HMS Enterprise (1864)

HM Gunboat Comet (left) and HMS Enterprise (right)
History
United Kingdom
Name:	HMS Enterprise
Ordered:	1861
Builder:	Deptford Dockyard, Deptford, England
Cost:	£62,464
Laid down:	5 May 1862
Launched:	9 February 1864
Completed:	3 June 1864
Commissioned:	5 May 1864
Fate:	Sold 1885
General characteristics
Type:	Ironclad sloop
Displacement:	1,350 long tons (1,370 t)
Tons burthen:	994 bm
Length:	180 ft (54.9 m) pp 152 ft 11 1⁄2 in (46.6 m) (keel)
Beam:	36 ft (11.0 m)
Draught:	15 ft 8 in (4.8 m)
Installed power:	160 nhp 692 ihp (516 kW)
Propulsion:	2-cylinder direct-acting horizontal single-expansion steam engine 2 × tubular boilers 1 × shaft
Sail plan:	Barque-rigged; 18,250 sq ft (1,695.5 m2) sail area
Speed:	9.9 knots (18.3 km/h; 11.4 mph)
Complement:	130
Armament:	As built: 2 × 100-pounder (234 mm) Somerset cannons 2 × 7-inch (178 mm) Armstrong breech-loaders From 1868 : 4 × 7-inch (178 mm) 6½ ton rifled muzzle-loading guns
Armour:	Belt: 4.5 in (114 mm) Bulkheads: 4.5 in (114 mm)

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.

The ship had a length between perpendiculars of 180 feet (54.9 m), a beam of 36 feet (11.0 m), and a draught of 15 feet 10 inches (4.83 m) at deep load. She displaced 1,350 long tons (1,370 t). Her crew consisted of 130 officers and men.

Enterprise's wooden hull was remodeled shortly after she was laid down; she was given a plough-shaped ram bow and a semi-circular stern. The ship had only two decks: the main deck, very close to the ship's waterline, and the upper deck which carried her armament, about 6.5 feet (2.0 m) above the waterline. She was the first ship of composite construction in the Royal Navy, with iron upperworks.

Enterprise had a Ravenhill, Salkeld & Co. direct-acting horizontal single-expansion 2-cylinder direct acting steam engine driving a single propeller. Steam was provided by a pair of tubular boilers. The engine produced 690 indicated horsepower (510 kW) which gave the ship a maximum speed around 9.9 knots (18.3 km/h; 11.4 mph). Enterprise carried 95 long tons (97 t) of coal. As built, her funnel was mounted in the middle of the battery for protection, which impaired the working of her guns until it was relocated forward of the battery in November 1864. She was barque-rigged with three masts and had a sail area of 18,250 square feet (1,695 m²). Her best speed under sail and steam was 9.8 knots (18.1 km/h; 11.3 mph).