HMS Raleigh (1873)

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HMS Raleigh was an unarmoured iron or "sheathed" masted frigate completed in 1874. She was one of a series of three designed by Sir Edward Reed. The other two iron-hulled frigates (the three were not sisters) were HMS Inconstant and HMS Shah. The Controller originally intended to build six of these big frigates, but only three were ordered in view of their high cost. They retained the traditional broadside layout of armament, with a full rig of masts and sails.

Building Programme

The following table gives the build details and purchase cost of the Raleigh and the other two iron frigates. Standard British practice at that time was for these costs to exclude armament and stores. (Note that costs quoted by J.W. King were in US dollars.)

Ship Builder Maker
of
Engines 		Date of Cost according to
Laid Down Launch Completion BNA 1887[1] King[2]
Hull Machinery Total
excluding
armament
Inconstant Pembroke Dockyard John Penn & Son 27 Nov 1866 12 Nov 1868 14 Aug 1869 * £138,585 £74,739 £213,324 $1,036,756
Raleigh Chatham Dockyard Humphrys, Tennant & Co 8 Feb 1871 1 Mar 1873 13 Jan 1874 * £147,248 £46,138 £193,386 $939,586
Shah Portsmouth Dockyard Ravenhill 7 March 1870 10 Sep 1873 14 Aug 1876 £177,912 £57,333 £235,245 $1,119,861

*Date first commissioned.[3][4]

Design

Raleigh displaced 5,200 tons and was 298' long (between perpendiculars) by 49' wide and drew 24' 7". She was designed as a sailing vessel with an auxiliary steam engine. Under favourable sailing conditions she could make 13 knots. With 9 boilers operating at 30 pounds per square inch, her 1-shaft horizontal single expansion engine developed 5,639 horsepower and moved her along at 16.2 knots, an unprecedented speed at the time.

Two 9" muzzle-loading rifle{MLR} guns and fourteen 7" MLR guns formed the main armament, supplemented by six 64 pounder MLRs. The 9" guns were chase weapons, mounted at front and back. The 14 7" guns were the main deck broadside battery.

These ships were constructed in response to the American Wampanoag class and their iron hulls were clad from keel to bulwarks with a double layer of 3" timber. Raleigh was copper bottomed. All three had a great range and were designed for use in far seas.

Raleigh had a normal crew of 530 men. In 1884, she was partially rearmed, retaining eight 7" MLR guns on broadside, but gaining eight more modern 6" breech loading rifled (BLR) guns and eight 5" BLR guns. Four modern light guns were added as well as 12 machine guns and two torpedo carriages.

Service

Ist Commission

On 13 January 1874 Raleigh was commissioned at Chatham by Captain George Tryon.[5] Under Tryon, Raleigh served as part of the 1875 Detached Squadron from Autumn 1874 until she left at Bombay in February 1876. The Squadron was commanded by Rear Admiral Sir George Granville Randolph until 31 May 1875,[6] and then by Rear Admiral Rowley Lambert on-line biography.[7] The 1875 Detached Squadron consisted of:

  • Narcissus (flag), Nathaniel Bowden-Smith, then (9 June 1875) Lord Charles Thomas Montague Douglas Scott
  • Immortalité, Francis Alexander Hume, then Gerard Henry Uctred Noel (acting captain)
  • Topaze, Arthur Thomas Thrupp
  • Newcastle, Robert Gordon Douglas
  • Raleigh (left at Bombay), George Tryon
  • Doris (joined at Madeira, left at Bombay), Hon Edmund Robert Fremantle

The Detached Squadron travelled to Gibraltar (Oct 1874) - Madeira (21 Oct) - St Vincent - Montevideo - Falkland Islands (30 Jan 1875) - Cape of Good Hope (3 Apr) - St Helena (14 Apr) - Ascension - St Vincent (23 May) - Gibraltar (20 Jun - 15 Jul) - Cape of Good Hope - Bombay (22 Oct); escorting visit to India by the Prince of Wales, the future Edward VII) - Colombo - Trincomalee - Calcutta - Bombay (14 Feb 1876), where Raleigh left the squadron. The squadron returned to Plymouth on 11 May 1877.[8] Meanwhile Raleigh served in the Mediterranean.[9]

