Floated out:	23 December 1863
First Rig:	Four masts, sail area 44000 sq ft (4,087.7 m²).
Second Rig:	Three masts, sail area 30133 sq ft (2,799 m²).

The broadside ironclad HMS Achilles was the third member of the 1861 programme, was described as an armoured frigate, and was originally projected as a modified version of the earlier .

She was one of the first large warships to be built in dry-dock, and hence was floated out rather than being launched.

Her armour scheme was revised to give her a complete waterline belt. She was the only British warship ever to have four masts, and on them she spread the greatest area of canvas ever shown by a warship of any nationality.

HMS Achilles was subjected to more changes of her main armament than any other British warship, before or since.

Service history

She was commissioned at Chatham in 1863, and served in the Channel Fleet

Channel Fleet

The Channel Fleet was the Royal Navy formation of warships that defended the waters of the English Channel from 1690 to 1909.-History:The Channel Fleet dates back at least to 1690 when its role was to defend England against the French threat under the leadership of Edward Russell, 1st Earl of...

 until 1868. After a refit and her first major re-armament, she served as guardship at Portland until 1874. After her second major re-armament she became guardship at Liverpool until 1877. In 1878 she was one of the ships in the Particular Service Squadron which Admiral Hornby took through the Dardanelles

Dardanelles

The Dardanelles , formerly known as the Hellespont, is a narrow strait in northwestern Turkey connecting the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara. It is one of the Turkish Straits, along with its counterpart the Bosphorus. It is located at approximately...

 at the time of the Russian war scare in June–August. Her final service was again with the Channel Fleet from 1880 to 1885.

She lay derelict in the Hamoaze

Hamoaze

The Hamoaze is an estuarine stretch of the tidal River Tamar, between the River Lynher and Plymouth Sound, England.The Hamoaze flows past Devonport Dockyard, which belongs to the Royal Navy...

 until 1902, when she was sent to Malta

Malta

Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...

as a depot ship with the new name Hibernia. She was renamed Egmont in 1904, and remained in Malta until 1914. She was brought home to Chatham, and served there as a depot ship under the successive names of Egremont and Pembroke until she was sold for breaking up.