HMS Zealous (1864)
HMS Zealous at Esquimalt with her sails set.
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| History | |
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 United Kingdom
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| Name: | HMS Zealous |
| Cost: | £239,258 |
| Laid down: | 24 October 1859 |
| Launched: | 7 March 1864 |
| Completed: | 4 October 1866 |
| Commissioned: | September 1866 |
| Decommissioned: | 1875 |
| Fate: | Sold for scrap, September 1886 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Armoured frigate |
| Displacement: | 6,096 long tons (6,194 t) |
| Length: | 252 ft (76.8 m) |
| Beam: | 58 ft 7 in (17.9 m) |
| Draught: | 25 ft 9 in (7.8 m) |
| Installed power: | 3,623 ihp (2,702 kW) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Sail plan: | Ship rig |
| Speed: | 11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph) |
| Complement: | 510 |
| Armament: | 20 × 7-inch (180 mm) muzzle-loading guns |
| Armour: | |
HMS Zealous was one of the three ships (the others being HMS Royal Alfred and HMS Repulse) forming the second group of wooden steam battleships selected in 1860 for conversion to ironclads. This was done in response to the perceived threat to Britain offered by the large French ironclad building programme. The ship was ordered to the West Coast of Canada after she was completed to represent British interests in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. Zealous became the flagship for the Pacific Station for six years until she was relieved in 1872. She was refitted upon her arrival and subsequently became the guard ship at Southampton until she was paid off in 1875. The ship was in until she was sold for scrap in 1886.
HMS Zealous was given a straight stem and a rounded stern, but her hull was otherwise unmodified from her original form; it had been found that lengthening the hull, as was done in the earlier Prince Consort class, led to longitudinal weakness. Her conversion to a central battery ironclad therefore cost less than that of any of her contemporaries, though this was offset with a shorter battery and therefore a less effective broadside. She also carried less armour than the earlier class, and was nearly a knot slower; however, as she was built to serve in distant waters, and not expected to face opposing ships of significant force, these shortcomings were thought acceptable.
Zealous was 252 feet (76.8 m) long between perpendiculars and had a beam of 58 feet 7 inches (17.9 m). The ship had a draught of 25 feet (7.6 m) forward and 25 feet 9 inches (7.8 m) aft. She displaced 6,096 long tons (6,194 t).
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