HMS Neptune (1874)

Last updated

H.M.S. Neptune RMG PU6260.jpg
History
Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svgUnited Kingdom
NameHMS Neptune
Namesake Neptune
Builder J & W Dudgeon, Cubitt Town, London
Cost£600,000
Laid down1873
Launched10 September 1874
Completed3 September 1881
AcquiredFebruary–March 1878
Commissioned28 March 1883
FateSold for scrap 15 September 1903
General characteristics
Type Ironclad turret ship
Displacement8,964 long tons (9,108 t)
Length300 ft (91.4 m) (p/p)
Beam63 ft (19.2 m)
Draught25 ft (7.6 m)
Installed power8,832  ihp (6,586 kW)
Propulsion1 shaft, 1 2-cylinder Trunk steam engine, 8 rectangular boilers
Sail plan Barque-rigged
Speed14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph)
Range1,480  nmi (2,740 km; 1,700 mi) at 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement541
Armament
Armour

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.

Contents

Design and description

Right elevation and deck plan (with masts truncated) as depicted in Brassey's Naval Annual 1888 HMS Neptune diagrams Brasseys 1888.jpg
Right elevation and deck plan (with masts truncated) as depicted in Brassey's Naval Annual 1888

HMS Neptune was designed by Sir Edward Reed for the Imperial Brazilian Navy in 1872 as a masted version of HMS Devastation, a larger, sea-going version of the Cerberus-class breastwork monitors, and was given the provisional name Independencia. Adding masts, however, meant adding a forecastle at the bow and a poop deck at the stern to provide the space required for the masts and rigging. These blocked the firing arcs of the gun turrets so that they were deprived of the axial fire which was the original design's greatest virtue. The ship resembled, instead, an enlarged version of HMS Monarch. [1]

During the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78 tensions dramatically escalated between Russia and Great Britain as the latter feared that the victorious Russian armies would occupy the Turkish capital of Constantinople, something that the British were not prepared to tolerate. They mobilized much of the Royal Navy in case war did break out and purchased a number of ironclads under construction, including Independencia, in 1878. The Brazilians sold the ship for £600,000, nearly twice as much as the £370,000 paid for Devastation a few years earlier. Another £89,172 was spent to bring her up to the standards of the Royal Navy. [2] In British service she was deemed "a white elephant, being a thoroughly bad ship in most respects—unlucky, full of inherent faults and small vices, and at times a danger to her own consorts". [1]

Neptune was 300 feet (91.4 m) long between perpendiculars. She had a beam of 63 feet (19.2 m) and a draft of 25 feet (7.6 m). The ship normally displaced 8,964 long tons (9,108 t) and 9,311 long tons (9,460 t) at deep load. [3]

Neptune proved a poor seakeeper as she was wet, difficult to manoeuvre and a heavy roller. [4] She had a 12-foot (3.7 m) skylight over the wardroom, which as a result often flooded while the ship was at sea. [5]

Propulsion

Neptune had one 2-cylinder trunk steam engine, made by John Penn and Sons, driving a single 26-foot (7.9 m) propeller. Eight rectangular boilers provided steam to the engine at a working pressure of 32  psi (221  kPa ; 2  kgf/cm2 ). The engine had a total designed output of 8,000 indicated horsepower (6,000 kW), but produced a total of 8,832 ihp (6,586 kW) during sea trials in February 1878 which gave Neptune a maximum speed of 14.65 knots (27.13 km/h; 16.86 mph). The ship carried 670 long tons (680 t) of coal, enough to steam 1,480  nmi (2,740 km; 1,700 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) even though Sir George Tryon described her as "a weak ship in her engines and consuming a coal-mine daily". [6]

Neptune was barque-rigged, but her twin funnels were so close to the mainmast that the sails and rigging rapidly deteriorated in service. The mast was eventually stripped of sails and yards so that the ship only used the fore and mizzen masts; an unsightly combination described as "like a half-dressed harlot". During her 1886 refit the ship's masts and rigging were replaced by simple pole masts with fighting tops at the fore and mizzen positions only. [7]

Armament

The Brazilians had ordered four Whitworth 12-inch (305 mm) for the gun turrets and a pair of 8-inch (203 mm) breech-loading guns as chase guns, but these were replaced in British service. HMS Neptune mounted a pair of 12.5-inch (317 mm) muzzle-loading rifles in each turret and two 9-inch (229 mm) rifled muzzle-loading guns in the forecastle as chase guns. These guns only traverse 45° to the side. The ship also had six 20-pounder Armstrong guns for use as saluting guns. Two 14-inch (356 mm) torpedo tubes were mounted on the main deck, one on each side, for Whitehead torpedoes. [8]

