HMS Howe (1885)

HMS "Howe" was a Victorian era battleship of the Royal Navy, and was the last of the Admiral class to be completed.

Together with her sisters, HMS "Rodney", HMS "Camperdown" and HMS "Anson" she was a progressive development of the design of HMS "Collingwood". She carried a main armament of four guns of 13.5 inch calibre as against the convert|12|in|mm|0|sing=on guns carried in the earlier ship. While the above-water dimensions of "Collingwood" were retained in "Howe", it was found necessary to increase the draught from 26 ft 4 inches to 27 ft 10 inches, with a commensurate increase in displacement of some 800 tons. This meant that when the ship was fully loaded and with full fuel bunkers the armour belt would be virtually completely submerged; it was assumed that combat would not take place until some significant part of the fuel had been consumed, allowing the belt to rise above the water line.

The guns of the main armament were mounted in two barbettes, one forward and one aft of the superstructure, and each one carrying a pair of guns. The barbettes were open, without hoods or gunshields, and the guns were fully exposed. The shells fired by these guns weighed 1,250 pounds, and when fired with a charge of 630 pounds of gunpowder would penetrate 27 inches of iron at convert|1000|yd|m|-3. In later years a charge of 187 pounds of cordite was substituted for the gunpowder.

There were significant delays in the production of the heavy guns for this ship and her sisters, leading to excessively prolonged building times. Even as late as early 1890 "Howe" only had two of her guns installed.

ervice history

She was delivered at Portsmouth 15 November 1885, complete except for her main armament. She was commissioned in July 1889 to take part in fleet manoevres. Finally fully armed, she was posted to the Channel Fleet in May 1890, and then to the Mediterranean. On 2 November 1892 she grounded on Ferrol Rock, and was salvaged with great difficulty, being finally freed on 30 March 1893. She paid off at Chatham for repairs and overhaul, and then served in the Mediterranean until 1896, when she became port guard ship at Queenstown. In 1901 she was relegated to the reserve, where she remained until sold in 1910.

References

* Oscar Parkes, "British Battleships" ISBN 0-85052-604-3

* Conway, "All the World's Fighting Ships" ISBN 0-85177-133-5