Prince Consort class battleship

The "Prince Consort" class of battleship were four Royal Navy wooden-hulled ironclads: HMS "Royal Oak", HMS "Prince Consort", HMS "Ocean", and HMS "Caledonia". They were originally laid down as "Bulwark" class battleships, but were converted to ironclads. HMS "Royal Oak" was Britain's fifth ironclad battleship completed.

"Prince Consort", "Ocean", and "Caledonia" were built to a common design and are today known as the "Prince Consort class", [Conways, "All the World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905" p10. ] though contemporaries knew them as the "Caledonia class". [For example: Reed, "Our Iron-Clad Ships. Robinson, "Remarks on Admiral Yelverton's Report on the Cruise of the Channel Fleet". Parkes writing in the 1950s also called them the "Caledonias", Parkes, "British Battleships" p55.] "Royal Oak" was their half-sister.

Genesis

The "Bulwark" class of nine 91-gun two-decker steam line-of-battle ships were laid down between March 1859 and October 1860 (a further three were ordered, but never laid down, and eventually cancelled in 1863). Their dimensions were the same as HMS "Duncan" (101 guns), but had a new timbering plan to suit the smaller armament. The reduction in armament was intended to improve the efficiency of the guns. [Lambert, "Battleships in Transition", p 126.]
"Bulwark" and "Robust" were suspended in March 1861 in an advanced state of construction and were eventually broken up in March 1873 and August 1872 respectively. [Lambert, "Battleships in Transition", p 126.] The remaining seven ships of the "Bulwark" class were less complete state and were converted into 'ironclad frigates'. Of these "Triumph" (later renamed "Prince Consort"), "Ocean", and "Caledonia" were converted to 'broadside ironclads' with 1000 nhp engines. "Royal Oak" had a similar conversion but with the original 800 nhp engine.
"Royal Alfred", "Zealous" and "Repulse" were later converted into 'central battery ships'. [Conways, p 10-13.]

Reasons for the Conversion Programme

When the first British ironclads were conceived, the Surveyor (Rear Admiral Sir Baldwin Wake Walker) said, "They must be regarded as an addition to our force, as a balance to those of France, and not as calculated to supersede any existing class of ship; indeed no prudent man would, at present, consider it safe to risk up the performance of ships of this novel character, the naval Supremacy of Great Britain." [Submission to Board of 27 July 1858, quoted in Lambert, "Warrior", p16.] For this reason, the Royal Navy continued to lay down and complete steam two-deckers and three-deckers. [Lambert, "Battleships in Transition", p122-140.] However, in 1861, it was clear that Britain was falling behind in ironclads laid down (see table below). [The data in the table refer to sea-going iron clads. It excludes coast defence ships.] The ten French ironclads laid down in 1861 were the start of the French programme of 1860, which was intended over a number of years to produce: 20 sea-going ironclads for the active fleet, 10 sea-going ironclads for the reserve fleet, and 11 floating batteries. [Parkes, "British Battleships", p30.]

