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FIGHTING SHIPS OF THE WORLD
UNITED KINGDOM
HERCULES central battery ironclad (1, 1868)
Photo
Hercules 1868
Ships
Name |
No |
Yard No | Builder |
Laid down |
Launched |
Comp |
Fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hercules | Chatham DYd | 1.12.1866 | 10.2.1868 | 21.11.1868 | Coast Guard 5.1878-5/1890, accommodation ship 1905 |
Technical data
| Displacement normal, t | 8677 |
|---|---|
| Displacement full, t | 8830 |
| Length, m | 99.1 pp |
| Breadth, m | 18.0 |
| Draught, m | 7.72 |
| No of shafts | 1 |
| Machinery | sails + 1 2-cyl HSE trunk, 9 rectangular boilers |
| Power, h. p. | 7178 |
| Max speed, kts | 14.7 |
| Fuel, t | coal 610 |
| Endurance, nm(kts) | 1760(10) |
| Armour, mm | iron; belt: 229 - 152 with 508 - 254mm teak backing, battery: 203 - 152, bulkheads: 152 - 127 |
| Armament | 8 x 1 - 254/15 MLR Mk I/II, 2 x 1 - 229/14 MLR Mk IV, 4 x 1 - 178/16 MLR Mk III, 8 x 1 - 148/11 24pdr brass SBML howitzers |
| Complement | 638 |
Graphics
Hercules 1868
Hercules in 1890s
Project history
Enlarged Bellerophon with heavier guns and armour, improved hull form and embrasures fore and aft of the battery for end on fire.
Ship protection
There was a narrow waterline strake 229mm-thick part was 22.5m-long, forward and aft from this part the belt was 152mm. Upper and lower sections of the belt had a uniform 152mm thickness from bow to stern. The box 254mm guns battery sides had 203mm lower strake and 152mm upper strakes closed at the ends by 152mm fwd and 127mm aft bulkheads. 229mm guns at each end of the main deck were protected by 152mm armour.
Designed speed was 14kts at 6750hp, boiler pressure was 2.1kgf/cm2. Hercules was ship rigged, sail area was 4600m2 including stunsails, but she was not a good sailer, the best speed under sails was 11kts. She was a good seaboat and a steady gun platform, but was difficult to handle in heavy weather.
Modernizations
(1874-1875): steam steering gear was added
1878: + 2 - 356 TC
1886: net defence was fitted
(1892-1893): ship was re-engined with inverted TE, 8 cylindrical boilers (boiler pressure was 9.9kgf/cm2 (8530hp, 15.9kts), rig was reduced to military masts, new superstructures were built; - 1 x 1 - 178/16; + 2 x 1 - 152/40 QF Mk I/II/III, 6 x 1 - 120/40 QF Mk I/II/III/IV, 9 x 1 - 57/40 Hotchkiss QF Mk I, 13 x 1 - 47/40 Hotchkiss QF Mk I, 2 - 356 TC
Naval service
Hercules after trials in 1893 was placed in reserve and reclassified as 3rd class battleship. She was converted to accommodation ship in 1905, renamed Calcutta in 1909, Fisgard II in April 1915, sold in July 1932 and hulked in December that year.
