HMS Royal Sovereign was originally laid down as a 120-gun first-rate

First-rate

First rate was the designation used by the Royal Navy for its largest ships of the line. While the size and establishment of guns and men changed over the 250 years that the rating system held sway, from the early years of the eighteenth century the first rates comprised those ships mounting 100...

 ship of the line

Ship of the line

A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed from the 17th through the mid-19th century to take part in the naval tactic known as the line of battle, in which two columns of opposing warships would manoeuvre to bring the greatest weight of broadside guns to bear...

 of the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

. She would have mounted sixteen 8 in (20.3 cm) cannon, 114 32 pdr guns, and a 68 pdr pivot gun. With the rise of steam and screw propulsion, she was ordered to be converted on the stocks to a 131-gun screw ship, with conversion beginning on 25 January 1855. She was finally launched directly into the ordinary

Reserve fleet

A reserve fleet is a collection of naval vessels of all types that are fully equipped for service but are not currently needed, and thus partially or fully decommissioned. A reserve fleet is informally said to be "in mothballs" or "mothballed"; an equivalent expression in unofficial modern U.S....

 on 25 April 1857. She measured 3765 long ton burthen, with a gundeck of 240 in 6 in (73.3 m) and breadth of 62 feet (18.9 m), and a crew of 1,100, with engines of 780 nhp.

Turret ship

After several years of inactivity, she was selected for conversion into an experimental turret ship

Turret ship

Turret ships were a 19th century type of warship, the earliest to have their guns mounted in a revolving gun turret, instead of a broadside arrangement....

 instigated by Captain Cowper Coles, who believed that a mastless ship armed with turret-mounted guns was the best possible design for a coast-defence ship. When this conversion was completed 20 August 1864, she was the first British turret-armed ship, and the only one with a wooden hull. The order to proceed with the conversion was issued on 4 April 1862.

She was razed down to the lower deck, leaving her with between 7 and 8 ft (2.1 and 2.4 ) of freeboard. The decks and hull sides were strengthened to carry the planned armament, and to absorb the force when the guns were fired. There was some delay when it was found that she had been cut down too far, necessitating some re-building of the sides. On completion her length-to-beam ratio was slightly under 4:1, which was the smallest ever ratio used in British armoured ships.

Armament

The original design included five turrets, each containing either two 68-pounder smoothbore or one 100 pdr smoothbore cannon. This was modifiied to a four-turret configuration, the forward turret containing two guns and the others one each. The initial guns carried were 10+1/2 in smoothbore

Smoothbore

A smoothbore weapon is one which has a barrel without rifling. Smoothbores range from handheld firearms to powerful tank guns and large artillery mortars.-History of firearms and rifling:...

s that fired a 168-pound spherical steel shot. In 1867 they were all replaced by 9 inches (22.9 cm) muzzle-loading rifles.

On 15 January 1866 three shots were fired at close range against the after turret of Royal Sovereign by one of the 9 inches (22.9 cm) guns carried by HMS Bellerophon

HMS Bellerophon (1865)

HMS Bellerophon was a central battery ironclad built for the Royal Navy in the mid-1860s.-Design and description:In this ship, designed by Sir Edward Reed, the power-to-weight ratio was increased; the long rows of guns on the broadside were replaced by a small number of guns, centrally placed, of...

 to evaluate how well Coles' turrets held up to gunfire. While the armour plates of the turret were displaced, and one shot pierced the back of the turret, the ability of the turret to turn and the guns to fire was not impaired.

Service history

She was commissioned at Portsmouth for service in the English Channel, where she undertook limited operational service and was used for gun and turret testing and evaluation. She paid off in October 1866, being then re-commissioned in July 1867 for the Naval Review

Naval Review

A Naval Review is an event, where the whole of the US Navy is paraded to be reviewed by the president or the Secretary of the Navy. It often includes delegates from other national navies. It is more regular and frequent than its British equivalent, the Fleet Review, and often occurs on a Navy...

. She was thereafter attached to the naval gunnery school HMS Excellent

HMS Excellent

HMS Excellent is a Royal Navy "stone frigate" sited on Whale Island near Portsmouth in Hampshire.HMS Excellent is itself part of the Maritime Warfare School, with a Headquarters at HMS Collingwood, although a number of lodger units are resident within the site, the principal of which is the...

 as gunnery ship until 1873, when she was replaced by HMS Glatton

HMS Glatton (1871)

HMS Glatton was a breastwork monitor which served in the Victorian Royal Navy.-Design:She was designed by Sir Edward Reed to a specific formula determined by the Board of Admiralty, and her purpose was never made wholly clear. Reed himself said "there is no vessel with the objects of which I am...

 and demoted to fourth class reserve. She saw no further service until her sale in May 1885.

