HMS Raleigh (1874)
Encyclopedia
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. Although widely believed to be named after Sir Walter Raleigh, the ship was in fact named for George of Raleigh.
* Date first commissioned.
s operating at 30 pounds per square inch, her 1-shaft horizontal single expansion engine developed 5639 hp and moved her along at 16.2 knots (31.7 km/h), an unprecedented speed at the time.
Two 9-inch muzzle-loading rifle (MLR) guns
and fourteen 7-inch 90 cwt MLR guns formed the main armament, supplemented by six 64-pounder MLRs. The 9-inch guns were chase weapons, mounted at front and back. The fourteen 7-inch 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 bulwark
s with a double layer of 3-inch timber. Raleigh was copper bottomed. All three had a great range and were designed for use in far seas.
The ship was intended as a successor to the wooden steam-frigates such as Immortalite and Ariadne. Inconstant and Shah had been considered by some too large and too expensive, so Raleigh was designed slightly smaller. The design was a compromise between steam power and a desire to retain good sailing properties. The propeller was damaged during steam trials, breaking one blade and cracking the other, but she proceeded to sailing trials around Ireland before repairs were made. George Tryon
, appointed her first captain, made a number of minor alterations to her design details as she was completing building.
Raleigh had a normal crew of 530 men. In 1884, she was partially rearmed, retaining eight 7-inch MLR guns on broadside, but gaining eight more modern 6-inch breech-loading rifled (BLR) guns and eight 5-inch BLR guns. Four modern light guns were added as well as 12 machine gun
s and two torpedo
carriages.
, Commander Arthur Knyvet Wilson
second in command. 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, and then by Rear Admiral Rowley Lambert
. The 1875 Detached Squadron consisted of:
The Detached Squadron travelled to Gibraltar
(October 1874) - Madeira
(21 October) - Saint Vincent
- Montevideo
- Falkland Islands
(30 January 1875) - Cape of Good Hope
(3 April; Raleigh transported Sir Garnet Wolseley and his staff to Natal
and then rejoined the others at St. Helena) - Saint Helena
(14 April) - Ascension
- Saint Vincent (23 May) - Gibraltar (20 June – 15 July) - Cape of Good Hope - Bombay (22 October; escorting visit to India by the Prince of Wales
, the future Edward VII) - Colombo
- Trincomalee
- Calcutta
- Bombay (14 February 1876), where Raleigh left the squadron. The squadron returned to Plymouth
on 11 May 1877. Meanwhile Raleigh served in the Mediterranean.
Speed trials between the ships demonstrated that Raleigh was the fastest steaming, but was also the second fastest under sail, after Immortalité. At Montevideo a number of sailors deserted from all the ships of the squadron, but a number were recaptured after searching British merchant ships. Raleigh had already lost 30 men to desertion before leaving England. On the second journey to the Cape of Good Hope a man fell overboard in a high sea. Tryon took the risk of launching a boat to rescue him, which was risky because the high sea might swamp the boat and lose the rescue crew too. However, all went well and Tryon commissioned a painting of the event, with photos of the painting gven to every officer.
, and was flagship of Rear-Admiral Walter James Hunt-Grubbe
, on the Cape of Good Hope and West Africa Station
. Raleigh continued as flagship of Rear-Admiral Hunt-Grubbe until 29 March 1888. Roger Keyes served aboard her as a young midshipman
from 1887 to 1890.
In March 1888 the Raleigh became the flagship of Rear-Admiral Richard Wells
, on the same station, and in May 1888 Captain Wilmot Fawkes
took command; the ship was recommissioned at Simonstown Dockyard near Cape Town in June 1888.
, 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:
Raleigh was a happy ship; "though hard work was demanded from both officers and men, the leadership was of a high order". In a letter home Midshipman Fisher wrote:
, such as laying a dancing deck."
Raleigh was sold on 11 July 1905 to Messrs Ward of Morecambe to be broken up.
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
or "sheathed" masted frigate
Frigate
A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
completed in 1874. She was one of a series of three designed by Sir Edward Reed
Edward James Reed
Sir Edward James Reed , KCB, FRS, was a British naval architect, author, politician, and railroad magnate. He was the Chief Constructor of the Royal Navy from 1863 until 1870...
