HMS Liverpool (1860)

HMS "Liverpool" was a fourth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She was ordered on 31 March 1855, but building did not commence until 14 November 1869 and she was launched at Devonport Dockyard on 30 October 1860, in the same year that the famous iron-hulled "Warrior" was launched.

During her first commission, she served in the North America and West Indies Stations and later the Channel Squadron, until she was placed in "Steam Reserve" at Devonport in August 1867.

She was re-commissioned, like previous ships of the same name on the 8 May 1869 as flagship of a detached squadron known as the Special Flying Squadron. The squadron's mission was an early form of "flag waving" to display British naval power and prowess across the world. This squadron, known as the "flying squadron" consisted of HM ships "Barrosa", "Endymion", "Liffey", "Liverpool", "Phoebe" and "Scylla". The squadron left Portsmouth on 18 July 1869 and circumnavigated the globe before returning home in November 1870, having sailed 53,000 miles. "Liverpool" was paid off into reserve in December of the year she returned. She was subsequently declared obsolete in 1872 and was sold for breaking up on 26 June 1875.

See HMS "Liverpool" for other ships of this name.

General characteristics

* Displacement: 3,915 ton
* Dimensions: 285ft overall length; 203ft 10in keel; 50ft 1.5in breadth; 18ft 4.5in depth in hold.
* Propulsion: 600 nhp (450 kW) engines. Single screw. 10.8 knots.
* Armament: eight 64-pounder (29 kg) guns, twenty-six 8-inch (203 mm) guns, four 7-inch (178 mm) guns

External links

* [http://www.pbenyon.plus.com/Flying_Squadron/HMS_Liverpool.html Article on "Liverpool"] from "The Sydney Morning Herald", 13 December 1869