HMS Inflexible was a Victorian ironclad battleship carrying her main armament in centrally placed turrets. The ship was constructed in the 1870s for the Royal Navy to oppose the perceived growing threat from the Italian Regia Marina in the Mediterranean. Download high resolution version (1073x750, 84 KB)HMS Inflexible (1881) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Naval_Ensign_of_the_United_Kingdom. ... The beam of a ship is its width at the widest point, or a point alongside the ship at the mid-point of its length. ... The draft of a ships hull is the vertical distance from the bottom of the hull to the waterline. ... Muzzle-loading rifles were introduced into service in ships of the Royal Navy, after some experimentation with alternative armament systems, after the failure of the Armstrong 100-pounder breech-loaders which were installed in 1860. ... Several ships of the Royal Navy have been called HMS Inflexible. ... Victorian can refer to: people from or attributes of places called Victoria (disambiguation page), including Victoria, Australia, people who lived during the British Victorian era of the 19th century, and aspects of the Victorian era, for example: Victorian architecture Victorian fashion Victorian morality Victorian literature This is a disambiguation page... The firepower of a battleship demonstrated by USS Iowa A battleship is a large, heavily-armored warship with a main battery consisting of the largest caliber of guns. ... // The invention of the telephone (1876) by Alexander Graham Bell. ... The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British armed services (and is therefore the Senior Service). ... The Italian Regia Marina (literally: Royal Navy) dates from the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861 after Italian unification. ... The Mediterranean Sea is an intercontinental sea positioned between Europe to the north, Africa to the south and Asia to the east, covering an approximate area of 2. ...

The Italian Navy had started constructing a pair of battleships, Duilio and Dandolo, equipped with four Armstrong 15-inch (381 mm) guns weighing 35 tons each. These were superior to the armament of any ship in the British Mediterranean Squadron, and Inflexible was designed as a counter to them. Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd was a major British manufacturing company of the early years of the 20th century. ...

Packed with innovations, Inflexible mounted larger guns than those of any previous British warship and had the thickest armour ever to be fitted to a Royal Navy ship. Controversially, she was designed so that if her un-armoured ends should be seriously damaged in action and become water-logged, the buoyancy of the armoured centre section of the ship would keep her afloat and upright. The ship was as the first major warship to depend in part for the protection of her buoyancy by a horizontal armoured deck below the water-line rather than armoured sides along the waterline.

Design

The original concept was based upon an outline design similar to that for HMS Dreadnought, but with improved armament. The ship was conceptually constructed from three components, several outline studies being produced by Nathaniel Barnaby. The second HMS Dreadnought of the British Royal Navy was a turret ironclad battleship built at Pembroke Dockyard, Wales. ... Sir Nathaniel Barnaby (born February 25, 1829 in Chatham, England) was the Chief Constructor of the Royal Navy between 1872 and 1885. ...

• A heavily armoured citadel 75 feet wide and 110 feet long located amidships which would keep the ship afloat and stable regardless of what happened to the ends. This citadel contained the main guns, the boilers and the engines.

• Unarmoured ends, but with a 3-inch-thick armoured deck 6–8 ft below the waterline to limit damage to the underwater section to keep them buoyant. Coal bunkers were located over the armoured deck and surrounded by 4-foot-wide compartments filled with cork. The ship had bunker capacity for 400 tons of coal below the deck for use during combat, when the above-deck bunkers would be inaccessible and possibly flooded. The structure above the armoured deck also contained a large number of watertight compartments to further preserve buoyancy.

• A light superstructure to provide crew accommodation, and freeboard in rough weather, although anticipated to be seriously damaged in any major engagement.

Once the outline design was agreed, the detailed architectural design was done by William White^[1] and she was laid down at Portsmouth Dockyard on 24 February 1874. Sir William Henry White (2 February 1845 – 27 February 1913) was a prolific British warship designer and Chief Constructor at the Admiralty. ... For other places with the same name, see Portsmouth (disambiguation). ... February 24 is the 55th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1874 (MDCCCLXXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link with display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ...

Controversy

Inflexible was launched 27 April 1876. Later that year the previous, retired Director of Naval Construction, and now a member of Parliament, Edward Reed visited the Italian ships and subsequently questioned their stability if the unarmoured ends were flooded. April 27 is the 117th day of the year (118th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 248 days remaining. ... 1876 (MDCCCLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards and make it more accessible to a general audience, this article may require cleanup. ... A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters to a parliament. ... Sir Edward James Reed (1830-1906) was the Chief Constructor of the Royal Navy from 1863 until 1870. ...

