The Nelson class cruiser was a class of two armoured cruisers launched in 1876 for 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...

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They were also known as iron armoured frigates.

Ships

• Nelson - launched in 1876, converted to a training school in 1902, and sold in 1910.
• Northampton
  HMS Northampton (1876)
  HMS Northampton was a armoured cruiser of the Royal Navy, built by Robert Napier & Sons, Govan, Scotland and launched in 1876. The Nelson class were "essentially second-class ironclads". She was launched in 1876 but not commissioned until 1881....
  
   - launched in 1876, converted to a training school in 1894, and sold in 1905.

Building Programme

The following table gives the build details and purchase cost of the members of the Nelson class. Standard British practice at that time was for these costs to exclude armament and stores. In the table:

• Machinery meant "propelling machinery".
• Hull included "hydraulic machinery, gun mountings, etc."

Ship	Builder	Maker of Engines	Date of			Cost according to
			Laid Down	Launch	Completion	(BNA 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...  1895)			Parkes
						Hull	Machinery	Total excluding armament
Nelson	Elder & Co, Glasgow	Elder	2 Nov 1874	4 Nov 1876	26 Jul 1880	£303,310	£87,545	£390,865	£411,302
Northampton HMS Northampton (1876) HMS Northampton was a armoured cruiser of the Royal Navy, built by Robert Napier & Sons, Govan, Scotland and launched in 1876. The Nelson class were "essentially second-class ironclads". She was launched in 1876 but not commissioned until 1881....	Napiers, Glasgow	Penn	26 Oct 1874	18 Nov 1876	7 Dec 1878	£296,836	£98,968	£395,804	£414,441

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