Thunderer with Invincible behind; and on the right, Alexandra with Monarch 1882[2].jpg
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HMS Raleigh 1963 , HMS Collingwood 1963 & 67 , HMS Ark Royal 1964-7, HMS Undaunted 1968-71, HMS Victory (Fleet Maintenance Group) 1971-72, HMS Exmouth 1972-74
JEM, EM, OEM, LOEM, POOEL
Then 28 years in the Fire Brigade
Retired since 2002
HMS Devastation was the first of two Devastation-Class mastless turret ships built for the Royal Navy. This was the first class of ocean-going capital ship that did not carry sails, and the first whose entire main armament was mounted on top of the hull rather than inside it.
Devastation, designed by Sir Edward J. Reed, represented a change from this pattern when she was built without masts and her primary armament, two turrets each with two 12-inch muzzle-loading guns, was placed on the top of the hull, allowing each turret a 280-degree arc of fire.
Devastation was the first turret ship built to an Admiralty design. She was 285 feet long between perpendiculars, with a beam of 62 feet 3 inches, a mean draught of 26 feet 1.5 inches, and had a freeboard of only 4 feet 6 inches. She was armed with four RML 12 inch 25 ton guns, mounted in pairs in two turrets, protected by armour 12–14 inches thick. Her breastworks and hull were protected by 10–12 inches of armour, and she was also fitted with a 10–12-foot spur bow. The ship had a double bottom, and was divided internally into watertight compartments. She was propelled by two four-bladed screws, 17 feet 6 inches in diameter, each powered by two direct-acting trunk engines built by John Penn & Sons of Greenwich, providing a total of 5,600 horsepower (4,200 kW), with eight boilers, working at 30 pounds per square inch, giving a maximum speed of 12 knots. Devastation could carry 1,350 tons of coal, giving her a range of 3,550 nautical miles at 12 knots or 5,570 nautical miles at 10 knots. She also carried 30 tons of water, enough for three weeks, and 19 tons of provisions, six weeks supply for her crew of 329.
Following the loss of the masted turret ship HMS Captain, which capsized and sank on September 6th 1870 with the loss of 500 men, almost her entire crew, a special committee was appointed to examine the design of this type of vessel, and particularly the Devastation. Although they found no reason for concern in the stability of the ship, as a safety precaution a number of changes were made to the design. The freeboard was increased to 10 feet 9 inches, and armour-plated bulkheads, between 4–6 inches thick provided additional protection to the magazines and engines. The 25-ton guns were replaced with RML 12 inch 35 ton guns. This additional weight increased her mean draught to 26 feet 8 inches.
Sea trials were made in mid-1873 and generated an unusual amount of public interest; not just for the novelty of her appearance, but as the successor to the Captain. In time trials she recorded a speed of 13.84 knots; the engines producing 6,637 horsepower. Gunnery trials were made off the Isle of Wight, firing 700-pound Palliser shells. To judge her behaviour in various sea conditions she was then accompanied by the armoured ships Agincourt and Sultan in a voyage from Plymouth to Castletownbere in southern Ireland, and from there she made two cruises out into the Atlantic. Apart from a tendency for her low forecastle to be swept by the sea, she performed slightly better than her companions in both pitch and roll.
Devastation was deployed to serve in the waters of the United Kingdom and the Mediterranean Sea. In 1891, the 12-inch guns were replaced with 10-inch breech-loading guns and she was refitted with new triple expansion steam engines. In 1901, under the command of Captain Francis George Kirby, she was Guard Ship at the port of Gibraltar, until relieved as such by newly commissioned HMS Irresistible in February 1902. She left the Mediterranean station headquarters at Malta, homebound, on February 19th 1902 and after a last visit to Gibraltar arrived in Plymouth April 2nd.She was paid off at Devonport April 18th,and proceeded to Portsmouth. On June 21st 1902 she was commissioned as a Tender to the torpedo school ship HMS Vernon.She was broken up in 1908.
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Mastless Turret Ship HMS Devastation (1873) schematic.
She was the first class of ocean-going capital ship that did not carry sails, and the first whose entire main armament was mounted on top of the hull rather than inside it.
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Lead Ship, Ironclad Battleship HMS Devastation pictured c 1896..This was the first Class of ocean-going capital ship that did not carry sails, and the first whose entire main armament was mounted on top of the hull rather than inside it.
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Lead ship Pre-Dreadnought Battleship HMS Devastation pictured sporting her ram in dry dock at Plymouth c1877 and an interior view of one of her two 12 inch 35 ton muzzle loading guns. These guns were replaced in 1891 by 10 inch breech loaders. This was the first Class of ocean-going capital ship that did not carry sails, and the first whose entire main armament was mounted on top of the hull rather than inside it. She was broken up in May 1908.
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