As Inflexible was of similar design he raised grave concerns about it too. When he failed to persuade the Admiralty, in June 1877 he publicised his charges in The Times. An editorial in the same edition, 18 June, said "it is said that the unarmoured ends are, in fact, the corks on which she floats, that she cannot swim without them, and it would appear that if she lost one she would capsize".^[2] Flag of the Lord High Admiral The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the United Kingdom responsible for the command of the Royal Navy. ... The Times is a national newspaper published daily in the United Kingdom since 1785, and under its current name since 1788. ... June 18 is the 169th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (170th in leap years), with 196 days remaining. ...

Further exchanges followed until in July, construction was halted on Inflexible (and two other smaller ships, HMS Ajax and Agamemnon) whilst a hastily convened committee examined the design. In their report published in December 1877, they concluded that it would be hard for gunfire to completely flood the unarmoured but heavily compartmentalised and partially cork-filled ends. However, if this was managed then the ship would just be stable, capsizing at about 35 degrees heel.^[2] HMS Ajax was the first of the Ajax class battleships to be laid down, but was completed one day later than her sister-ship, HMS Agamemnon. ... HMS Agamemnon was an Ajax class battleship, the sister-ship of HMS Ajax. ...

Work restarted on the ship in December 1877 and the ship was commissioned 5 July 1881, under Captain Jackie Fisher, although she was not completed until 18 October. July 5 is the 186th day of the year (187th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 179 days remaining. ... Year 1881 (MDCCCLXXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar). ... John Arbuthnot Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher John Arbuthnot Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher (January 25, 1841 – July 10, 1920), commonly known as Jackie Fisher, was a British admiral known for his efforts at naval reform. ... October 18 is the 291st day of the year (292nd in leap years). ...

Main armament

Main guns

To counter the perceived threat from the Italians, Inflexible was to be equipped with four of the largest guns available, weighing 60 tons each. In October 1874 it was decided to modify the design of Inflexible to use an even bigger gun which Armstrongs was producing, a 16-inch (406 mm) gun weighing 81 tons. The Italians responded by changing their design to take an even larger 100-ton 17.7-inch (450 mm) Armstrongs guns.^[2] As these could not be fitted to Inflexible, four examples were ordered by the British Government, two each for the coastal defences around Gibraltar and Malta respectively. One of these guns still exists, at Fort Rinnella on Malta. Fort Rinella in Malta was one of four coastal fortifications built between 1878 and 1886 to house massive 100 ton muzzle-loading artillery pieces to defend the island from possible naval attack from the Regia Marina. ...

The four 81-ton muzzle-loading rifles were mounted in two 33-foot 10-inch diameter turrets mounted en echelon, with the forward turret mounted on the left hand side of the ship and the aftmost turret on the right hand side. The superstructure both fore and aft was very narrow to allow one gun in each turret to fire axially, i.e. directly forward or directly aft. In practice, as in previous ships, it was found that axial fire led to so much blast damage to the ship's superstructure that it was impractical. However, the en-echelon arrangement also meant that at least three guns could fire on bearings close to fore and aft. All four guns could be fired broadside. Muzzle-loading rifles were introduced into service in ships of the Royal Navy, after some experimentation with alternative armament systems, after the failure of the Armstrong 100-pounder breech-loaders which were installed in 1860. ...

The en-echelon configuration was retained for the two ships of the Colossus class, but subsequently abandoned in the Royal Navy in favour of centreline mounts at either end of the ship. The en-echelon configuration did not reappear in Royal Navy capital ships until Neptune launched in 1909. HMS Neptune was a Royal Navy dreadnought, intended to be the lead ship of three Neptune-class battleships, but the subsequent two ships had thicker armour and were reclassified as the Colossus class. ...

Each turret weight 750 tons and was protected by an outer layer of 9 inches of compound armour, an inner layer of 7-inch-thick wrought iron, with a total of 18 inches of teak backing.^[3] The turrets were rotated hydraulically, taking around a minute to perform a complete rotation. Compound armour was a type of armour used on warships in the 1880s . ... A wrought iron railing in Troy, New York. ...

Inflexible's guns were muzzle loaded, and because of their length could not be reloaded from inside the turrets. Consequently reloading was done using hydraulic rams fitted outside of the two turrets underneath an armoured glacis. To reload the guns, the turret was rotated to align the guns with the rams, and the guns depressed so that the rams could push the gunpowder charge and 1684-pound shell into it. Tests showed that the normal full charge of 450 pounds of brown prismatic gunpowder would produce a muzzle velocity of 1590 feet per second, which could penetrate 23 inches of wrought iron armour at 1,000 yards. However, the muzzle loading took between 2.5 and four minutes.^[3] A glacis, in military engineering (see Fortification and Siege) is an artificial slope of earth in the front of works, so constructed as to keep an assailant under the fire of the defenders to the last possible moment. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Blackpowder. ... A guns muzzle velocity is the speed at which the projectile leaves the muzzle of the gun. ...

