HMS Royal Oak was the first ship of the Prince Consort class

Prince Consort class battleship

The Prince Consort class of battleship were four Royal Navy wooden-hulled broadside ironclads: HMS Royal Oak, HMS Prince Consort, HMS Ocean, and HMS Caledonia. They were originally laid down as Bulwark-class battleships, but were converted to ironclads...

, and is sometimes described as a half-sister to the other three ships.

In common with the others of her class, she started life as a wooden two-decked second-rate line-of-battle ship of 91 guns. She was cut down by one deck while on the stocks, and was at the same time lengthened by 21 feet (6.4 m) in order to accommodate her changed armament. The ends of the ship were also modified, from the classical wooden battleship line to a straight stem and a rounded stern. The side armour extended the full length of the hull, and was backed with 28 inches (711.2 mm) of oak. As her hull was of wood, there was no possibility of dividing the ship into water-tight compartments, nor was it found possible to fit any transverse armoured bulkheads into her.

Although she was fitted with a hoisting propeller, she usually sailed with it merely disconnected. Notwithstanding this impediment, she recorded the greatest speed under sail alone ever achieved by an ironclad warship. Travelling from Gibraltar to Malta on 9 February 1864 she logged 13.5 knots (26 km/h), and in doing so became the only ironclad ever to make a higher speed under sail than she could make under power.

Service history

HMS Royal Oak was commissioned at Chatham

Chatham, Medway

Chatham is one of the Medway towns located within the Medway unitary authority, in North Kent, in South East England.Although the dockyard has long been closed and is now being redeveloped into a business and residential community as well as a museum featuring the famous submarine, HMS Ocelot,...

 and initially served with 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 posted from there to the Mediterranean, becoming only the second ironclad there, after . She paid off for re-arming in 1867, and then returned to the Channel for six months. She was accidentally rammed by in thick weather in the winter of 1867, losing boats, chains, shrouds and back stays. In 1869 she returned to the Mediterranean, and was present at the opening of the Suez Canal. She grounded on an uncharted sandbank outside Port Said, and was towed free by , without sustaining any damage. She paid off for refit at Portsmouth in 1871, but economic considerations prevented this from taking place, and after lying idle for fourteen years she was sold on 30 September 1885.