The shell of the 16-calibre 12.5-inch gun weighed 809 pounds (367.0 kg) while the gun itself weighed 38 long tons (39 t). It had a muzzle velocity of 1,575 ft/s (480 m/s) and was credited with the ability to penetrate a nominal 18.4 inches (467 mm) of wrought iron armour at the muzzle. The 14-calibre 9-inch gun weighed 12 long tons (12 t) and fired a 254-pound (115.2 kg) shell at a muzzle velocity of 1,420 ft/s (430 m/s). It was credited with the nominal ability to penetrate 11.3-inch (287 mm) armour. [9] The muzzle blast of the main guns was more than the deck immediately below the muzzles could stand and the full charge for the guns was reduced from 200 to 180 pounds (90.7 to 81.6 kg) of powder to minimize the damage. [8]

Armour

Neptune had a complete waterline belt of wrought iron that was 12 inches (305 mm) thick amidships and thinned to 10 inches (254 mm) and then to 9 inches (229 mm) in steps at the ends of the ship. The armour extended 5 feet 6 inches (1.7 m) above the waterline and 3 feet (0.9 m) below it. An armoured citadel 112 feet (34.1 m) long protected the bases of the gun turrets, the funnel uptakes and the ventilation shafts for the engines and boilers. The sides of the citadel were 10 inches thick and it was closed off by transverse bulkheads 8 inches (203 mm) thick. The chase guns at the bow were protected by a patch of 6-inch (152 mm) armour. [4]

The faces of the turrets were 13 inches (330 mm) thick while the sides were 11 inches (279 mm) thick. They were backed by 13–15 inches (330–381 mm) of teak. The armoured deck was 2–3 inches (51–76 mm) outside the citadel and 2 inches thick inside it. Neptune was provided with a conning tower protected by 6–8 inches of armour situated right in front of the foremast. It could "be regarded as the first adequately installed conning position installed in a British" ironclad. [10]

Service

HMS Neptune was laid down in 1873 for the Brazilian Navy under the name of Independencia by J & W Dudgeon in Cubitt Town, London. The shipyard attempted to launch her on 16 July 1874, but she stuck fast and did not budge. A second attempt was made on 30 July during which the ship got about one-third down the slipway and stuck, extensively damaging her bottom plating. She was finally launched on 10 September, after she had been lightened, and she was towed to Samuda Brothers for repairs and fitting out. The cost of the accident resulted in the bankruptcy of Dudgeons in 1875. [11]

Independencia ran her sea trials in December 1877. [12] On 22 December, she ran aground in the River Thames at Greenwich, Kent. [13] She was refloated on 25 December and towed in to Greenhithe, Kent. [14] Independencia was run into by the British steamship Firebrick at Greenhithe, Kent on 23 February 1878 and sustained slight damage. [15] She was purchased by the Royal Navy in March 1878 and renamed Neptune, [4] after the Roman god of the sea. [12] She was then taken to Portsmouth for alterations to her armament and other equipment that took until 3 September 1881 to complete. [4]

Neptune was commissioned on 28 March 1883 for service with the Channel Fleet. She was transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet in 1885, but returned to Portsmouth in July 1886 for a refit. The ship was assigned as the guard ship for the 1st Class Reserve at Holyhead in May 1887. Neptune paid off into reserve in November 1893 in Portsmouth. In April 1902 she was transferred from Fleet reserve to Dockyard Reserve. [16] The ship was sold for £18,000 on 15 September 1903 for scrap. [5]

While under tow by the tug Rowland and another at her side out of Portsmouth on 23 October 1903, Neptune broke the cables connecting her to the tugs in a storm. With the winds and a strong flood tide pushing her, she was pushed back into the harbour and narrowly missed the training tender of the Royal Naval College, Osborne, HMS Racer. Neptune struck the training brig Sunflower anchored beside Racer a glancing blow and then hit the port side of HMS Victory, making a hole at her orlop deck. Neptune then was pushed by the tides and winds toward HMS Hero and came to rest against the bow ram of Hero. [17] She was finally broken up in Lemwerder, Germany, in 1904. [5]

