HMS James Watt
James Watt
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom | |
| Name | James Watt |
| Namesake | James Watt |
| Ordered |
|
| Builder | Pembroke Dock |
| Laid down | September 1850 |
| Launched | 23 April 1853 |
| Completed | By 27 March 1854 |
| Renamed | Ordered as Audacious, renamed, 18 November 1847 |
| Fate | Sold to Castle for breaking up at Charlton in January 1875 |
| General characteristics as planned | |
| Class & type | 84-gun Cressy-class second rate ship of the line |
| Tons burthen | 2,537 80/94 bm |
| Length | 198 ft 5 in (60.5 m) (overall) |
| Beam | 55 ft (16.8 m) |
| Depth of hold | 21 ft 8.25 in (6.6 m) |
| Propulsion | Sails |
| Complement | 750 |
| Armament |
|
| General characteristics (as built) | |
| Class & type | 91-gun second-rate |
| Tons burthen | 3,082 79⁄94 bm |
| Length | 230 ft 3 in (70.2 m) (overall) |
| Beam | 55 ft 5 in (16.9 m) |
| Draught | 19 ft 8 in (6.0 m) |
| Depth of hold | 24 ft 8 in (7.5 m) |
| Installed power | 1,548 ihp (1,154 kW) |
| Propulsion | 1 screw; 1 single-expansion steam engine |
| Sail plan | Full-rigged ship |
| Speed | 9.4 knots (17.4 km/h; 10.8 mph) |
| Complement | 860 |
| Armament |
|
HMS James Watt was a 91-gun second rate steam and sail-powered Agamemnon-class ship of the line built for the Royal Navy during the 1850s. Completed in 1854, she served in the Crimean War of 1854–1855. The ship was sold for scrap in 1875.
Description
James Watt measured 230 feet 3 inches (70.2 m) on the gundeck and 194 feet 6 inches (59.3 m) on the keel. She had a beam of 55 feet 5 inches (16.9 m), a depth of hold of 24 feet 8 inches (7.5 m), a deep draught of 19 feet 8 inches (5.99 m) and had a tonnage of 308289⁄94 tons burthen. The ship was fitted with a four-cylinder single-expansion steam engine built by Boulton & Watt that was rated at 600 nominal horsepower and drove a single propeller shaft. Her boilers provided enough steam to give the engine 1,548 indicated horsepower (1,154 kW) that was good for a speed of 9.4 knots (17.4 km/h; 10.8 mph). Her crew numbered 860 officers and ratings.[1]
The ship's muzzle-loading, smoothbore armament consisted of thirty-four 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-two 32-pounder (45 cwt) guns and a single 68-pounder gun.[1]
Construction and career
James Watt was originally ordered on 25 April 1847 as a steam-powered 80-gun second-rate ship of the line to take the engines of the paddle frigate Vulcan after that ship had been converted into a troopship under the name of Audacious, but she had been quickly renamed on 18 November in honour of James Watt,[1] the only ship of that name to serve in the Royal Navy.[2] The ship was reordered as a screw-propelled ship in 14 June 1849 and she was reclassified while under construction as a 91-gun second rate. She was laid down on September 1850 at Pembroke Dock, launched on 23 April 1853, commissioned at Plymouth on 20 January 1854 by Captain George Elliot, and completed on 27 March 1854.[1]
She served in the Baltic campaigns of 1854 and 1855. Her second-hand machinery was found to be unsatisfactory, requiring repeated repairs.[1] In August 1855 she was present at Kronstadt, the Russian Baltic naval base; along with HMS Imperieuse, Centaur and Bulldog. The fleet was involved in a minor long-range engagement near the Tolbukhin lighthouse with the port's batteries and gun-boats on 16 August 1855.[3]
From 1856 to 1857 she was commanded by Captain Talavera Anson.[1] She was sold for scrap on 23 January 1875 to be broken up at Charlton.[4]
Notes
- ^ "Cwt" is the abbreviation for hundredweight, 56 cwt referring to the weight of the gun.
Notes
- Media related to HMS James Watt (ship, 1853) at Wikimedia Commons
References
- 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.