None of the cost data in the table above includes the cost of armament.Data on Duncan and Gibraltar are taken from Lambert. [Lambert, "Battleships in Transition", p 123.] The date of steam trials has been taken as the date of completion. Costs probably do not include "masts, sails, stores, &c., until complete for sea".Data on the displacement and construction dates of ironclads has been taken from Conways [Conways, p 7-11.] (except for 'laid down' dates for the conversions from the Bulwark class, which were taken from Lambert. [Lambert, "Battleships in Transition", p 126.] Data on costs of ironclads are the "actual outlay on labour and materials" and were taken from Reed. [Reed, "Our Ironclad Ships", p 217-8.] The costs quoted by Reed are similar (but not always identical) to those quoted in Parkes. [Parkes, "British Battleships".] Baxter quotes similar but not identical costs for the first four British iron-clads. [In the text Baxter quotes the following costs: Warrior £357,291. Black Prince £357,579. Defence £237,614. Resistance £242,265. Hector £283,822. Achilles £444,380. However in a footnote he says: "The ships book for Warrior, however, gives the original cost of her hull and machinery as £356,693 and the total cost, exclusive or armament and coal, as £377,292." The sources for his costs for Warrior and Black Prince were "Parliamentary papers, 1866 xlvi, nos 76 and 526". The sources for Defence and Resistance were ships books, UK National Archives file ADM 12/701 paper 59-1 dated 18 May 1861, and returns from the Controller's office in "Parliamentary Papers, 1862 xxxiv, no 432", "1863 xxxvi, no 83", and "1866 xlvi, nos 76 and 576". The sources for Hector were the ships book, UK National Archives files ADM 12/701 paper 59-1, ADM 12/705 paper 91-2, ADM 12/720 paper 91-2, and returns from the Controllers office in "Parliamentary Papers, 1862 xxxiv, no 432", "1863 xxxvi, no 83", "1866 xlvi, nos 76 and 576", and "1874 xxxviii, no 99". The sources for Achilles were the ship's book, UK National Archives files ADM 12/701 paper 59-1, ADM 12/705 paper 91-2, ADM 12/717 paper 59-1, ADM 12/720 paper 91-2, and returns from the Controllers office in "Parliamentary Papers, 1862 xxxiv, no 432", "1866 xlvi, nos 76 and 576", and "1874 xxxviii, no 99". Baxter, "The Introduction of the Ironclad Warship", p 159-60, 166-7.]

HMS Royal Oak Health Investigation

Notes

References

* Ballard, Admiral G.A. "The Black Battlefleet", published Nautical Publications Co. and Society for Nautical Research, 1980. ISBN 0 245 53030 4
* Baxter, James Phinney "The Introduction of the Ironclad Warship", published Harvard University, 1933.
* Brown, David K. "Warrior to Dreadnought, Warship Development 1860-1905", published Chatham Publishing, 1997. ISBN 1 86176 022 1
* Clowes, William Laird "Four Modern Naval Campaigns, Historical Strategical, and Tactical", first published Unit Library, 1902, reprinted Cornmarket Press, 1970.
* Conway "All the World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905", published Conway Maritime Press, 1979. ISBN 0-8317-0302-4
* Lambert, Andrew "Warrior, Restoring the World's First Ironclad", published Conway Maritime Press, 1987. ISBN 0 85177 411 3
* Lambert, Andrew "Battleships in Transition, the Creation of the Steam Battlefleet 1815-1860", published Conway Maritime Press, 1984. ISBN 0 85177 315 X
* Laughton, John Knox "Essay on Naval Tactics", 1873, published as Part 2 of "The Gun, Ram and Torpedo, Manoeuvres and tactics of a Naval Battle of the Present Day", by Gerard Noel, 2nd Edition, pub Griffin 1885.
* Parkes, Oscar "British Battleships", first published Seeley Service & Co, 1957, published United States Naval Institute Press, 1990. ISBN 1-55750-075-4
* Reed, Edward J "Our Ironclad Ships, their Qualities, Performance and Cost", published John Murray, 1869.
* Robinson, Robert Spencer "Remarks on Admiral Yelverton's Report on the Cruise of the Channel Fleet", Department of the Controller of the Navy reference DS5205, Dec 1866, UK National Archives file ADM 1/5968.
* Robinson, Robert Spencer "letter DM No 976", 18 Jan 1866, UK National Archives file ADM 1/5980.
* Mediterranean Station Correspondence, UK National Archives files ADM 135/1, ADM 135/3, and ADM 135/4.
* Report and papers on "Sanitary Condition of HMS Royal Oak", in Mediterranean Station Correspondence, UK National Archives files ADM 1/592, and ADM 121/3
* Reports and papers on rearmament of ironclads 1866-7, UK National Archives file ADM 1/5980.