See also

HMS Royal Sovereign was originally laid down as a 120-gun first-rate

First-rate

First rate was the designation used by the Royal Navy for its largest ships of the line. While the size and establishment of guns and men changed over the 250 years that the rating system held sway, from the early years of the eighteenth century the first rates comprised those ships mounting 100...

 ship of the line

Ship of the line

A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed from the 17th through the mid-19th century to take part in the naval tactic known as the line of battle, in which two columns of opposing warships would manoeuvre to bring the greatest weight of broadside guns to bear...

 of the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

. She would have mounted sixteen 8 in (20.3 cm) cannon, 114 32 pdr guns, and a 68 pdr pivot gun. With the rise of steam and screw propulsion, she was ordered to be converted on the stocks to a 131-gun screw ship, with conversion beginning on 25 January 1855. She was finally launched directly into the ordinary

Reserve fleet

A reserve fleet is a collection of naval vessels of all types that are fully equipped for service but are not currently needed, and thus partially or fully decommissioned. A reserve fleet is informally said to be "in mothballs" or "mothballed"; an equivalent expression in unofficial modern U.S....

 on 25 April 1857. She measured 3765 long ton burthen, with a gundeck of 240 in 6 in (73.3 m) and breadth of 62 feet (18.9 m), and a crew of 1,100, with engines of 780 nhp.

Turret ship

After several years of inactivity, she was selected for conversion into an experimental turret ship

Turret ship

Turret ships were a 19th century type of warship, the earliest to have their guns mounted in a revolving gun turret, instead of a broadside arrangement....

 instigated by Captain Cowper Coles, who believed that a mastless ship armed with turret-mounted guns was the best possible design for a coast-defence ship. When this conversion was completed 20 August 1864, she was the first British turret-armed ship, and the only one with a wooden hull. The order to proceed with the conversion was issued on 4 April 1862.

She was razed down to the lower deck, leaving her with between 7 and 8 ft (2.1 and 2.4 ) of freeboard. The decks and hull sides were strengthened to carry the planned armament, and to absorb the force when the guns were fired. There was some delay when it was found that she had been cut down too far, necessitating some re-building of the sides. On completion her length-to-beam ratio was slightly under 4:1, which was the smallest ever ratio used in British armoured ships.

Armament

The original design included five turrets, each containing either two 68-pounder smoothbore or one 100 pdr smoothbore cannon. This was modifiied to a four-turret configuration, the forward turret containing two guns and the others one each. The initial guns carried were 10+1/2 in smoothbore

Smoothbore

A smoothbore weapon is one which has a barrel without rifling. Smoothbores range from handheld firearms to powerful tank guns and large artillery mortars.-History of firearms and rifling:...

s that fired a 168-pound spherical steel shot. In 1867 they were all replaced by 9 inches (22.9 cm) muzzle-loading rifles.

On 15 January 1866 three shots were fired at close range against the after turret of Royal Sovereign by one of the 9 inches (22.9 cm) guns carried by HMS Bellerophon

HMS Bellerophon (1865)

HMS Bellerophon was a central battery ironclad built for the Royal Navy in the mid-1860s.-Design and description:In this ship, designed by Sir Edward Reed, the power-to-weight ratio was increased; the long rows of guns on the broadside were replaced by a small number of guns, centrally placed, of...

 to evaluate how well Coles' turrets held up to gunfire. While the armour plates of the turret were displaced, and one shot pierced the back of the turret, the ability of the turret to turn and the guns to fire was not impaired.

Service history

She was commissioned at Portsmouth for service in the English Channel, where she undertook limited operational service and was used for gun and turret testing and evaluation. She paid off in October 1866, being then re-commissioned in July 1867 for the Naval Review

Naval Review

A Naval Review is an event, where the whole of the US Navy is paraded to be reviewed by the president or the Secretary of the Navy. It often includes delegates from other national navies. It is more regular and frequent than its British equivalent, the Fleet Review, and often occurs on a Navy...

. She was thereafter attached to the naval gunnery school HMS Excellent

HMS Excellent

HMS Excellent is a Royal Navy "stone frigate" sited on Whale Island near Portsmouth in Hampshire.HMS Excellent is itself part of the Maritime Warfare School, with a Headquarters at HMS Collingwood, although a number of lodger units are resident within the site, the principal of which is the...

 as gunnery ship until 1873, when she was replaced by HMS Glatton

HMS Glatton (1871)

HMS Glatton was a breastwork monitor which served in the Victorian Royal Navy.-Design:She was designed by Sir Edward Reed to a specific formula determined by the Board of Admiralty, and her purpose was never made wholly clear. Reed himself said "there is no vessel with the objects of which I am...

 and demoted to fourth class reserve. She saw no further service until her sale in May 1885.

