HMS Prince Consort
| History | |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom | |
| Name | Prince Consort |
| Namesake | Title of Prince Albert |
| Builder | HM Dockyard, Pembroke |
| Laid down | 13 Aug 1860 |
| Launched | 26 June 1862 |
| Completed | 6 February 1864 |
| Commissioned | 27 October 1863 |
| Decommissioned | 1871 |
| Renamed | as Prince Consort, 14 February 1862 |
| Fate | Sold for scrap, March 1882 |
| General characteristics As completed | |
| Class & type | Prince Consort-class ironclad |
| Tonnage | 4,045 (bm) |
| Displacement | 6,430 long tons (6,533 t) |
| Length | 273 ft 1 in (83.2 m) |
| Beam | 58 ft 7 in (17.9 m) |
| Draught | 26 ft 10 in (8.2 m) |
| Installed power |
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| Propulsion | 1 shaft; 1 horizontal-return, connecting rod-steam engine |
| Sail plan | barque rigged |
| Speed |
|
| Range | 2,000 nmi (3,700 km; 2,300 mi) at 5 knots (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph) |
| Complement | 605 |
| Armament |
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| Armour |
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HMS Prince Consort was the lead ship of her class of wooden-hulled, broadside ironclads built for the Royal Navy (RN) during the 1860s. She was laid down in 1860 as a 91-gun, second-rate Bulwark-class ship of the line, named Triumph, but was renamed Prince Consort two years later following the death of Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the husband of Queen Victoria. The ship was converted into an armoured frigate from 1861 to 1864.
Her first posting after commissioning in 1863 was to Liverpool; on her passage there, during a gale in the Irish Sea, it was found that she did not have enough scuppers fitted to discharge seawater coming aboard, and almost foundered. She served in the Channel Fleet from 1864 until 1867, when she was paid off to re-arm. From 1867 to 1871 she formed part of the Mediterranean Fleet, until she was brought home for a further re-armament. Prince Consort was reduced to reserve afterwards, but she saw no further sea service. By 1882 the ship had fallen into disrepair and was sold for scrap that same year.