HMS Hannibal (1854)
Hannibal fitting for the Black Sea fleet, December 1853
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Royal NavyUnited Kingdom | |
| Name | Hannibal |
| Builder | Deptford Dockyard |
| Launched | 31 January 1854 |
| Reclassified | Hulked, 1874 |
| Fate | Sold 12 April 1904 |
| General characteristics (as built) | |
| Class & type | 91-gun second-rate Princess Royal-class ship of the line |
| Tons burthen | 3,136 bm |
| Length | 217 ft 6 in (66.3 m) (gundeck) |
| Beam | 58 ft 1 in (17.7 m) |
| Draught | 26 ft 6 in (8.1 m) |
| Depth of hold | 24 ft (7.3 m) |
| Installed power | 1,071 ihp (799 kW) |
| Propulsion | 1 screw; 1 single-expansion steam engine |
| Sail plan | Full-rigged ship |
| Speed | 8.6 knots (15.9 km/h; 9.9 mph) |
| Complement | 850 |
| Armament |
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HMS Hannibal was a 91-gun second rate Princess Royal-class ship of the line built for the Royal Navy during the 1850s. Completed in 1854, she played a minor role in the Crimean War of 1854–1855.
Description
Hannibal measured 217 feet 6 inches (66.3 m) on the gundeck and 179 feet 7 inches (54.7 m) on the keel. She had a beam of 58 feet 1 inch (17.7 m), a depth of hold of 24 feet 6 inches (7.5 m),[1] a deep draught of 26 feet 6 inches (8.08 m)[2] and had a tonnage of 3130 tons burthen. The ship was fitted with a horizontal, geared, two-cylinder single-expansion steam engine built by Scott, Sinclair & Co. that had been taken from the frigate HMS Greenock. It was rated at 450 nominal horsepower and drove a single propeller shaft. Her boilers provided enough steam to give the engine 1,071 indicated horsepower (799 kW) that was good for a speed of 8.6 knots (15.9 km/h; 9.9 mph). Her crew numbered 850 officers and ratings.[1]
The ship's muzzle-loading, smoothbore armament consisted of thirty-two 8 in (203 mm) shell guns on her lower gundeck and thirty-four 32-pounder (56 cwt) guns[Note 1] on her upper gundeck. Between her forecastle and quarterdeck, she carried twenty-four 32-pounder (42 cwt) guns and a single 68-pounder gun.[1]
Construction and career
Hannibal was ordered as a 90-gun second rate Albion-class ship of the line on 12 March 1840, but was never laid down. The ship was reordered to a John Edye design on 19 June 1847 that was lengthened from the modified Princess Royal design of the same year. She was laid down at Woolwich Dockyard in December 1848. The ship was reordered again as a steam-powered, 90-gun second rate on 23 September 1852. The conversion was ordered on 30 October and work began the same day which included inserting a 9-foot (2.7 m) section into the ship's middle to accommodate the steam engine. She was launched on 31 January 1854 and was commissioned by Captain Frederick Grey on 18 March 1854. Hannibal was completed for sea on 22 June.[3]
She served in the Crimean War, initially as the flagship of Commodore Grey, commanding the fleet bringing 10,000 French troops to the Åland Islands. By 25 January 1855, the ship was flagship of Rear-Admiral Houston Stewart in the Black Sea and was commanded by Captain John Charles Dalrymple Hay.[1]
She was used to transport Garibaldi's soldiers in Italy. The ship arrived in Naples in July 1860. In November a smallpox epidemic broke out, and in ten days 90 men from this ship and at least one other had caught the disease. Seven of those who died were buried in the English Cemetery, Naples.[4] She was hulked in 1874 and broken up in 1904.[1]
Notes
- ^ "Cwt" is the abbreviation for hundredweight, 56 cwt referring to the weight of the gun.
Citations
Bibliography
- Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben & Bush, Steve (2020). Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy from the 15th Century to the Present (5th revised and updated ed.). Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-5267-9327-0.
- Lambert, Andrew D. (1984). Battleships in Transition: The Creation of the Steam Battlefleet 1815-1860. Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-315-X.
- Winfield, Rif (2014). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1817–1863: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishingisbn=978-1-84832-169-4.