HMS Research (1863)
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Research in 1864
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| History | |
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| Name: | HMS Research |
| Builder: | Pembroke Dockyard |
| Cost: | £71,287 |
| Laid down: | 3 September 1861 |
| Launched: | 15 August 1863 |
| Completed: | 6 April 1864 |
| Commissioned: | 6 April 1864 |
| Fate: |
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| General characteristics as originally designed | |
| Type: | Wooden Camelion-class sloop |
| Displacement: | 1,200 tons |
| Length: | 185 ft (56 m) |
| Beam: | 33 ft 2 in (10.11 m) |
| Draught: |
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| General characteristics after conversion | |
| Type: | Ironclad sloop |
| Displacement: | 1,743 tons |
| Tons burthen: | 1,253 bm |
| Length: | 195 ft (59 m) pp |
| Beam: | 38 ft 6 in (11.73 m) |
| Draught: |
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| Installed power: |
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| Propulsion: |
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| Sail plan: | Barque rig, sail area 18,250 sq ft (1,695 m2) |
| Speed: |
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| Complement: | 150 |
| Armament: |
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| Armour: |
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HMS Research was a small ironclad warship, converted from a wooden-hulled sloop and intended as an experimental platform in which to try out new concepts in armament and in armour. She was launched in 1863, laid up in 1878 and sold for breaking in 1884, having displayed serious limitations as a warship.
In the period from 1860 to 1865 the Board of Admiralty were seriously concerned at the speed with which France was producing ironclad warships. One of the steps taken to counter this perceived threat was the conversion of partially built British wooden ships into ironclads, including such large ships as the Prince Consort-class ironclads.
The 17-gun sloop Trent had been ordered in November 1860 as one of the Camelion-class. She was selected for conversion to an ironclad, and her name was changed to Research. Although she had been building for a year, work was not far advanced, and the necessary changes to her length and beam could easily be made. A new design by the Royal Navy Chief Constructor, Sir Edward Reed, saw her sloop ends replaced by an oval stern and a ram bow, and the draught altered to give her a trim of 3 1⁄2 feet (1.1 m) by the stern.
Her armament was carried in a midships armoured compartment which, when used in subsequent designs, became known as a box battery. The designed armament of seventeen guns was discarded, and the offensive power of the ship was concentrated into four 100-pounder Somerset smoothbore cannon, which were at the time the most powerful guns afloat. While these guns were certainly much more effective against armour than smaller pieces, whether a two-gun broadside would have prevailed against more generously armed ironclads is open to question.
For the first time, in this ship, a degree of axial fire was possible from broadside guns. The hull sides were recessed at either end of the battery, and gunports were constructed facing fore and aft to which the guns could be moved. Moving the guns in anything other than calm weather was a hazardous procedure.
The Somerset smoothbore cannon were replaced in 1870 with four 7-inch (180-mm) 6½-ton muzzle-loading rifles, largely because of the difficulty in working and controlling the guns.
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