HMS Thunderer was one of two Devastation-classironcladturret ships built for the Royal Navy in the 1870s. She suffered two serious accidents before the decade was out and gained a reputation as an unlucky ship for several years afterward. The ship was assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet in 1878 and was reduced to reserve in 1881 before being recommissioned in 1885. Thunderer returned home in 1887 and was again placed in reserve. She rejoined the Mediterranean Fleet in 1891, but was forced to return to the UK by boiler problems the following year. The ship became a coast guard ship in Wales in 1895 and was again placed in reserve in 1900. Thunderer was taken out of service in 1907 and sold for scrap in 1909.
The Devastation class was designed as an enlarged, ocean-going, version of the earlier Cerberus-classbreastwork monitor.[1] The ships had a length between perpendiculars of 285 feet (86.9m) and were 307 feet (93.6m)long overall. They had a beam of 62feet 3inches (19.0m), and a draught of 26feet 8inches (8.1m). The Devastation-class ships displaced9,330 long tons (9,480t). Their crew consisted of 358 officers and ratings. They proved to be steady gun platforms and good seaboats, albeit quite wet forward. Their low forecastle caused them problems with head seas and limited their speed in such conditions.[2]
Thunderer had two Humphry & Tennant two-cylinder horizontal direct-acting steam engines using steam provided by eight rectangular boilers; each engine driving a single propeller. The engines were designed to produce a total of 5,600 indicated horsepower (4,200kW) for a speed of 12.5 knots (23.2km/h; 14.4mph),[3] but Thunderer reached a maximum speed of 13.4 knots (24.8km/h; 15.4mph) from 6,270ihp (4,680kW) during her sea trials.[4] The ship carried a maximum of 1,800 long tons (1,829t) of coal, enough to steam 4,700 nautical miles (8,700km; 5,400mi) at 10 knots (19km/h; 12mph).[3]
Thunderer's forward turret, as first constructed with manual ramming
While both gun turrets were rotated by steam power, the new forward guns were loaded by hydraulic power, unlike the original guns which were hand worked. Thunderer was the first ship to have hydraulic loading gear.[7] From 1874, the forward turret alone was converted to hydraulic power operation for training (turret traverse), elevation and ramming. This allowed the turret crew to be reduced from 48 to 28; the aft turret remaining hand-worked as a comparison.[8] Power operation was considered successful, although it was later implicated in the 1879 explosion.[9]
The Devastation-class ships had a complete wrought iron waterlinearmour belt that was 12 inches thick amidships and tapered to 9 inches (229mm) outside the armoured citadel towards the ends of the ship. The armour plates were tapered to a thickness of 10–8.5 inches (254–216mm) at their bottom edges respectively and they extended from the upper deck to 5feet 9inches (1.8m) below the waterline. The armoured citadel protected the bases of the gun turrets, the funnel uptakes and the crew's quarters. The sides of the citadel were 12 inches thick around the bases of the turrets and 10 inches thick elsewhere. The turrets were protected by two 7–6-inch (178–152mm) plates, separated by a layer of teak with the turret face having the thicker armour.[10] The magazine were protected by a 6-inch forward bulkhead and a 5-inch (127mm) one aft. The conning tower ranged in thickness from 9 to 6 inches in thickness. The ships had a complete 3-inch (76mm) upper deck that was reinforced by another 2-inch (51mm) thick inside the citadel.[2]
Construction and career
Thunderer at anchor, before 1879
Thunderer, the fifth ship of her name to serve in the Royal Navy,[11] was laid down on 26 June 1869 at Pembroke Dockyard, Wales.[12] Construction was subsequently halted for a time in 1871 to modify the ship to improve her stability and buoyancy by extending the breastwork to cover the full width of the hull which increased the ship's freeboardamidships and provided additional accommodation for the crew.[2] The ship was launched on 25 March 1872 by Mrs. Mary Meyrick, wife of Thomas Meyrick, MP. Two years later she was transferred to Portsmouth Dockyard to finish fitting out.[13]
Inspection of the boilers, after their explosion
On 14 July 1876, Thunderer suffered a disastrous boiler explosion which killed 45 people. One of her boilers burst as she proceeded from Portsmouth Harbour to Stokes Bay to carry out a full-power trial. The explosion killed 15 people instantly, including her commanding officer; around 70 others were injured, of whom 30 later died. This was the Royal Navy's most deadly boiler explosion through the whole century. A model representing the failed boiler was made and is now in the Science Museum, London.[14] The explosion was caused because a pressure gauge was broken and the safety valve had corroded in place. When the steam stop valve to the engines was closed, pressure in the boiler rose and could not be released.[15] The four box boilers were the last in service in the Navy and operated at what would even then would have been considered a relatively low pressure, for more modern boilers, of 30psi (210kPa). The boiler was repaired and the ship was completed on 26 May 1877 at a cost of £368,428.[16]