Ram

She was also equipped with a ram – ramming was considered a practical means of sinking an enemy battleship at that time. The Italian Re d'Italia had been rammed and sunk by the Austrian flagship, Ferdinand Max, at the Battle of Lissa in 1866. This had started a vogue for ramming (which persisted until the 1890s) and many naval experts even believed this was the most effective weapon a ship could have. For example Gerard Noel won the 1874 Royal United Services Institute essay contest with an article that asserted that "[i]n a general action I do not hold that the guns will be the principal weapon".^[4] Combatants Italy Austria Commanders Carlo di Persano Wilhelm von Tegetthoff Strength 12 ironclads 10 cruisers 4 gunboats (approx 68,000 tons) 7 ironclads 1 steam battleship 6 cruisers 12 gunboats (approx 50,000 tons) Casualties 2 ironclads sunk 620 dead 40 wounded 38 dead 138 wounded The Battle of Lissa... 1866 (MDCCCLXVI) is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... The Royal United Services Institute (in full the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies and commonly abbreviated to RUSI) is a British defence and security think tank. ...

This was less surprising than it might seem to modern eyes, because it was expected that naval battles would be fought at a range of only a couple of thousand metres. However, rams turned out to be a handicap in retrospect, as several warships were accidentally sunk by them - for example HMS Vanguard by HMS Iron Duke in 1875, and HMS Victoria by HMS Camperdown in 1893. Whilst this showed the considerable potency of a ram, it also demonstrated the inadequate manoeuvering characteristics of many of the ships equipped with them. The seventh HMS Vanguard of the British Royal Navy iron Audacious-class central battery ironclad battleship, launched in 1870. ... The first HMS Iron Duke was an iron Audacious-class central battery ironclad. ... 1875 (MDCCCLXXV) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... HMS Victoria was one of two Victoria class battleships of the Royal Navy. ... HMS Camperdown was an Admiral class battleship of the UK Royal Navy. ... Year 1893 (MDCCCXCIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ...

Protection

The central citadel in particular was exceptionally heavily armoured. At the waterline, the armour consisted of a 4-foot-wide layer of 12-inch-thick armour plate backed by 11 inches of teak. Behind this was another 12-inch-thick armour plate backed by 6 inches of teak. Finally on the inside of this were two 5/8-inch-thick layers of shell plating. This 41-inch-thick layer of protection weighed 11,000 pounds per square foot. 24 inches of armour was considered almost completely proof against any contemporary gun and is still the thickest armour which has ever been used on a battleship.

The armour was reduced to 20 inches thick above the waterline, with a 12-inch-thick outer plate and an 8-inch-thick inner one, with the thickness of teak increased to 21 inches to maintain the same overall thickness of protection. Below the waterline, again there was a 12-inch outer plate, but with a 4-inch-thick inner plate, with 25 inches of teak backing in total to maintain the overall thickness of protection at 41 inches.^[3]

Outside of the citadel, above the 3-inch-thick armoured deck were a large number of small watertight compartments used to hold coal and stores. Between them and the hull were 4-foot-thick compartments filled with cork and containing a 2-foot high coffer dam. The dam was filled with oakum and canvas which had been shown to help reduce the size of the hole made by a projectile passing through the coffer dam. All of these materials were treated with calcium chloride to try to reduce their flammability. Experiments were carried out with HMS Nettle firing 64-pounder shells into full scale replicas of the cork compartments and coffer dams. A cork stopper for a wine bottle Champagne corks Varnished cork tiles can be used for flooring, as a substitute for linoleum or tiles. ... Scrivener Dam, Canberra Australia, was engineered to withstand a once-in-5000-years flood event A dam is a barrier across flowing water that obstructs, directs or retards the flow, often creating a reservoir, lake or impoundment. ... Oakum is a preparation of tarred fibre used in shipbuilding, for caulking or packing joints of timbers in wood vessels and the deck planking of iron and steel ships. ... Look up Canvas in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Calcium chloride is a chemical compound of calcium and chlorine. ...

Propulsion

With a slenderness ratio of 4.6:1 Inflexible was a stable gun platform. Work by the hydrodynamicist William Froude had demonstrated that such a short length for the ship's width would not require excessive installed power at the design speed of 14.75 knots. However, the same proportions were adopted in the similar but smaller HMS Ajax and Agamemnon but resulted in a serious lack of directional stability in those ships. The hulls of swan (above) and raven (below). ... HMS Ajax was the first of the Ajax class battleships to be laid down, but was completed one day later than her sister-ship, HMS Agamemnon. ... HMS Agamemnon was an Ajax class battleship, the sister-ship of HMS Ajax. ...

