RN Ironclads

[Brian James]

BL 9.2 inch gun crew prepare to fire on Central Battery Ironclad Battleship HMS Alexandra c1892.

[Brian James]

Mediterranean Fleet flagship, Central Battery Ironclad Battleship HMS Alexandra pictured at Malta c1877.

[Brian James]

Admiral Class Pre-Dreadnought Battleship HMS Benbow pictured c1889.

[Brian James]

Lead Ship, Ironclad Battleship HMS Collingwood pictured departing HMNB Portsmouth c1889.

[Brian James]

Lord Clyde Class Ironclad Armoured Frigate HMS Lord Warden pictured at Chatham Dockyard in 1867....She and her Sister Ship, Lord Cyde were the heaviest RN wooden ships ever built (8,070 tons) and were also the fastest steaming wooden ships. They were also the slowest sailing Ironclads in the RN. After a brief deployment with the Channel Squadron upon commissioning in 1867, Lord Warden was transferred to the Mediterranean Squadron later that year. She became the squadron flagship in 1869 and retained that duty until 1875 when she returned home for a refit. Upon recommissioning the following year, the ship became the Guardship of the First Reserve in the Firth of Forth. Lord Warden was mobilised in 1878 when war with Russia seemed imminent during the Russo-Turkish War. She was paid off in 1885 and broken up in 1889.

[jbryce1437]

Another view of Lord Warden in 1865

lord-warden-1865.jpg

[Brian James]

Flagship of the Mediterranean Fleet, Lord Clyde Class Ironclad Armoured Frigate HMS Lord Warden pictured on the South Pier, HMNB Gibraltar with sister HMS Lord Clyde astern of her in 1868.

[Pelican]

Ironclad HMS Orion in drydock at the Tanjong Pagar Dock Co. Ltd. in Singapore, circa 1900

[Brian James]

Main armament pictured, c1870s of Audacious Class Central Battery Ironclad Battleship HMS Iron Duke..The main armament of the Audacious-Class ships consisted of 10 RML 9-inch rifled muzzle-loading 12 ton guns. Six of these were positioned on the main deck, three on each broadside, and the other four guns were mounted on the corners of the upper deck battery. The battery protruded over the sides of the ships to give the guns a certain amount of end-on fire. The shell of the nine-inch gun weighed 254 pounds while the gun itself weighed 12 tons. It had a muzzle velocity of 1,420 ft/s and was rated with the ability to penetrate 11.3 inches of wrought-iron armour.

[Brian James]

Rifled muzzle loading 18 ton 10 inch main armament pictured on Broadside Ironclad Battleship HMS Sultan in 1870.