Thunderer was commissioned in May 1877 for service with the Reserve Fleet Particular Service Squadron and was then assigned to the Channel Squadron. During this time, she was fitted with experimental 16-inch (406mm)torpedoes.[17] She sailed for the Mediterranean in 1878 under the command of CaptainAlfred Chatfield.[18] Leaving Gibraltar for Malta in November 1878, Thunderer ran aground and was damaged. She was refloated and resumed her voyage. She was repaired at Malta.[19]
Diagrams showing how the gun burst
The ship suffered another serious accident on 2 January 1879,[20] when the left 12-inch 38 ton gun in the forward turret exploded during gunnery practice in the Sea of Marmora, killing 11 and injuring a further 35. The muzzle-loading gun had been double-loaded following a misfire. According to Admiral of the Fleet E.H Seymour,
"Both turret guns were being fired simultaneously, and evidently one did not go off. It may seem hard to believe such a thing could happen and not be noticed, but from my own experience I understand it. The men in the turret often stopped their ears, and perhaps their eyes, at the moment of firing, and then instantly worked the run-in levers, and did not notice how much the guns had recoiled. This no doubt occurred. Both guns were at once reloaded, and the rammer's indicator, working by machinery, set fast and failed to show how far the new charge had gone."[21]
The accident contributed to the Royal Navy changing to breech-loading guns, which could be more conveniently worked from inside the turrets.[22][21] The fragments of the destroyed gun were re-assembled and displayed to the public at the Woolwich Arsenal. The committee of inquiry decided that the gun had been double-loaded, but this view was widely questioned, including by Sir William Palliser, designer of the Palliser shell used by these guns. Palliser's view instead was that the shot had been obstructed by a portion of the millboard disc rammed above the shell. Hydraulic power-ramming was thought to be implicated in the double loading as the telescopic hydraulic rammer had not made the double loading obvious, as a manual ramrod would have done. One piece of evidence supporting the double loading theory was the presence of an additional stud torn from a Palliser shell, found amongst the wreckage within the turret.[9] She was repaired at Malta.[23]Thunderer was then regarded as an unlucky ship and was placed in reserve at Malta in 1881 and had her machinery overhauled. Her armament was augmented with a pair of 14-inch (356mm) torpedo launchers and a half-dozen 1-inch (25mm) Nordenfelt guns on the hurricane deck. She was recommissioned in 1885 and remained with the Mediterranean Fleet until she was paid off at Chatham Dockyard.[24] The future King George V served aboard Thunderer in 1885–86.[25]
The ship was assigned to the Portsmouth Reserve in January 1888 before beginning a major modernisation the following year. Her guns were replaced by four breech-loading 10-inch guns.[24] To improve her defence against torpedo boats, her Nordenfelt guns were replaced by six quick-firing (QF)6-pounder 2.2in (57mm) and eight QF 3-pounder 1.9in (47mm)Hotchkiss guns. Thunderer's machinery was replaced by inverted triple-expansion steam engines and cylindrical boilers. Their increased output of 7,000ihp (5,200kW) increased her speed to 14.2 knots (26.3km/h; 16.3mph) and their more economical consumption of coal allowed the coal storage to be reduced to 1,200 long tons (1,219t).[26]
The ship rejoined the Mediterranean Fleet in March 1891, but was forced to return home in September 1892 with persistent boiler problems and she was reduced to the Chatham reserve. Thunderer became the guard ship at Pembroke Dock in May 1895 and remained there until she returned to the Chatham reserve in December 1900.[17] The ship was refitted there as an emergency ship in 1902,[27] but was taken out of service five years later. Thunderer was sold for scrap for £19,500[17] on 13 September 1909.[28]
"I also agree with my friend Captain Colomb that we have no type of ship to my fancy equal to the Dreadnought or the good old Thunderer. Give me the Thunderer, the hull of the Thunderer; she had bad engines, she was not arranged as I would like inside, she was badly gunned as we all know, and she had not enough light gun or sufficient armaments; but she carried 1,750 long tons (1,780t) of coal, could steam at 10 knots from here to the Cape, and could fight any ship of her class on the salt water."[17]
HMS Scorpion was an ironclad turret ship built by John Laird Sons & Company, at Birkenhead, England. She was one of two sister ships secretly ordered from the Laird shipyard in 1862 by the Confederate States of America.