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 Parkes, p. 277
  2. ↑ Parkes, pp. 267, 276–77
  3. ↑ Burt, p. 22
  4. 1 2 3 4 Gardiner, p. 25
  5. 1 2 3 Parkes, p. 280
  6. ↑ Parkes, pp. 276, 279
  7. ↑ Parkes, p. 279–80
  8. 1 2 Parkes, p. 278
  9. ↑ Gardiner, p. 6
  10. ↑ Parkes, pp. 278
  11. ↑ "Money-Market and City Intelligence". The Times. No. 28450. 19 October 1875. p. 6.
  12. 1 2 Silverstone, p. 253
  13. ↑ "Shipping Intelligence". Glasgow Herald. No. 11857. Glasgow. 24 December 1877.
  14. ↑ "Mercantile Ship News". The Standard. No. 16668. London. 25 December 1877. p. 7.
  15. ↑ "Shipping". Newcastle Courant. No. 10601. Newcastle upon Tyne. 1 March 1878.
  16. ↑ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36751. London. 25 April 1902. p. 8.
  17. ↑ The Times, 24/10/1903 & 26/10/1903

Related Research Articles

HMS <i>Enterprise</i> (1864) Armoured sloop from UK

The seventh HMS Enterprise of the Royal Navy was an armoured sloop launched in 1864 at Deptford Dockyard. Originally laid down as a wooden screw sloop of the Camelion class, she was redesigned by Edward Reed and completed as a central battery ironclad. The ship spent the bulk of her career assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet before returning to England in 1871 where she was paid off. Enterprise was sold for scrap in 1885.

HMS <i>Neptune</i> (1909) 1909 battleship

HMS Neptune was a dreadnought battleship built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century, the sole ship of her class. She was the first British battleship to be built with superfiring guns. Shortly after her completion in 1911, she carried out trials of an experimental fire-control director and then became the flagship of the Home Fleet. Neptune became a private ship in early 1914 and was assigned to the 1st Battle Squadron.

HMS <i>Hood</i> (1891) Royal Sovereign-class battleship of the Royal Navy scuttled in Portland Harbour

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 <i>Agincourt</i> (1865) Minotaur-class armoured frigate of the Royal Navy

HMS Agincourt was a Minotaur-class armoured frigate built for the Royal Navy during the 1860s. She spent most of her career as the flagship of the Channel Squadron's second-in-command. During the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78, she was one of the ironclads sent to Constantinople to forestall a Russian occupation of the Ottoman capital. Agincourt participated in Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee Fleet Review in 1887. The ship was placed in reserve two years later and served as a training ship from 1893 to 1909. That year she was converted into a coal hulk and renamed as C.109. Agincourt served at Sheerness until sold for scrap in 1960.

<i>Warrior</i>-class ironclad Class of ironclads of the Royal Navy

The Warrior-class ironclads were a class of two warships built for the Royal Navy between 1859 and 1862, the first ocean-going ironclads with iron hulls ever constructed. The ships were designed as armoured frigates in response to an invasion scare sparked by the launch of the French ironclad Gloire and her three sisters in 1858. They were initially armed with a mix of rifled breech-loading and muzzle-loading smoothbore guns, but the Armstrong breech-loading guns proved unreliable and were ultimately withdrawn from service.

HMS Valiant was the second ship of the Hector-class armoured frigates ordered by the Royal Navy in 1861. Her builders went bankrupt shortly after she was laid down, which significantly delayed her completion. After being launched in 1863, she waited a further five years to receive her guns due to supply issues. Upon being commissioned in 1868 the ship was assigned as the First Reserve guard ship for Southern Ireland, where she remained until she was decommissioned in 1885. Valiant was hulked in 1897 as part of the stoker training school HMS Indus before becoming a storeship for kite balloons during the First World War. The ship was converted to a floating oil tank in 1926 and served in that role until sold for scrap in 1956.

HMS <i>Minotaur</i> (1863) Lead ship of the British Minotaur-class armoured frigates

HMS Minotaur was the lead ship of the Minotaur-class armoured frigates built for the Royal Navy during the 1860s. They were the longest single-screw warships ever built. Minotaur took nearly four years between her launching and commissioning because she was used for evaluations of her armament and different sailing rigs.

HMS <i>Thunderer</i> (1872) Royal Navy Devastation-class turret ship

HMS Thunderer was one of two Devastation-class ironclad turret 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.

