HMS Duke of Wellington
Encyclopedia
HMS Duke of Wellington was a 131-gun first-rate
First-rate
First rate was the designation used by the Royal Navy for its largest ships of the line. While the size and establishment of guns and men changed over the 250 years that the rating system held sway, from the early years of the eighteenth century the first rates comprised those ships mounting 100...
ship of the line
Ship of the line
A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed from the 17th through the mid-19th century to take part in the naval tactic known as the line of battle, in which two columns of opposing warships would manoeuvre to bring the greatest weight of broadside guns to bear...
of the 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...
. Launched in 1852, she was symptomatic of an era of rapid technological change in the navy, being powered both by sail and steam. An early steam-powered ship, she was still fitted with towering masts and trim square-set yards, and was the flagship of Sir Charles Napier.
Design and Construction
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...
in naval warfare for 200 years. She was originally ordered in 1841 to a design of Sir William Symonds
William Symonds
Sir William Symonds FRS was "Surveyor of the Navy" in the Royal Navy from 9 June 1832 to October 1847, and took part in the naval reforms instituted by the Whig First Lord of the Admiralty Sir James Robert George Graham in 1832.-Early life:He was the second son...
, the Surveyor of the Navy
Surveyor of the Navy
The Surveyor to the Navy was a civilian officer in the Royal Navy. He was a member of the Navy Board from the inauguration of that body in 1546, and held overall responsibility for the design of British warships, although until 1745 the actual design work for warships built at each Royal Dockyard...
, but was not laid down until May 1849 at Pembroke Dock
Pembroke Dock
Pembroke Dock is a town in Pembrokeshire, south-west Wales, lying north of Pembroke on the River Cleddau. Originally a small fishing village known as Paterchurch, the town was greatly expanded from 1814 onwards following the construction of a Royal Naval Dockyard...
by which time Symonds had resigned and the design had been modified by the Assistant Surveyor John Edye. At this stage the ship was still intended as a sailing vessel. Although the Royal Navy had been using steam power in smaller ships for three decades, it had not been adopted for ships of the line, partly because the enormous paddle-boxes required would have meant a severe reduction in the number of guns carried. This problem was solved by the adoption of the screw propeller in the 1840s. Under a crash programme announced in December 1851 to provide the Navy with a steam-driven battlefleet, the design was further modified by the new Surveyor, Captain Baldwin Walker. The ship was cut apart in two places on the stocks in January 1852, lengthened by 30 feet (9.1 m) overall and given screw propulsion. She received the 780 hp engines designed and built by Robert Napier
Robert Napier (engineer)
Robert Napier was a Scottish engineer, and is often called "The Father of Clyde Shipbuilding."-Early life:Robert Napier was born in Dumbarton at the height of the Industrial Revolution, to James and Jean Napier...
for the iron frigate Simoon, which had surrendered them on conversion to a troopship. The ship was launched on 14 September 1852. On that day the Duke of Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century...
died, and she was subsequently re-named in his honour and provided with a new figurehead in the image of the duke.
Service history
When completed on 4 February 1853, HMS Duke of Wellington was, on paper at least, the most powerful warship in the world (and would remain so until the completion of the French "Bretagne"French ship Bretagne (1855)
The Bretagne was a fast 130-gun three-decker of the French Navy, designed by engineer Marielle. She was built after the Napoléon, and was fitted with a steam engine while under construction, though she had been laid down as a sail ship....
in 1855) and the largest yet built for the Royal Navy, twice the size of Nelson's Victory
HMS Victory
HMS Victory is a 104-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, laid down in 1759 and launched in 1765. She is most famous as Lord Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805....
and with a far bigger broadside. She was 240 feet (73.1 m) long, displaced 5,892 tons, and carried 131 cannon, weighing a total of 382 tons and mainly firing 32 lb balls.
After service in the Western Squadron of 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...
, she was designated the flagship of the fleet that Vice-Admiral Sir Charles Napier was to lead to the Baltic
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
on the outbreak of the war with Russia (later known as the Crimean War
Crimean War
The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
). Duke of Wellington served as his flagship throughout the Baltic campaign of 1854 and returned to the Baltic the following year as the flagship of Napier’s successor in the command, Rear-Admiral Richard Saunders Dundas
Richard Saunders Dundas
Vice Admiral The Hon. Sir Richard Saunders Dundas, KCB was a British naval officer and was the British First Sea Lord from 1857 to 1858 and again from 1859 until his death in 1861.-Early life:...
, being present at the bombardment of Sveaborg.