The first HMS Wivern was an ironclad turret ship built at Birkenhead, England. She was one of two sister ships secretly ordered from the John Laird Sons & Company shipyard in 1862 by the Confederate States of America.
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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.
The Royal Sovereign class was a group of eight pre-dreadnought battleships built for the Royal Navy in the 1890s. The ships spent their careers in the Mediterranean, Home and Channel Fleets, sometimes as flagships, although several were mobilised for service with the Flying Squadron in 1896 when tensions with the German Empire were high following the Jameson Raid in South Africa. Three ships were assigned to the International Squadron formed when Greek Christians rebelled against the Ottoman Empire′s rule in Crete in 1897–1898.
HMS Hood was a modified Royal Sovereign-class pre-dreadnought battleship built for the Royal Navy in the early 1890s. She differed from the other ships of the class in that she had cylindrical gun turrets instead of barbettes and a lower freeboard. She served most of her active career in the Mediterranean Sea, where her low freeboard was less of a disadvantage. The ship was placed in reserve in 1907 and later became the receiving ship at Queenstown, Ireland. Hood was used in the development of anti-torpedo bulges in 1913 and was scuttled in late 1914 to act as a blockship across the southern entrance of Portland Harbour after the start of World War I.
HMS Prince of Wales was a London-class pre-dreadnought battleship built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. She was one of two ships of the London- or Queen sub-class. Shortly after completion the ship was assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet and then to the Atlantic in 1909 and Home Fleets three year later. Prince of Wales often served as a flagship during her career.
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HMS Hercules was a central-battery ironclad of the Royal Navy in the Victorian era, and was the first warship to mount a main armament of 10-inch (250 mm) calibre guns.
HMS Monarch was the first seagoing British warship to carry her guns in turrets, and the first British warship to carry guns of 12-inch (300 mm) calibre.
HMS Inflexible was a Victorian ironclad battleship carrying her main armament in centrally placed turrets. The ship was constructed in the 1870s for the Royal Navy to oppose the perceived growing threat from the Italian Regia Marina in the Mediterranean.
HMS Ajax was the name ship of her class of ironclad battleships built for the Royal Navy during the 1870s. Completed in 1883, she was immediately placed in reserve until 1885 when the ship was commissioned for the first time. Later that year, Ajax was assigned as a coast guard ship in Scotland and remained there for the next six years. She was reduced to reserve again in 1891 and was taken out of service a decade later. The ship was sold for scrap in 1904 and subsequently broken up.
HMS Nile was one of two Trafalgar-class ironclad battleships built for the Royal Navy during the 1880s. Late deliveries of her main guns delayed her commissioning until 1891 and she spent most of the decade with the Mediterranean Fleet. Nile returned home in 1898 and became the coast guard ship at Devonport for five years before she was placed in reserve in 1903. The ship was sold for scrap in 1912 and broken up at Swansea, Wales.