1877-79 Commission

On 11 May 1877 Captain Charles Trelawney Jago took command. Raleigh continued to serve as part of the Mediterranean Fleet, and participated in Hornby's forcing of the Dardanelles to discourage Russian occupation of Constantinople, and the subsequent occupation of Cyprus, acquired from Turkey.[10]

1885-? Commission

From 6 March 1885 to 1886 Raleigh was commanded by Captain Arthur Knyvet Wilson, and was flagship of Rear-Admiral Walter James Hunt-Grubbe, on the Cape of Good Hope and West Africa station.[11] Raleigh continued as flagship of Rear-Admiral Hunt-Grubbe until 29 March 1888.[12] Roger Keyes served aboard her as a young midshipman from 1887 to 1890. [13]

In March 1888 the Raleigh became the flagship of Rear-Admiral Richard Wells, on the same station, and in May 1888 Captain Wilmot Hawksworth Fawkes took command; the ship was recommissioned at Simonstown Dockyard near Capetown in June 1888.

1890-93 Commission

From September 1890 Raleigh was commanded by Captain Arthur Barrow, as flagship of Rear-Admiral Henry Frederick Nicholson, again on the Cape of Good Hope and West Africa station from 1890 to 1893. She was the first posting of midshipman William Fisher. Raleigh is described in his biography as follows:

"The Raleigh was an old ship of 5200 tons displacement, barque-rigged and dependent on sail-power for long passages. She had a curious and mixed armament of muzzle-loading and breech-loading guns and had achieved a speed of 15 knots in her early days. She was typical of the last years of the "Groping Era" and so Fisher's early sea training took place in a ship with main features of two different ages of ship and armament design."[14]

Raleigh was a happy ship; "though hard work was demanded from both officers and men, the leadership was of a high order".[15] In a letter home Midshipman Fisher wrote:

"The lieutenants are nice, in fact nice without exception. Commander O'Callaghan is one of the best Commanders, it is generally acknowledged, in the service. Not for his smartness or ability but by leniency and well placed kindness with the men. He is certainly a most perfect gentleman. Captain Barrow is nice beyond doubt when off duty, when on duty, I think, as his is quite a newly made Captain, he tries to swagger too much and is rather harsh. Perhaps the fact of him being such a dandy sets me against him rather. You should see him go on inspection rounds in the morning with his beautiful white gloves and cane with uniform. David Nevin, our instructor, is a good old boy who has already taught me a considerable amount..."[16]

Fate

Raleigh was sold on 11 July 1905 to Messrs Ward of Morecambe to be broken up.

References

Footnotes

  1. ^ The Naval Annual 1887, p286-295
  2. ^ King, Warships and Navies of the World, p203.
  3. ^ HMS Inconstant
  4. ^ HMS Raleigh
  5. ^ HMS Raleigh
  6. ^ George Granville Randolph
  7. ^ Rowley Lambert on-line biography
  8. ^ The Flying Squadron
  9. ^ George Tryon on-line biography
  10. ^ Charles Trelawney Jago on-line biography
  11. ^ HMS Raleigh
  12. ^ Walter James Hunt-Grubbe on-line biography.
  13. ^ Keyes, Roger, pp41-57. George |G. Harrap & Co. Ltd., London, 1939
  14. ^ p12, Admiral Sir William James, Admiral Sir William Fisher, pub Macmillan, 1943.
  15. ^ p13, Admiral Sir William James, Admiral Sir William Fisher, pub Macmillan, 1943.
  16. ^ p13, Admiral Sir William James, Admiral Sir William Fisher, pub Macmillan, 1943.
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