HMS Alexandra (1875)
|
||
|---|---|---|
|
||
| Construction data | ||
| Builder: | Chatham Dockyard, Chatham | |
| Laid on the keel: | March 5, 1873 | |
| Baptism: | ||
| Launch: | April 7, 1875 | |
| Commissioning: | January 31, 1877 | |
| Sister ships: | ||
| Fate: | Sold and scrapped in 1908 | |
| Technical specifications | ||
| Displacement : | Construction: 9,492 ts (9,644 t) |
|
| Length: | 99 m in the KWL 105 m over everything |
|
| Width: | 19.5 m | |
| Draft : | 8.0 m | |
| Drive: | 12 high-pressure boiler 2 vertical composite steam engine 2 screws Ø 6 m 8,498 PSi |
|
| Speed: | 15.09 knots | |
| Range: | ||
| Crew: | 674 | |
| Armament: |
1877 : 2 × 11 "RML 10 × 10" RML 6 × 13-cwt BL 4 torpedo tubes 1891 : 4 × 9.2 "RML 8 × 10" RML 6 × 4 "BL 1891 : 4 × 9.2" RML 8 × 10 "RML 6 × 4.7 "QF |
|
| Armor (mm): | Main deck battery 300 mm Upper deck battery 200 mm Belt armor 150–300 mm Bulkheads 130–200 mm Decks 25–28 mm |
|
HMS Alexandra was an ironclad in the Royal Navy . Constructed as a casemate ship, the guns were placed in an armored central battery. It was the most successful ship of this type, but due to the development of tower ships , it was already outdated when it was completed.
history
At the time of its formation, the members of the Board of Admiralty were at war with one another over the necessity of sails for new warships. The construction of steam engines had reached a level that allowed crossing the Atlantic only with steam power. But the centuries of sailing had left a deep emotional bond with a few but influential representatives of the naval command. They managed to implement a construction as a broadside ship with sails.
Originally the ship should be called " HMS Superb ", but on the occasion of the christening by Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales , who later became Queen Alexandra, the name was changed. The HMS Alexandra was the first ship to be christened by a member of the royal family , the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh , the Duke and Duchess of Teck and the Duke of Cambridge were also present at the christening.
construction
The ship represents the final step in a long line of broadside ship development, and she was the most useful ship of this type from a military point of view. Ironically, it was designed by Nathaniel Barnaby , one of the earliest and most determined proponents of tower ships.
The armament was placed in a central battery. The heavy artillery was on both the main and the upper deck. In view of the need for massed fire, Barnaby positioned the artillery so that four guns could fire straight over the bow and two stern. All cannons on one side of the ship could fire a broadside if necessary. The guns shot through loopholes.
The HMS Alexandra was the last British battleship that had its main armament set up exclusively on decks. In addition to the HMS Temeraire , it was the only ship in the Royal Navy equipped with 11-inch muzzle-loading cannons .
She was also the first British warship with a standing composite steam engine . The cylindrical high-pressure boilers worked with an operating pressure twice as high (60 psi ) as the rectangular boilers previously used. Twelve boilers were placed back to back on either side of a bulkhead lying in the longitudinal median plane. Each steam engine drove an outward rotating screw 6 m in diameter. Two auxiliary steam engines, each with an output of 600 PSi, were installed to turn the screws while the ship was under sail. The drive could bring the ship to a speed of 14.5 knots. At the time of its completion, the HMS Alexandra was the fastest battleship in the fleet.
commitment
The Alexandra was appointed on 2 January 1877 flagship of the Mediterranean Fleet appointed the Royal Navy (Mediterranean Fleet). She remained in this position until 1899. During the passage through the Dardanelles in 1878, she was Admiral Hornby's flagship . During the passage she ran aground on the narrowest part of the passage, but was towed from the shallows by the HMS Sultan and was able to lead the squadron to Constantinople .
In 1882 she opened the bombardment of Alexandria . During this operation, however, the flag of the commanding admiral was carried by the Invincible . This had a shallower draft and could move closer to the coast. Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh took command of the Mediterranean Fleet in 1886 and set his flag on HMS Alexandra . The future King George V served as a lieutenant on board.
In 1889 it was separated from the Mediterranean Fleet for modernization . From 1891 to 1901 she was the flagship of the reserve fleet and stationed in Portland. She was last used as the flagship of the "B" fleet in the fleet maneuvers in 1900. In 1903 she became a training ship and finally sold in 1908.
See also
literature
- Oscar Parkes: British Battleships, "Warrior" 1860 to "Vanguard" 1950. A History of Design, Construction, and Armament. New & rev. ed. Leo Cooper, London 1990, ISBN 0-85052-604-3 .
- Roger Chesneau, Eugene M. Kolesnik (Eds.): Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1860-1905. Conway Maritime Press, London 1979, ISBN 0-85177-133-5 .