HMS <i>Audacious</i> (1869) British lead ship of Audacious-class

HMS Audacious was the lead ship of the Audacious-class ironclads built for the Royal Navy in the late 1860s. They were designed as second-class ironclads suitable for use on foreign stations and the ship spent the bulk of her career on the China Station. She was decommissioned in 1894 and hulked in 1902 for use as a training ship. The ship was towed to Scapa Flow after the beginning of the First World War to be used as a receiving ship and then to Rosyth after the war ended. Audacious was sold for scrap in 1929.

HMS <i>Resistance</i> (1861) British defence-class ironclads

HMS Resistance was the second of two Defence-class ironclads built for the Royal Navy in the 1860s. She was the first capital ship in the Royal Navy to be fitted with a ram and was given the nickname of Old Rammo. Resistance was initially assigned to the Channel Fleet upon commissioning, but was transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet in 1864, the first ironclad to be assigned to that fleet. She was rearmed in 1867 and became a guardship when recommissioned in 1869. The ship was reassigned to the Channel Fleet in 1873 before reverting to her former duties in 1877. Resistance was decommissioned in 1880 and was used for gunnery and torpedo trials beginning in 1885. The ship was sold for scrap in 1898 and foundered in 1899 en route to the breaker's yard. She was salvaged and later scrapped.

The Hector-class ironclads were a pair of armoured frigates built for the Royal Navy (RN) in the 1860s. Hector was completed in 1864 and assigned to the Channel Fleet until she began a refit in 1867. Valiant's builder went bankrupt and delayed her launching by a year. The ship then had to wait almost another five years to receive her guns and be commissioned. Both ships were assigned to the Reserve Fleet from 1868 until they were paid off in 1885–1886. They were mobilized during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878, but saw no action. They were hulked in the late 1890s and assigned to shore establishments. Hector was scrapped in 1905, but Valiant was converted into a floating oil tank in 1926; she was sold for scrap thirty years later.

HMS <i>Achilles</i> (1863) Armoured frigate of the Royal Navy

HMS Achilles was an armoured frigate built for the Royal Navy in the 1860s. Upon her completion in 1864 she was assigned to the Channel Fleet. The ship was paid off in 1868 to refit and be re-armed. When she recommissioned in 1869, she was assigned as the guard ship of the Fleet Reserve in the Portland District until 1874. Achilles was refitted and re-armed again in 1874 and became the guard ship of the Liverpool District in 1875. Two years later, she was rejoined the Channel Fleet before going to the Mediterranean in 1878. The ship returned to the Channel Fleet in 1880 and served until she was paid off in 1885.

<i>Scorpion</i>-class ironclad British class of ironclad warships

The two Scorpion-class ironclads, HMS Scorpion and HMS Wivern, were ironclad warships ordered by the Confederate States Navy in 1862 and seized in 1863 by the British to prevent their delivery. This would have violated the Foreign Enlistment Act, which forbade British subjects to build or arm any ships for governments at war with governments friendly to Great Britain. The Scorpion class were masted turret ships, each with two gun turrets that were designed to mount a pair of heavy muzzle-loading guns. They were purchased for service in the Royal Navy in 1864 and served briefly with the Channel Fleet before they became guard ships at Bermuda and Hong Kong. Scorpion was sold in 1903 and sank under tow to be scrapped, while Wivern was sold for scrap in 1922.

HMS <i>Lord Warden</i> (1865) Ship of the Lord Clyde class of armoured frigates

HMS Lord Warden was the second and last ship of the wooden-hulled Lord Clyde class of armoured frigates built for the Royal Navy (RN) during the 1860s. She and her sister ship, Lord Clyde, were the heaviest wooden ships ever built and were also the fastest steaming wooden ships. They were also the slowest-sailing ironclads in the RN.

HMS <i>Hercules</i> (1868) 1868 ironclad of the Royal Navy

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 <i>Inflexible</i> (1876)

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.

<i>Cyclops</i>-class monitor Class of breastwork monitors

The Cyclops-class monitor was a group of four ironclad breastwork monitors built for the Royal Navy during the 1870s. They were slightly modified versions of the Cerberus-class monitors. 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 Cyclops-class monitors spent most of their careers in reserve and were finally sold off in 1903.

HMS <i>Cyclops</i> (1871) British Cyclops-class monitor

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 <i>Hydra</i> (1871) Cyclops-class monitor

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.

<i>Devastation</i>-class ironclad

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

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.