Draught: | 27 ft 10 in (8.5 m) |
| Propulsion: |
Two-shaft Humphreys compound inverted I.H.P.= 7,500 normal, 11,500 forced draught |
| Speed: | 16.9 knots (31.3 km/h) (forced draught) |
| Complement: | 530 |
| Armament: | Four 13.5 inch breech-loaders Six 6 inch breech loaders Twelve 6 pounders Five above-water torpedo tubes |
| Armour: | Belt 18 inches upper strake, 8 inches lower strake Bulkheads 16 inches tapering to 7 inches Barbettes 11.5 inches to 10 inches Conning towers 12 inches to 2 inches Battery screen 6 inches Upper deck 3 inches Lower deck 2.5 inches |
HMS Howe was a Victorian era battleship of the Royal Navy, and was the last of the Admiral class to be completed.
Together with her sisters, HMS Rodney, HMS Camperdown and HMS Anson she was a progressive development of the design of HMS Collingwood. She carried a main armament of four guns of 13.5 inch calibre as against the 12-inch (305 mm) guns carried in the earlier ship. While the above-water dimensions of Collingwood were retained in Howe, it was found necessary to increase the draught from 26 ft 4 inches to 27 ft 10 inches, with a commensurate increase in displacement of some 800 tons. This meant that when the ship was fully loaded and with full fuel bunkers the armour belt would be virtually completely submerged; it was assumed that combat would not take place until some significant part of the fuel had been consumed, allowing the belt to rise above the water line.
The guns of the main armament were mounted in two barbettes, one forward and one aft of the superstructure, and each one carrying a pair of guns. The barbettes were open, without hoods or gunshields, and the guns were fully exposed. The shells fired by these guns weighed 1,250 pounds, and when fired with a charge of 630 pounds of gunpowder would penetrate 27 inches of iron at 1,000 yards (1,000 m). In later years a charge of 187 pounds of cordite was substituted for the gunpowder.
There were significant delays in the production of the heavy guns for this ship and her sisters, leading to excessively prolonged building times. Even as late as early 1890 Howe only had two of her guns installed.
[edit] Service history
She was delivered at Portsmouth November 15, 1885, complete except for her main armament. She was commissioned in July 1889 to take part in fleet manoevres. Finally fully armed, she was posted to the Channel Fleet in May 1890, and then to the Mediterranean. On November 2, 1892 she grounded on Ferrol Rock, and was salvaged with great difficulty, being finally freed on March 30, 1893. She paid off at Chatham for repairs and overhaul, and then served in the Mediterranean until 1896, when she became port guard ship at Queenstown. In 1901 she was relegated to the reserve, where she remained until sold in 1910.
[edit] References
- Oscar Parkes, British Battleships ISBN 0-85052-604-3
- Conway, All the World's Fighting Ships ISBN 0-85177-133-5
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