Devastation class battleship
Encyclopedia
The two British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Devastation-class battleships of the 1870s were the first class of ocean-going capital ship
Capital ship
The capital ships of a navy are its most important warships; they generally possess the heaviest firepower and armor and are traditionally much larger than other naval vessels...
that did not carry sail
Sail
A sail is any type of surface intended to move a vessel, vehicle or rotor by being placed in a wind—in essence a propulsion wing. Sails are used in sailing.-History of sails:...
s, 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.
Design
The genesis of the design was a request by the First Lord of the Admiralty Hugh ChildersHugh Childers
Hugh Culling Eardley Childers was a British and Australian Liberal statesman of the nineteenth century. He is perhaps best known for his reform efforts at the Admiralty and the War Office...
to the head of ship design at the Admiralty
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
, Edward Reed
Edward James Reed
Sir Edward James Reed , KCB, FRS, was a British naval architect, author, politician, and railroad magnate. He was the Chief Constructor of the Royal Navy from 1863 until 1870...
in early 1869 for a large breastwork monitor
Breastwork monitor
A breastwork monitor was one of a number of ships designed by Sir Edward Reed, the Chief Constructor of the Royal Navy between 1863 and 1870....
which could steam from Queenstown (now Cobh
Cobh
Cobh is a seaport town on the south coast of County Cork, Ireland. Cobh is on the south side of Great Island in Cork Harbour. Facing the town are Spike Island and Haulbowline Island...
) in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
to Halifax
City of Halifax
Halifax is a city in Canada, which was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County. It was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996...
in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. At a meeting shortly afterwards of the Admiralty board it was agreed that the ship should have two 12 inches (305 mm) guns firing 600 pounds (272.2 kg) shells mounted in each of two turrets protected by 14 inches (355.6 mm) of armour
Armour
Armour or armor is protective covering used to prevent damage from being inflicted to an object, individual or a vehicle through use of direct contact weapons or projectiles, usually during combat, or from damage caused by a potentially dangerous environment or action...
, which would each have a 280 degree field of fire. The ship would be protected by a 12 inches (304.8 mm) thick armour belt around the waterline.
A very low freeboard
Freeboard (nautical)
In sailing and boating, freeboardmeans the distance from the waterline to the upper deck level, measured at the lowest point of sheer where water can enter the boat or ship...
of 4 feet 6 inches (1.4 m) was agreed since the ship was now intended for coastal service in waters around the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
or service in the relatively calm Mediterranean. Twin steam engines and twin screws were felt necessary for security, and there was a strong feeling that masts and sails should be eliminated to reduce interference with the field of fire of the turrets, but their absence meant that the vessel could not operate far away from friendly coaling stations.
A replica of the proposed turret was constructed and tested at Shoeburyness
Shoeburyness
Shoeburyness is a town in southeast Essex, England, situated at the mouth of the river Thames Estuary. It is within the borough of Southend-on-Sea, and is situated at the far east of the borough, around east of Southend town centre...
in May 1872. The 11 inches (279.4 mm) armour plate backed by 15 inches (381 mm) of teak
Teak
Teak is the common name for the tropical hardwood tree species Tectona grandis and its wood products. Tectona grandis is native to south and southeast Asia, mainly India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Burma, but is naturalized and cultivated in many countries, including those in Africa and the...
and a 1.25 inches (31.8 mm) metal skin resisted hits from a 25 ton gun firing at a range of 200 yards (182.9 m), although one shot hit a joint between plates and opened a gap 7 inches (177.8 mm) wide but did not penetrate.
The loss of in 1870 led to concerns about the stability of turret ships, and a committee was set up to determine whether would be safe. One effect of this was to extend the armoured breastwork with unarmoured structure to the sides of the ship and carried aft to improve the stability at large angles of heel. This greatly improved the crew comfort by adding extra accommodation and especially latrines, but since it was not armoured would have been riddled in a battle reducing the stability of the vessel.
In 1871 a 9 feet (2.7 m) long model of Devastation was tested in a water tank, and subsequently with an 18 feet (5.5 m) long version. Once Devastation was completed, tests could be carried out with the real ship. This included building up a roll of 7 degrees by having 400 men run backwards and forwards across the deck 18 times. Other tests involved taking it to sea to look for rough weather, in one trial waves of 20-26 feet (6-8 m) were encountered which gave the ship a 14 degree roll either way.