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HMS Caledonia (1862)

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History
United Kingdom
NameHMS Caledonia
NamesakeCaledonia
BuilderWoolwich Dockyard
Laid down10 October 1860
Launched24 October 1862
CompletedJuly 1865
FateBroken up, 1886
General characteristics
Class and typePrince Consort-class ironclad
Displacement6,832 long tons (6,942 t)
Length
  • As built : 252 ft (77 m)
  • After 1866 : 273 ft (83 m)
Beam
  • As built : 57 ft (17 m)
  • After 1866 : 58 ft 6 in (17.83 m)
Draught
  • As built : 25 ft (7.6 m) light
  • 26 ft 6 in (8.08 m) deep load
  • After 1866 : 24 ft (7.3 m) light
  • 26 ft 9 in (8.15 m) deep load
Propulsion
  • One-shaft Maudsley horizontal reciprocating
  • 3,750 ihp (2,796 kW)
Sail planSingle-topsail barque, sail area 25,000 sq ft (2,300 m2)
Speed
  • 12.5 knots (14.4 mph; 23.2 km/h) under power
  • 11.5 knots (13.2 mph; 21.3 km/h) under sail
Complement605
Armament
ArmourBattery and belt: 4.5 in (110 mm) amidships and 3 in (76 mm) fore and aft
Launch of the armour-plated screw-frigate Caledonia, at Woolwich

HMS Caledonia was a broadside ironclad of the Prince Consort class. Originally laid down as a two-decker steam ship of the line of the Bulwark class, Caledonia was converted on the building stocks into an armoured frigate.

Service history

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HMS Caledonia was not completed until July 1865 due to a delay in the delivery of her main armament. Once this was installed, she was commissioned as Second-in-Command of the Mediterranean Fleet, becoming the first ever armoured flagship of the Royal Navy.

She was temporarily withdrawn from service in 1866 for reconstruction which involved the addition of a poop deck. Following this, she was flagship of the Channel Fleet until 1867, when she was paid off for re-armament.

HMS Caledonia was flagship of the Mediterranean Fleet until 1869 (relieving HMS Victoria, the last three-deck Royal Navy flagship) until 1872.[citation needed] In July 1871, she ran aground off Santorini, Greece. She was later refloated and taken in to Malta for repairs.[1] She was a guardship in the Firth of Forth from 1872 until 1875.[citation needed][dubiousdiscuss] On 15 June 1873, Caledonia was in collision with the British ship Hogton Tower off St. Alban's Head, Dorset. Hogton Tower was severely damaged at the bows; Caledonia towed her in to Spithead, Hampshire. Caledonia had been serving as a Coastguard vessel at Birkenhead, Cheshire and was sailing to Portsmouth, Hampshire for a forthcoming inspection of the fleet by the Shah of Persia.[2] She was paid off at Plymouth, and was laid up there until she was sold on 30 September 1886.[citation needed]

References

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  1. ^ "Another Ironclad Ashore". Birmingham Daily Post. No. 4057. Birmingham. 19 July 1871.
  2. ^ "Shipping Disasters". Liverpool Mercury. No. 7928. Liverpool. 18 June 1873.

Bibliography

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