HMS Devastation was the first of two Devastation-class

Devastation class battleship

The two British Devastation-class battleships of the 1870s were the first class of ocean-going capital ship that did not carry sails, and the first which mounted the entire main armament on top of the hull rather than inside it...

 mastless turret ship

Turret ship

Turret ships were a 19th century type of warship, the earliest to have their guns mounted in a revolving gun turret, instead of a broadside arrangement....

s built for the British Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

. This was 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 whose entire main armament was mounted on top of the hull rather than inside it. For their first fifteen years, they were the most powerful warships in the world.

Devastation was built in the 1870s, a time in which steam power was well established among the world's larger naval powers. However, most ships built at this time were equipped not only with a steam engine

Steam engine

A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.Steam engines are external combustion engines, where the working fluid is separate from the combustion products. Non-combustion heat sources such as solar power, nuclear power or geothermal energy may be...

 but also with masts for auxiliary power. The presence of masts also led to a tendency to mount gun

Gun

A gun is a muzzle or breech-loaded projectile-firing weapon. There are various definitions depending on the nation and branch of service. A "gun" may be distinguished from other firearms in being a crew-served weapon such as a howitzer or mortar, as opposed to a small arm like a rifle or pistol,...

 turret

Turret

In architecture, a turret is a small tower that projects vertically from the wall of a building such as a medieval castle. Turrets were used to provide a projecting defensive position allowing covering fire to the adjacent wall in the days of military fortification...

s as broadside

Broadside

A broadside is the side of a ship; the battery of cannon on one side of a warship; or their simultaneous fire in naval warfare.-Age of Sail:...

s. Devastation, designed by Sir Edward J. 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...

, represented a change from this pattern when she was built without masts and when her primary armament, two turrets each with two 12-inch (305 mm) muzzle-loading guns, was placed on the top of the hull, allowing each turret a 280 degree arc of fire. The ship could attain a speed of 13.84 knots (25.6 km/h) and had a range of 5,500 nautical miles (8,850 km), each of which was considered good at the time. In 1891, the 12-inch guns were replaced with 10-inch breech-loading guns and she was refitted with new engines.

She was deployed to serve in the waters of the United Kingdom and the Mediterranean Sea

Mediterranean Sea

The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...

. Later, she was refitted again and assigned to the First Reserve Fleet based in Scotland. The ship was broken up in 1908.

Popular culture

HMS Devastation is familiar as the ship depicted on "England's Glory

England's Glory

England's Glory is a brand of matches, available in the United Kingdom, using an iconic image of a Victorian battleship, HMS Devastation.-History:The product was originally made in Gloucester by S.J...

" matchboxes.

Her crest was also issued by publishers for use in Monogram and Crest Albums - a popular collecting hobby of the second half of the 19th century.