HMS Research (1863)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Research.

Research in 1864
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Research
Builder	Pembroke Dockyard
Cost	£71,287
Laid down	3 September 1861
Launched	15 August 1863
Completed	6 April 1864
Commissioned	6 April 1864
Fate	Laid up 1878 Sold for breaking, 1884
General characteristics as originally designed
Type	Wooden Camelion-class sloop
Displacement	1,200 tons
Length	185 ft (56 m)
Beam	33 ft 2 in (10.11 m)
Draught	13 ft (4.0 m) light, 15 ft (4.6 m) deep load
General characteristics after conversion
Type	Ironclad sloop
Displacement	1,743 tons
Tons burthen	1,253 bm
Length	195 ft (59 m) pp
Beam	38 ft 6 in (11.73 m)
Draught	13 ft (4.0 m) light, 16 ft 4 in (4.98 m) deep load
Installed power	200 nominal horsepower 1,040 indicated horsepower (780 kW)
Propulsion	Boulton and Watt horizontal single-expansion direct-acting steam engine 2 × tubular boilers 1 × hoisting 12-foot (4 m) screw
Sail plan	Barque rig, sail area 18,250 sq ft (1,695 m2)
Speed	10.3 knots (19 km/h) under power; 6 knots (11 km/h), best sailing speed
Complement	150
Armament	1864: 4 × 100-pounder smoothbore guns 1870: 4 × 7-inch (180-mm) 6½-ton muzzle-loading rifles
Armour	4.5 inch belt and battery 4.5 inch bulkheads

HMS Research was a small ironclad warship, converted from a wooden-hulled sloop and intended as an experimental platform in which to try out new concepts in armament and in armour. She was launched in 1863, laid up in 1878 and sold for breaking in 1884, having displayed serious limitations as a warship.

Background

In the period from 1860 to 1865 the Board of Admiralty were seriously concerned at the speed with which France was producing ironclad warships. One of the steps taken to counter this perceived threat was the conversion of partially built British wooden ships into ironclads, including such large ships as the Prince Consort-class ironclads.

Design

Conversion

The 17-gun sloop Trent had been ordered in November 1860 as one of the Camelion-class. She was selected for conversion to an ironclad, and her name was changed to Research. Although she had been building for a year, work was not far advanced, and the necessary changes to her length and beam could easily be made. A new design by the Royal Navy Chief Constructor, Sir Edward Reed, saw her sloop ends replaced by an oval stern and a ram bow, and the draught altered to give her a trim of 3+1⁄2 feet (1.1 m) by the stern.

Armament

Her armament was carried in a midships armoured compartment which, when used in subsequent designs, became known as a box battery. The designed armament of seventeen guns was discarded, and the offensive power of the ship was concentrated into four 100-pounder Somerset smoothbore cannon, which were at the time the most powerful guns afloat. While these guns were certainly much more effective against armour than smaller pieces, whether a two-gun broadside would have prevailed against more generously armed ironclads is open to question.

For the first time, in this ship, a degree of axial fire was possible from broadside guns. The hull sides were recessed at either end of the battery, and gunports were constructed facing fore and aft to which the guns could be moved. Moving the guns in anything other than calm weather was a hazardous procedure.

The Somerset smoothbore cannon were replaced in 1870 with four 7-inch (180-mm) 6½-ton muzzle-loading rifles, largely because of the difficulty in working and controlling the guns.

Armour

Once completed as an ironclad, she featured a full-length 4+1⁄2-inch (11 cm) armour belt to a depth of 10 feet (3.0 m). An armoured box battery was provided on the main deck with the same thickness of armour. The iron armour was backed by 19+1⁄2 inches (50 cm) of teak.

Propulsion

Research was fitted with a 2-cylinder Boulton and Watt horizontal single-expansion direct-acting steam engine of 200 nominal horsepower. Steam was provided by two tubular boilers, and the screw, which was 12 feet (4 m) in diameter, could be hoisted clear of the water for better performance under sail. The total power of 937 indicated horsepower (699 kW) (after a refit in 1869 this was increased to 1,040 ihp) was sufficient to propel her at just over 10 knots (19 km/h). She carried 130 tons of coal.

Construction

Having been laid down on 3 September 1861, approval was given for her conversion to an ironclad on 1 September 1862. She was launched from Pembroke Dockyard on 15 August 1863 and commissioned on 6 April 1864.

Assessment

Research rolled excessively, and was normally retained in harbour during the winter months. Although Edward Reed, her designer, had expected great things of her, the Standard of 27 October 1865 said "probably the very worst vessel, both as a fighting machine and a sea-boat, that ever yet went out of a dockyard of any nation pretending to a maritime reputation".

Service

At the Battle of Escombrera in 1873

She served in the Channel Fleet from 1864 to 1866, and in the Mediterranean from 1871 to 1878.

On 1 December 1865, she ran aground off Harrington Point, County Waterford. She was refloated the next day and sailed for Portsmouth, Hampshire. On 1 January 1868, while on patrol duties at the south coast of Ireland, she grounded near Cork Harbour while giving chase to an American ship, Alaska. During the subsequent court martial it was demonstrated that the ship had not in fact grounded on Daunt Rock, but instead on the wreckage of the British steamship City of New York, which had wrecked near the rock a year previously, and the ship's officers were exonerated. Repairs cost £293.

On 1 September 1873 at Cartagena, Research took part in the Battle of Escombrera Bay as part of a British Squadron, where they attacked and removed the rebel Spanish warships Vitoria and Almansa from the Bay. This was the only time in her short career Research saw action.

Fate

She was laid up in 1878 and sold for breaking in 1884.

Bibliography

• Ballard, G. A., Admiral (1980). The Black Battlefleet. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-924-3.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Friedman, Norman (2018). British Battleships of the Victorian Era. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-68247-329-0.
• Jones, Colin (1996). "Entente Cordiale, 1865". In McLean, David & Preston, Antony (eds.). Warship 1996. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-685-X.
• Parkes, Oscar (1990) [1957]. British Battleships. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-075-4.
• Roberts, John (1979). "Great Britain (including Empire Forces)". In Chesneau, Roger & Kolesnik, Eugene M. (eds.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. New York: Mayflower Books. pp. 1–113. ISBN 0-8317-0302-4.
• Winfield, R.; Lyon, D. (2004). The Sail and Steam Navy List: All the Ships of the Royal Navy 1815–1889. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-032-6. OCLC 52620555.
• "Shipwrecks of Cork Harbour". 2 February 2010. Archived from the original on 3 July 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013.

External links

• Media related to HMS Research (ship, 1863) at Wikimedia Commons