. The other two iron-hulled frigates (the three were not sisters) were HMS Inconstant
HMS Inconstant (1868)
HMS Inconstant was an iron screw frigate of the Royal Navy. She was launched on 12 November 1868 and became a training ship in 1906, renamed Impregnable II. She became the Navy's torpedo school ship in January 1922 and was renamed Defiance IV, and Defiance II in December 1930, before being finally...
and HMS Shah
HMS Shah (1873)
The first HMS Shah was a 19th century unarmoured iron hulled, wooden sheathed frigate of Britain's Royal Navy designed by Sir Edward Reed. She was originally to be named HMS Blonde but was renamed following the visit of the Shah of Persia in 1873....
. 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. Although widely believed to be named after Sir Walter Raleigh, the ship was in fact named for George of Raleigh.
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 Brassey's Naval Annual The Naval Annual was a book that sought to bring together a large amount of information on naval subjects, which had hitherto been obtainable only by consulting numerous publications and chiefly from foreign sources... |
King | |||||
| Hull | Machinery | Total excluding armament |
|||||||
| Inconstant HMS Inconstant (1868) HMS Inconstant was an iron screw frigate of the Royal Navy. She was launched on 12 November 1868 and became a training ship in 1906, renamed Impregnable II. She became the Navy's torpedo school ship in January 1922 and was renamed Defiance IV, and Defiance II in December 1930, before being finally... |
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 HMS Shah (1873) The first HMS Shah was a 19th century unarmoured iron hulled, wooden sheathed frigate of Britain's Royal Navy designed by Sir Edward Reed. She was originally to be named HMS Blonde but was renamed following the visit of the Shah of Persia in 1873.... |
Portsmouth Dockyard | Ravenhill | 7 Mar 1870 | 10 Sep 1873 | 14 Aug 1876 | £177,912 | £57,333 | £235,245 | $1,119,861 |
Design
Raleigh displaced 5,200 tons and was 298 feet long (between perpendiculars) by 49 feet wide, and drew 24 feet 7 inches. She was designed as a sailing vessel with an auxiliary steam engine. Under favourable sailing conditions she could make 13 knots (25.5 km/h). With 9 boilerBoiler
A boiler is a closed vessel in which water or other fluid is heated. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications.-Materials:...
s operating at 30 pounds per square inch, her 1-shaft horizontal single expansion engine developed 5639 hp and moved her along at 16.2 knots (31.7 km/h), an unprecedented speed at the time.
Two 9-inch muzzle-loading rifle (MLR) guns
RML 9 inch 12 ton gun
The RML 9 inch guns Mark I - Mark VI were large rifled muzzle-loading guns used as primary armament on smaller British ironclad battleships and secondary armament on larger battleships, and also ashore for coast defence.-Design:...
and fourteen 7-inch 90 cwt MLR guns formed the main armament, supplemented by six 64-pounder MLRs. The 9-inch guns were chase weapons, mounted at front and back. The fourteen 7-inch guns were the main deck broadside
Broadside
A broadside is the side of a ship; the battery of cannon on one side of a warship; or their simultaneous fire in naval warfare.-Age of Sail:...
battery.
These ships were constructed in response to the American Wampanoag
USS Wampanoag (1864)
The first USS Wampanoag was a screw frigate in the United States Navy built during the American Civil War.-Development and design:Commerce raiding by CSS Alabama and CSS Florida, both built in English yards, reached a point in 1863 where continued peaceful relations between the United States and...
class, and their iron hulls were clad from keel to bulwark
Bulwark
Bulwark may refer to:*A bastion or fortifications in general*In naval terminology, an extension of a ship's sides above deck level*HMS Bulwark, any of several Royal Navy ships*USS Bulwark, any of several US Navy ships...
s with a double layer of 3-inch timber. Raleigh was copper bottomed. All three had a great range and were designed for use in far seas.
The ship was intended as a successor to the wooden steam-frigates such as Immortalite and Ariadne. Inconstant and Shah had been considered by some too large and too expensive, so Raleigh was designed slightly smaller. The design was a compromise between steam power and a desire to retain good sailing properties. The propeller was damaged during steam trials, breaking one blade and cracking the other, but she proceeded to sailing trials around Ireland before repairs were made. George Tryon
George Tryon
Vice-Admiral Sir George Tryon, KCB was a British admiral who died when his flagship HMS Victoria collided with HMS Camperdown during manoeuvres off Tripoli, Lebanon.-Early life:...
, appointed her first captain, made a number of minor alterations to her design details as she was completing building.
Raleigh had a normal crew of 530 men. In 1884, she was partially rearmed, retaining eight 7-inch MLR guns on broadside, but gaining eight more modern 6-inch breech-loading rifled (BLR) guns and eight 5-inch BLR guns. Four modern light guns were added as well as 12 machine gun
Machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....
s and two torpedo
Torpedo
The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...
carriages.