Although she was propelled by coal-fired single expansion reciprocating steam engines, she was equipped with a pair of masts and yards, so that 18,500 square feet (1,700 m²) of sail could be deployed. This was to help exercise and train the crew, especially as such an area of sail (less than 2 square feet per ton) would hardly move the ship. The masts and sails were removed after four years in service,^[1] and replaced by simple pole masts for carrying signal flags and circular fighting tops, platforms carrying quick firing guns. Coal Coal (IPA: ) is a fossil fuel formed in swamp ecosystems where plant remains were saved by water and mud from oxidization and biodegradation. ...

Innovations

She was also the first Royal Navy ship to be completely lit by electricity, and the first to have underwater torpedo tubes. The electrical installation provided 800 volts DC to power arc lights in the engine and boiler rooms and Swan incandescent bulbs in other parts of the ship. The circuitry was complicated because the lighting consisted of sets of 18 Swan lamps and an arc lamp arranged in series. Each incandescent bulb was fitted with an automatic mechanism to switch in a resistor to maintain continuity should it fail, so that the set of 19 lights would not be extinguished if one failed. The arrangement also led to the first fatal electrocution on a Royal Navy ship, in 1882, after which the Navy adopted an 80 volt standard for its ships.^[1] Lightning strikes during a night-time thunderstorm. ... A modern torpedo, historically called a locomotive torpedo, is a self-propelled projectile that (after being launched above or below the water surface) operates underwater and is designed to detonate on contact or in proximity to a target. ... The volt is the SI derived unit for electric potential and voltage (derived from the ampere and watt). ... Direct current (DC or continuous current) is the continuous flow of electricity through a conductor such as a wire from high to low potential. ... A Techno-Thriller, Arc Light is set towards the end of the 1990s and depicts a warp between the United States of America and the Soviet Union. ... This article needs cleanup. ... The incandescent light bulb uses a glowing wire filament heated to white-hot by electrical resistance, to generate light (a process known as thermal radiation). ... The term electrocution can mean either: accidental death or suicide by electric shock deliberate execution by electric shock, usually involving an electric chair The term is often used incorrectly to refer to a non-fatal event of electric shock. ...

The ship was equipped with many other novelties including water tanks to dampen the roll, which turned out to be useless. Much of the ship was without natural illumination, and Fisher had different deck levels painted in contrasting colours to make it easier for crew members to find their way around the ship.^[5]

Service history

On completion the ship was sent to join the Mediterranean squadron. She took part in the bombardment of Alexandria on 11 July 1882 during the Urabi Revolt in 1882, firing 88 shells^[5] and was struck herself twice, one 10-inch (254mm) shell killed the ship's carpenter, mortally wounded an officer directing the fire of a 20-pounder breech-loader and injured a seaman. The blast from Inflexibles own 16-inch guns did considerable damage to upperworks and boats. Alexandria (Greek: , Coptic: , Arabic: , Egyptian Arabic: Iskindireyya), (population of 3. ... July 11 is the 192nd day (193rd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 173 days remaining. ... Year 1882 (MDCCCLXXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... The Urabi Revolt was an uprising in Egypt in 1881-82 against the Khedive and European influence in the country. ... Year 1882 (MDCCCLXXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ...

She was refitted in Portsmouth in 1885, when the full sailing rig was removed. She was in the Fleet Reserve until 1890, except for brief service in the 1887 review and the manouevres of 1889 and 1890. She was re-commissioned for the Mediterranean Fleet from 1890 to 1893, serving thereafter as Portsmouth guard ship until 1897. From there she went to Fleet Reserve, and in 1901 to Dockyard Reserve until sold at Chatham in 1903 for scrap. 1885 (MDCCCLXXXV) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... 1890 (MDCCCXC) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar). ... 1887 (MDCCCLXXXVII) is a common year starting on Saturday (click on link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. ... Year 1889 (MDCCCLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... 1890 (MDCCCXC) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar). ... 1890 (MDCCCXC) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar). ... Year 1893 (MDCCCXCIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... 1897 (MDCCCXCVII) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... 1901 (MCMI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Chatham is a large English town that developed around an important naval dockyard on the east bank of the River Medway to the south-east of London in the county of Kent. ... 1900 (MCMIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Friday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ...

References

• Oscar Parkes British Battleships ISBN 0-85052-604-3
• Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships ISBN 0-85177-133-5

Footnotes