See also

HMS Royal Sovereign was originally laid down as a 120-gun first-rate

First-rate

First rate was the designation used by the Royal Navy for its largest ships of the line. While the size and establishment of guns and men changed over the 250 years that the rating system held sway, from the early years of the eighteenth century the first rates comprised those ships mounting 100...

 ship of the line

Ship of the line

A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed from the 17th through the mid-19th century to take part in the naval tactic known as the line of battle, in which two columns of opposing warships would manoeuvre to bring the greatest weight of broadside guns to bear...

 of the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

. She would have mounted sixteen 8 in (20.3 cm) cannon, 114 32 pdr guns, and a 68 pdr pivot gun. With the rise of steam and screw propulsion, she was ordered to be converted on the stocks to a 131-gun screw ship, with conversion beginning on 25 January 1855. She was finally launched directly into the ordinary

Reserve fleet

A reserve fleet is a collection of naval vessels of all types that are fully equipped for service but are not currently needed, and thus partially or fully decommissioned. A reserve fleet is informally said to be "in mothballs" or "mothballed"; an equivalent expression in unofficial modern U.S....

 on 25 April 1857. She measured 3765 long ton burthen, with a gundeck of 240 in 6 in (73.3 m) and breadth of 62 feet (18.9 m), and a crew of 1,100, with engines of 780 nhp.

Turret ship

After several years of inactivity, she was selected for conversion into an experimental turret ship

Turret ship

Turret ships were a 19th century type of warship, the earliest to have their guns mounted in a revolving gun turret, instead of a broadside arrangement....

 instigated by Captain Cowper Coles, who believed that a mastless ship armed with turret-mounted guns was the best possible design for a coast-defence ship. When this conversion was completed 20 August 1864, she was the first British turret-armed ship, and the only one with a wooden hull. The order to proceed with the conversion was issued on 4 April 1862.

She was razed down to the lower deck, leaving her with between 7 and 8 ft (2.1 and 2.4 ) of freeboard. The decks and hull sides were strengthened to carry the planned armament, and to absorb the force when the guns were fired. There was some delay when it was found that she had been cut down too far, necessitating some re-building of the sides. On completion her length-to-beam ratio was slightly under 4:1, which was the smallest ever ratio used in British armoured ships.

Armament

The original design included five turrets, each containing either two 68-pounder smoothbore or one 100 pdr smoothbore cannon. This was modifiied to a four-turret configuration, the forward turret containing two guns and the others one each. The initial guns carried were 10+1/2 in smoothbore

Smoothbore

A smoothbore weapon is one which has a barrel without rifling. Smoothbores range from handheld firearms to powerful tank guns and large artillery mortars.-History of firearms and rifling:...

s that fired a 168-pound spherical steel shot. In 1867 they were all replaced by 9 inches (22.9 cm) muzzle-loading rifles.

On 15 January 1866 three shots were fired at close range against the after turret of Royal Sovereign by one of the 9 inches (22.9 cm) guns carried by HMS Bellerophon

HMS Bellerophon (1865)

HMS Bellerophon was a central battery ironclad built for the Royal Navy in the mid-1860s.-Design and description:In this ship, designed by Sir Edward Reed, the power-to-weight ratio was increased; the long rows of guns on the broadside were replaced by a small number of guns, centrally placed, of...

 to evaluate how well Coles' turrets held up to gunfire. While the armour plates of the turret were displaced, and one shot pierced the back of the turret, the ability of the turret to turn and the guns to fire was not impaired.

Service history

She was commissioned at Portsmouth for service in the English Channel, where she undertook limited operational service and was used for gun and turret testing and evaluation. She paid off in October 1866, being then re-commissioned in July 1867 for the Naval Review

Naval Review

A Naval Review is an event, where the whole of the US Navy is paraded to be reviewed by the president or the Secretary of the Navy. It often includes delegates from other national navies. It is more regular and frequent than its British equivalent, the Fleet Review, and often occurs on a Navy...

. She was thereafter attached to the naval gunnery school HMS Excellent

HMS Excellent

HMS Excellent is a Royal Navy "stone frigate" sited on Whale Island near Portsmouth in Hampshire.HMS Excellent is itself part of the Maritime Warfare School, with a Headquarters at HMS Collingwood, although a number of lodger units are resident within the site, the principal of which is the...

 as gunnery ship until 1873, when she was replaced by HMS Glatton

HMS Glatton (1871)

HMS Glatton was a breastwork monitor which served in the Victorian Royal Navy.-Design:She was designed by Sir Edward Reed to a specific formula determined by the Board of Admiralty, and her purpose was never made wholly clear. Reed himself said "there is no vessel with the objects of which I am...

and demoted to fourth class reserve. She saw no further service until her sale in May 1885.