Crimean War
The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
and paid off in 1856. She served as guard ship
Guard ship
A guard ship is a warship stationed at some port or harbour to act as a guard, and in former times in the Royal Navy to receive the men impressed for service...
of sailing ordinary
Reserve fleet
A reserve fleet is a collection of naval vessels of all types that are fully equipped for service but are not currently needed, and thus partially or fully decommissioned. A reserve fleet is informally said to be "in mothballs" or "mothballed"; an equivalent expression in unofficial modern U.S....
at Devonport
HMNB Devonport
Her Majesty's Naval Base Devonport , is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy . HMNB Devonport is located in Devonport, in the west of the city of Plymouth in Devon, England...
from 1860 to 1863, then as a receiving ship at Portsmouth
Portsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
from 1863, where she became a familiar and much-photographed sight, always described on postcards as "the flagship of Sir Charles Napier". She replaced as flagship of the Port Admiral at Portsmouth
HMNB Portsmouth
Her Majesty's Naval Base Portsmouth is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the British Royal Navy...
from 1869 to 1891 (with Victory becoming her tender
Ship's tender
A ship's tender, usually referred to as a tender, is a boat, or a larger ship used to service a ship, generally by transporting people and/or supplies to and from shore or another ship...
), firing salutes to passing dignitaries, such as Queen Victoria
Victoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....
on her way to Osborne House
Osborne House
Osborne House is a former royal residence in East Cowes, Isle of Wight, UK. The house was built between 1845 and 1851 for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert as a summer home and rural retreat....
. She served as flagship for the Commander-in-Chief from 24 October 1884
to 1886 and for Victoria's birthday celebration and fleet review at Portsmouth in 1896 "dressed smartly for the occasion" (despite having been paid off on 31 March 1888). She was commanded by David Beatty
David Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty
Admiral of the Fleet David Richard Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty, GCB, OM, GCVO, DSO was an admiral in the Royal Navy...
, future admiral, from 1900 to 1902.
Fate
The personnel stationed on her eventually moved into RN Barracks Portsmouth in 1903 and she was finally sold to be broken up in 1904. As with her sister-ships she was, in any case, the product of an obsolete conception of naval firepower. With the recent improvements in accuracy and reliability of British naval guns, there was no longer a need for ships to mount enormous numbers of cannon, but it would take a further decade for this to be fully appreciated.Ship's timbers discovered on the Thames foreshore at Charlton
Charlton, London
Charlton is a district of south London, England, and part of the London Borough of Greenwich. It is located east-southeast of Charing Cross. Charlton next Woolwich was an ancient parish in the county of Kent, which became part of the metropolitan area of London in 1855. It is home to Charlton...
have been identified as being from the Duke of Wellington.
Sister ships
Of her three sisters, all of which received more powerful machinery specially designed for them:- HMS MarlboroughHMS Marlborough (1855)HMS Marlborough was a first-rate three-decker 131 gun screw ship built for the Royal Navy in 1855. She was begun as a sailing ship of the line , but was completed to a modified design and converted to steam on the stocks.She served as flagship of the Mediterranean Fleet from 1858-64 HMS...
was completed to a modified design and served as flagship of the Mediterranean Fleet from 1858–64; thereafter she too was a receiving ship at Portsmouth, renamed Vernon II, surviving until broken up in 1924. - HMS Prince of WalesHMS Prince of Wales (1860)HMS Prince of Wales was one of six 121-gun screw-propelled first-rate three-decker line-of-battle ships of the Royal Navy. She was launched on 25 January 1860...
was completed to the same design as Marlborough in 1860 but saw no sea service; in 1869 she was renamed Britannia and became the stationary training ship for officer cadets on the River DartRiver DartThe River Dart is a river in Devon, England which rises high on Dartmoor, and releases to the sea at Dartmouth. Its valley and surrounding area is a place of great natural beauty.-Watercourse:...
. - HMS Royal SovereignHMS Royal Sovereign (1857)HMS Royal Sovereign was originally laid down as a 120-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She would have mounted sixteen cannon, 114 guns, and a pivot gun. With the rise of steam and screw propulsion, she was ordered to be converted on the stocks to a 131-gun screw ship, with...
was completed to the same design as the Duke of Wellington but was cut down to the lower deck and converted in 1862-4 into the first British turret shipTurret shipTurret 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....
to try out the ideas of Captain Cowper Phipps ColesCowper Phipps ColesCaptain Cowper Phipps Coles, C.B., R.N. , the son of the Reverend John Coles and his wife Mary Ann Goodhew Rogers, was an English naval Captain and inventor. Coles died when HMS Captain, an experimental warship built to his designs, sank with him onboard.-Naval career:He entered the Royal Navy at...
. She was fitted with four turrets mounting 9 inch muzzle-loading rifled guns. She was regarded as primarily experimental and her longest voyage was to Cherbourg in 1865 before becoming the tender to the gunnery school HMS Excellent. She was scrapped in 1885.