Ist Commission
On 13 January 1874 Raleigh was commissioned at Chatham by Captain George TryonGeorge Tryon
Vice-Admiral Sir George Tryon, KCB was a British admiral who died when his flagship HMS Victoria collided with HMS Camperdown during manoeuvres off Tripoli, Lebanon.-Early life:...
, Commander Arthur Knyvet Wilson
Arthur Knyvet Wilson
Admiral of the Fleet Sir Arthur Knyvet Wilson VC, GCB, OM, GCVO was an English Admiral and briefly First Sea Lord who was awarded the Victoria Cross for gallantry during the war in Sudan...
second in command. Under Tryon, Raleigh served as part of the 1875 Detached Squadron from Autumn 1874 until she left at Bombay
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
in February 1876. The Squadron was commanded by Rear Admiral Sir George Granville Randolph until 31 May 1875, and then by Rear Admiral Rowley Lambert
Rowley Lambert
Vice Admiral Rowley Lambert, CB was a senior officer in the Royal Navy.-Naval career:Born the son of Admiral Sir George Lambert, Rowley was appointed a lieutenant in the Royal Navy in 1848. He served in the Black Sea during the Crimean war. Promoted to Captain in 1855, he was given command of HMS...
. The 1875 Detached Squadron consisted of:
- Narcissus (flag), Nathaniel Bowden-SmithNathaniel Bowden-Smith|-...
, then (9 June 1875) Lord Charles Montagu Douglas Scott - Immortalité, Francis Alexander Hume, then Gerard Noel (acting captain)
- TopazeHMS Topaze (1858)HMS Topaze was a 24-gun Liffey class wooden screw frigate of the Royal Navy. She was launched on 12 May 1858, at Devonport Dockyard, Plymouth. Her crew assisted in the building of the Race Rocks Lighthouse in British Columbia, Canada, and laid a bronze tablet in 1863 at the Juan Fernández Islands...
, Arthur Thomas Thrupp - NewcastleHMS Newcastle (1860)HMS Newcastle was a wooden screw frigate, the fifth ship of the name to serve in the Royal Navy....
, Robert Gordon Douglas - Raleigh (left at Bombay), George TryonGeorge TryonVice-Admiral Sir George Tryon, KCB was a British admiral who died when his flagship HMS Victoria collided with HMS Camperdown during manoeuvres off Tripoli, Lebanon.-Early life:...
- Doris (joined at Madeira, left at Bombay), Hon Edmund FremantleEdmund FremantleAdmiral Sir Edmund Robert Fremantle GCB CMG was a Royal Navy officer who went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth.-Naval career:...
The Detached Squadron travelled to Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
(October 1874) - Madeira
Madeira
Madeira is a Portuguese archipelago that lies between and , just under 400 km north of Tenerife, Canary Islands, in the north Atlantic Ocean and an outermost region of the European Union...
(21 October) - Saint Vincent
Saint Vincent (island)
Saint Vincent is a volcanic island in the Caribbean. It is the largest island of the chain called Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. It is located in the Caribbean Sea, between Saint Lucia and Grenada. It is composed of partially submerged volcanic mountains...
- Montevideo
Montevideo
Montevideo is the largest city, the capital, and the chief port of Uruguay. The settlement was established in 1726 by Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, as a strategic move amidst a Spanish-Portuguese dispute over the platine region, and as a counter to the Portuguese colony at Colonia del Sacramento...
- Falkland Islands
Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands are an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean, located about from the coast of mainland South America. The archipelago consists of East Falkland, West Falkland and 776 lesser islands. The capital, Stanley, is on East Falkland...
(30 January 1875) - Cape of Good Hope
Cape of Good Hope
The Cape of Good Hope is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula, South Africa.There is a misconception that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa, because it was once believed to be the dividing point between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. In fact, the...
(3 April; Raleigh transported Sir Garnet Wolseley and his staff to Natal
Colony of Natal
The Colony of Natal was a British colony in south-eastern Africa. It was proclaimed a British colony on May 4, 1843 after the British government had annexed the Boer Republic of Natalia, and on 31 May 1910 combined with three other colonies to form the Union of South Africa, as one of its...
and then rejoined the others at St. Helena) - Saint Helena
Saint Helena
Saint Helena , named after St Helena of Constantinople, is an island of volcanic origin in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the British overseas territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha which also includes Ascension Island and the islands of Tristan da Cunha...
