HMS Devastation (1871)
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HMS Devastation in 1896.
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| History | |
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 United Kingdom
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| Name: | HMS Devastation |
| Builder: | Portsmouth Dockyard |
| Cost: | £361,438 |
| Laid down: | 12 November 1869 |
| Launched: | 12 July 1871 |
| Commissioned: | 19 April 1873 |
| Refit: | 1879 and from 1891-1892 |
| Struck: | 1907 |
| Fate: | Scrapped, Thos W Ward May 1908 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Devastation-class ironclad |
| Displacement: | |
| Length: | |
| Beam: | 62 ft 3 in (18.97 m) |
| Height: | 27 ft 6 in (8.38 m) |
| Draught: | 26 ft 8 in (8.13 m) (mean) |
| Depth of hold: | 18 ft (5.5 m) |
| Deck clearance: | 4 ft 6 in (1.37 m) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: |
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| Range: |
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| Complement: | 329–410 |
| Armament: |
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| Armour: |
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HMS Devastation was the first of two Devastation-class mastless turret ships built for the British 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.
Devastation was built at a time in which steam power was well established among the world's larger naval powers. However, most ships built at this time were equipped not only with a steam engine, but also with masts and sails for auxiliary power. The presence of masts also prohibited the use of gun turrets since the rigging would obstruct their arc of fire. Devastation, designed by Sir Edward J. Reed, represented a change from this pattern when she was built without masts and her primary armament, two turrets each with two 12-inch (305 mm) muzzle-loading guns, was placed on the top of the hull, allowing each turret a 280-degree arc of fire.
Devastation was the first turret ship built to an Admiralty design. She was 285 feet (87 m) long between perpendiculars, with a beam of 62 feet 3 inches (18.97 m), a mean draught of 26 feet 1.5 inches (7.96 m), and had a freeboard of only 4 feet 6 inches (1.37 m). She was armed with four RML 12 inch 25 ton guns, mounted in pairs in two turrets, protected by armour 12–14 inches (300–360 mm) thick. Her breastworks and hull were protected by 10–12 inches (250–300 mm) of armour, and she was also fitted with a 10–12-foot (3.0–3.7 m) spur bow. The ship had a double bottom, and was divided internally into watertight compartments. She was propelled by two four-bladed screws, 17 feet 6 inches (5.33 m) in diameter, each powered by two direct-acting trunk engines built by John Penn and Sons of Greenwich, providing a total of 5,600 horsepower (indicated), with eight boilers, working at 30 pounds per square inch (210 kPa), giving a maximum speed of 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph). Devastation could carry 1,350 tons of coal, giving her a range of 3,550 nautical miles (6,570 km; 4,090 mi) at 12 knots or 5,570 nautical miles (10,320 km; 6,410 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph). She also carried 30 tons of water, enough for three weeks, and 19 tons of provisions, six weeks supply for her crew of 329.
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