HMS Royal William (1833)
| History | |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom | |
| Name | Royal William |
| Ordered | 30 December 1823 |
| Builder | Pembroke Dockyard |
| Laid down | October 1825 |
| Launched | 2 April 1833 |
| Fate | Burnt, 1899 |
| General characteristics (as a steamship) | |
| Class & type | Broadened Caledonia-class ship of the line |
| Displacement | 3,520 long tons (3,580 t) |
| Tons burthen | 2849 bm |
| Length | 216 ft 9 in (66.07 m) (gundeck) |
| Beam | 55 ft 7 in (16.94 m) |
| Draught | 24 ft 7 in (7.5 m) |
| Installed power | 1,763 ihp (1,315 kW) |
| Propulsion | 1 shaft; 1 single-expansion steam engine |
| Sail plan | Full-rigged ship |
| Complement | 830 |
| Armament |
|
HMS Royal William was a 120-gun, three-deck, first rate, broadened Caledonia-class ship of the line built for the Royal Navy during the 1830s. Completed in 1834, the ship remained in ordinary until she was razeed and converted into a steam-powered, 89-gun, second rate, two decker during the 1850s. She played a minor role in the Crimean War of 1854–1855 and became a training ship in 1884.
Description
As an 89-gun ship, Royal Wiliam measured 216 feet 9 inches (66.1 m) on the gundeck and about 177 feet (53.9 m) on the keel. She had a beam of 55 feet 7 inches (16.9 m),[1] and a deep draught of 24 feet 7 inches (7.49 m)[2] The ship displaced 3,520 long tons (3,580 t) and had a tonnage of 2849 tons burthen. She was fitted with a horizontal two-cylinder single-expansion steam engine built by Robert Napier & Sons that was rated at 500 nominal horsepower and drove a single propeller shaft. Her boilers provided enough steam to give the engine 1,763 indicated horsepower (1,315 kW) that was good for a speed of 10.6 knots (19.6 km/h; 12.2 mph) during her sea trials without masts or stores. Her crew numbered 830 officers and ratings.[3]
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-two 32-pounder (42 cwt) guns and a single 68-pounder gun.[4]
Construction and career
Royal William was ordered on 30 December 1823, laid down at Pembroke Dockyard in October 1825, launched on 2 April 1833 and completed in 1834. The ship's first commission was not until 16 February 1854 under Captain John Kingcome when she became the flagship of Commodore Michael Seymour, guard ship at Plymouth. Royal William was sent to the Baltic Sea.[5]
Royal William was ordered to be cut down and converted into a steamship on 5 February 1859. The work included lengthening the ship by about 11 feet (3.4 m) and began on 21 March. It was completed on 9 February 1860; she was never put into seagoing state for operation. In November 1884[1] she was lent to the Liverpool Roman Catholic Reformatory Society, who renamed her HMS Clarence[6] to replace their first reformatory school ship of that name destroyed by arson in 1884. As the new Clarence, she was ultimately also destroyed by arson, on 26 July 1899 on the River Mersey near New Ferry on the Wirral Peninsula in England.[6][7][8]
Notes
- ^ "Cwt" is the abbreviation for hundredweight, 56 cwt referring to the weight of the gun.
Citations
- ^ a b Winfield, p. 48
- ^ Lambert, p. 134
- ^ Winfield, pp. 47–48
- ^ Winfield, p. 47
- ^ Winfield, p. 15
- ^ a b "A Reformatory Ship Destroyed By Fire". The Times (35892): Col A, p. 6. 27 July 1899.
- ^ Anonymous, Reports from Commissioners, Inspectors, and Others: Reformatories and Industrial Schools; Public Record; Public Records (Ireland), Volume XLIII, 1900, p. 46
- ^ Colledge, Warlow & Bush, p. 373
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.