(14 April) - Ascension
Ascension Island
Ascension Island is an isolated volcanic island in the equatorial waters of the South Atlantic Ocean, around from the coast of Africa and from the coast of South America, which is roughly midway between the horn of South America and Africa...
- Saint Vincent (23 May) - Gibraltar (20 June – 15 July) - Cape of Good Hope - Bombay (22 October; escorting visit to India by the Prince of Wales
George V of the United Kingdom
George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....
, the future Edward VII) - Colombo
Colombo
Colombo is the largest city of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, the capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo is often referred to as the capital of the country, since Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is a satellite city of Colombo...
- Trincomalee
Trincomalee
Trincomalee is a port city in Eastern Province, Sri Lanka and lies on the east coast of the island, about 113 miles south of Jaffna. It has a population of approximately 100,000 . The city is built on a peninsula, which divides the inner and outer harbours. Overlooking the Kottiyar Bay,...
- Calcutta
Kolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
- Bombay (14 February 1876), where Raleigh left the squadron. The squadron returned to Plymouth
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
on 11 May 1877. Meanwhile Raleigh served in the Mediterranean.
Speed trials between the ships demonstrated that Raleigh was the fastest steaming, but was also the second fastest under sail, after Immortalité. At Montevideo a number of sailors deserted from all the ships of the squadron, but a number were recaptured after searching British merchant ships. Raleigh had already lost 30 men to desertion before leaving England. On the second journey to the Cape of Good Hope a man fell overboard in a high sea. Tryon took the risk of launching a boat to rescue him, which was risky because the high sea might swamp the boat and lose the rescue crew too. However, all went well and Tryon commissioned a painting of the event, with photos of the painting gven to every officer.
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.1885-? Commission
From 6 March 1885 to 1886 Raleigh was commanded by Captain Arthur Knyvet WilsonArthur Knyvet Wilson
Admiral of the Fleet Sir Arthur Knyvet Wilson VC, GCB, OM, GCVO was an English Admiral and briefly First Sea Lord who was awarded the Victoria Cross for gallantry during the war in Sudan...
, and was flagship of Rear-Admiral Walter James Hunt-Grubbe
Walter Hunt-Grubbe
Admiral Sir Walter James Hunt-Grubbe GCB was a Royal Navy officer who went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Cape of Good Hope Station.-Naval career:...
, on the Cape of Good Hope and West Africa Station
Cape of Good Hope Station
The Cape of Good Hope Station was one of the geographical divisions into which the British Royal Navy divided its worldwide responsibilities. It was formally the units and establishments responsible to the Commander-in-Chief, Cape of Good Hope....
. Raleigh continued as flagship of Rear-Admiral Hunt-Grubbe until 29 March 1888. Roger Keyes served aboard her as a young midshipman
Midshipman
A midshipman is an officer cadet, or a commissioned officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Kenya...
from 1887 to 1890.
In March 1888 the Raleigh became the flagship of Rear-Admiral Richard Wells
Richard Wells (Royal Navy officer)
Admiral Sir Richard Wells KCB was a Royal Navy officer who went on to be Commander-in-Chief, The Nore.-Naval career:...
, on the same station, and in May 1888 Captain Wilmot Fawkes
Wilmot Fawkes
|-|-|-...
took command; the ship was recommissioned at Simonstown Dockyard near Cape Town in June 1888.
1890-93 Commission
From September 1890 Raleigh was commanded by Captain Arthur Barrow, as flagship of Rear-Admiral Henry Frederick NicholsonHenry Nicholson (Royal Navy officer)
Admiral Sir Henry Frederick Nicholson KCB was a Royal Navy officer who went on to be Commander-in-Chief, The Nore.-Naval career:Nicholson joined the Royal Navy in 1849....
, again on the Cape of Good Hope and West Africa station from 1890 to 1893. She was the first posting of midshipman William Fisher
William Wordsworth Fisher
Admiral Sir William Wordsworth Fisher, GCB, GCVO was a Royal Navy officer who captained a battleship at the Battle of Jutland and became Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet...
. 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."
Raleigh was a happy ship; "though hard work was demanded from both officers and men, the leadership was of a high order". 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..."
Fate
When Sir John Fisher was Controller he appropriated money that was meant for making good defects in Raleigh and used it for "making his own patent improvements in RenownHMS Renown (1895)
HMS Renown was a predreadnought battleship of the Royal Navy. Third and last of the lightly armed, long-range Centurion class, she had an upgraded design compared to her two sister ships HMS Centurion and HMS Barfleur....
, such as laying a dancing deck."
Raleigh was sold on 11 July 1905 to Messrs Ward of Morecambe to be broken up.