HMS Shah (1873)
Shah at anchor
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| History | |
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 United Kingdom
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| Name: | HMS Shah |
| Namesake: | Shah of Persia |
| Owner: | Royal Navy |
| Builder: | Portsmouth Dockyard |
| Laid down: | 7 March 1870 |
| Launched: | 10 September 1873 |
| Completed: | December 1875 |
| Commissioned: | 14 August 1876 |
| Out of service: | December 1904 |
| Fate: |
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| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Unarmored steam frigate |
| Tonnage: | 4,210 bm |
| Displacement: | 6,250 long tons (6,350 t) |
| Length: | 334 ft (101.8 m) (p/p) |
| Beam: | 52 ft (15.8 m) |
| Draught: | 25 ft 7 in (7.8 m) |
| Installed power: | 7,480 ihp (5,580 kW) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Sail plan: | Ship rig |
| Speed: | 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph) |
| Range: | 6,840 nmi (12,670 km; 7,870 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement: | 600 |
| Armament: |
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The first HMS Shah was a 19th-century unarmoured iron hulled, wooden sheathed frigate of Britain's Royal Navy designed by Sir Edward Reed. She was originally to be named HMS Blonde but was renamed following the visit of the Shah of Persia in 1873.
The following table gives the build details and purchase cost of the Shah and the other two iron frigates: Inconstant and Raleigh. Standard British practice at that time was for these costs to exclude armament and stores. (Note that costs quoted by J W King were in US dollars.)
*Date first commissioned.
Her complement was 469 officers and men, 46 boys and 87 marines.
As at 1888, Shah's armament consisted of two 9-inch rifled muzzle-loading guns, sixteen 7-inch 6½ ton rifled muzzle-loading guns, eight 5-inch breech-loading guns, 3 quick-firing guns, twelve machine-guns and four torpedo launchers.
She was only in service for three years, as the flagship of the British Pacific Station under Admiral de Horsey. She fought an action, the Battle of Pacocha, in company with the corvette HMS Amethyst on 29 May 1877 with the Peruvian armoured turret ship Huáscar which had been taken over by rebels opposed to the Peruvian Government and, it was feared, could be used to attack British shipping.
The armoured Huáscar proved virtually impenetrable to the British guns, but the two unarmoured British ships had to keep clear of the Huáscar’s turret guns. In the course of the action the Shah fired the first torpedo to be used in anger, although it missed – being outrun by Huáscar. During her time as flagship she also visited Pitcairn Island. On her voyage home she was diverted to South Africa to assist in the Anglo-Zulu War. On 24 October 1879 some of her crew were paid off at Portsmouth and Shah was placed in the fourth division of the Steam Reserve.
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Wikipedia