HMS Repulse was one of seven Royal Sovereign-class pre-dreadnought battleships built for the Royal Navy in the 1890s. Assigned to the Channel Fleet, where she often served as a flagship, after commissioning in 1894, the ship participated in a series of annual manoeuvres, and the Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee Fleet Review during the rest of the decade. Repulse was transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet in 1902 and remained there until December 1903, when she returned home for an extensive refit. After its completion in 1905, Repulse was assigned to the Reserve Fleet until she was sold for scrap in 1911.
HMS Royal Oak was one of seven Royal Sovereign-class pre-dreadnought battleships built for the Royal Navy during the 1890s. Upon her completion in 1894, she was initially placed in reserve until mobilised in 1896 for service with the Flying Squadron. After returning briefly to reserve, the ship was assigned the following year to the Mediterranean Fleet. Royal Oak remained there until 1902 when she returned home; after a refit, the ship was assigned to the Home Fleet, where she served as the flagship of the fleet's second-in-command in 1904–05. Royal Oak was then reduced to reserve until she was taken out of service in 1911. The ship was sold for scrap in early 1914.
HMS Neptune was an ironclad turret ship originally designed and built in Britain for Brazil, but acquired for the Royal Navy in 1878. Modifications to suit the Royal Navy took three years to complete and the ship did not begin her first commission until 1883 with the Channel Fleet. She was transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet in 1885, but refitted in Portsmouth in 1886–87. Neptune then became the coastguard ship for the 1st Class Reserve at Holyhead until 1893 when she was placed in reserve in Portsmouth. While she was being towed to the breakers in 1903, Neptune unintentionally rammed HMS Victory, then serving as a training hulk for the Naval Signal School, collided with HMS Hero, and narrowly missed several other ships. She was scrapped in Germany in 1904.
HMS Cyclops was the lead ship of the Cyclops-class breastwork monitors built for the Royal Navy during the 1870s. The ships were ordered to satisfy demands for local defence during the war scare of 1870, but the pace of construction slowed tremendously as the perceived threat of war declined. The ship spent most of her career in reserve; her only sustained period in commission was four months in Portland Harbour, during the Russo-Turkish War in 1878 when the British were trying to force the Russians to end the war without allowing them to seize Constantinople. Cyclops was sold for scrap in 1903.
HMS Hydra was the second ship completed of the four Cyclops-class breastwork monitors built for the Royal Navy during the 1870s. The ships were ordered to satisfy demands for local defence during the war scare of 1870, but the pace of construction slowed tremendously as the perceived threat of war declined. The ship spent most of her career in reserve; her only sustained period in commission was four months during the Russo-Turkish War in 1878 when the British were trying to force the Russians to end the war without seizing Constantinople. Hydra was sold for scrap in 1903.
The two British Devastation-class battleships of the 1870s, HMS Devastation and HMS Thunderer, were the first class of ocean-going capital ship that did not carry sails, and the first which mounted the entire main armament on top of the hull rather than inside it.
References
Ballantyne, R. M. & Sturton, Ian (2010). "Life Aboard HMS Thunderer". Warship International. XLVII (4): 339–349. ISSN0043-0374.
Brown, David K. (2010). Warrior to Dreadnought: Warship Development 1860–1905. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN978-1-78383-019-0.
Burt, R. A. (2013). British Battleships 1889–1904. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN978-1-59114-065-8.
Gardiner, Robert, ed. (1992). Steam, Steel and Shellfire: The Steam Warship 1815–1905. Conway's History of the Ship. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN1-55750-774-0.
Hodges, Peter (1981). The Big Gun: Battleship Main Armament 1860–1945. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN0-85177-144-0.
Parkes, Oscar (1990). British Battleships (reprint of the 1957ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN1-55750-075-4.
Phillips, Lawrie; Lieutenant Commander (2014). Pembroke Dockyard and the Old Navy: A Bicentennial History. Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK: The History Press. ISBN978-0-7509-5214-9.
Silverstone, Paul H. (1984). Directory of the World's Capital Ships. New York: Hippocrene Books. ISBN0-88254-979-0.
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