HMS Cyclops (1871)
{{Short description|British Cyclops-class monitor}}
{{Other ships|HMS Cyclops}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2018}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2018}}
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{{Infobox ship image |Ship image=HMS Cyclops (1871).jpg |Ship caption=Cyclops }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=United Kingdom |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}} |Ship name=HMS Cyclops |Ship namesake=Cyclops |Ship ordered= |Ship awarded= |Ship builder=Thames Ironworks, London |Ship original cost=£156,782 |Ship yard number= |Ship way number= |Ship laid down=10 September 1870 |Ship launched=18 July 1871 |Ship sponsor= |Ship christened= |Ship completed=4 May 1877 |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned=January 1872 |Ship out of service=1901 |Ship refit=1887–89 |Ship struck= |Ship motto= |Ship nickname= |Ship fate=Sold for scrap 1903 |Ship badge= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class={{sclass|Cyclops|monitor|0}} breastwork monitor |Ship displacement={{convert|3480|LT|t}} |Ship length={{convert|225|ft|m|1|abbr=on}} (p/p) |Ship beam={{convert|45|ft|m|1|abbr=on}} |Ship draught={{convert|16|ft|3|in|m|1|abbr=on}} (deep load) |Ship power={{convert|1528|ihp|lk=in|abbr=on}} |Ship propulsion=2 shafts, 2 steam engines |Ship speed={{convert|11|kn|lk=in}} |Ship range={{convert|3000|nmi|lk=in|abbr=on}} at {{convert|10|knots|abbr=on}} |Ship complement=156 |Ship armament=2 × twin 10-inch rifled muzzle loaders |Ship armour=*Belt: {{convert|6 |
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HMS Cyclops was the lead ship of the {{sclass|Cyclops|monitor|0}} breastwork monitors built for the Royal Navy during the 1870s. The ships were ordered to satisfy demands for local defence during the war scare of 1870, but the pace of construction slowed tremendously as the perceived threat of war declined. The ship spent most of her career in reserve; her only sustained period in commission was four months in Portland Harbour, during the Russo-Turkish War in 1878 when the British were trying to force the Russians to end the war without allowing them to seize Constantinople. Cyclops was sold for scrap in 1903.
==Design and description==
File:Cyclops class monitor diagrams Brasseys 1888.jpg 1888–1889]]
The Cyclops-class ships were modified versions of the Cerberus class.Parkes, p. 212 The ships had a length between perpendiculars of {{convert|225|ft|m|1}}, a beam of {{convert|45|ft|m|1}}, and a draught of {{convert|16|ft|3|in|m}} at deep load. They displaced {{convert|3480|LT|t}}. Their crew consisted of 156 officers and men.Parkes, p. 213 The ships had two 4-cylinder inverted compound steam engines, each driving a single propeller shaft. The engines produced a total of {{convert|1528|ihp|lk=in}} on 30 December 1871 during the ship's sea trials which gave her a maximum speed of {{convert|10.79|kn|lk=in}}. Cyclops carried {{convert|250|LT|t}} of coal,Ballard, pp. 246–49 enough to steam {{convert|3000|nmi|lk=in}} at {{convert|10|kn}}.Silverstone, p. 169
The ships mounted four 10-inch rifled muzzle-loading guns in twin-gun turrets fore and aft of the superstructure. The guns could fire both solid shot and explosive shells.Gardiner, p. 6 They were mounted on carriages that used hydraulic jacks to elevate and depress the guns.
The Cyclops class had a complete waterline belt of wrought iron that was {{convert|8|in|mm|0}} thick amidships and thinned to {{convert|6|in|mm|0}} at the ends. The superstructure and conning tower was fully armoured, the reason it was called a breastwork, with {{convert|8|-|9|in|mm|0}} of wrought iron. The gun turrets had 10 inches on their faces and 9 inches on the sides and rear. All of the vertical armour was backed by {{convert|9|-|11|in|0}} of teak. The decks were {{convert|1.5|in|1}} thick.Parkes, pp. 213–14
Construction
HMS Cyclops was laid down on 10 September 1870 by the Thames Ironworks in London. She was launched on 18 July 1871 and commissioned in January 1872. The ship was towed to Devenport that same month for what proved to be a very lengthy fitting out period that was not completed until 4 May 1877.Parkes, p. 215 Cyclops cost £156,782 to build.Adjusted for inflation, the ship cost £{{formatnum:{{Inflation|UK|156782|1887}}}} in current pounds.
=Refit=
Although a recommendation had been made while the ships were still under construction to extend the superstructure out to the sides of the ship to improve their stability and habitability, this was not acted upon until they were refitted during the 1880s. This refit also strengthened the breastwork and upper decks, added another watertight bulkhead as well as a false keel. Four quick-firing 3-pounder Hotchkiss guns were added on the breastwork for torpedo boat defence as well as five machine guns and several searchlights.Parkes, pp. 212, 214 This increased their crew to approximately 191 men and added {{convert|80|LT|t}} to their displacement.Gardiner, p. 25
Service
HMS Cyclops was the third ship to be completed, although she was the lead ship of the class. She was placed in 1st Class Reserve after her completion. The ship, along with her sisters, was commissioned between April and August 1878 during the Russo-Turkish War for service with Admiral Sir Cooper Key's Particular Service Squadron in Portland Harbour. Cyclops was paid off at Chatham in August 1878 and refitted in 1887–89. All four ships of the class participated in the annual fleet manoeuvers in 1887, 1889–90 and 1892; in between times they were in Fleet Reserve. HMS Cyclops, like all of her sisters, was placed on the non-effective list in January 1902,{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Naval & Military intelligence |date=6 January 1902 |page=8 |issue=36657}} transferred to the E Division of the Dockyard Reserve at Sheerness in May 1902,{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Naval & Military intelligence |date=19 May 1902 |page=8 |issue=36771}} and sold on 7 July 1903Silverstone, p. 224 for £8,400.Adjusted for inflation, the ship sold for £{{formatnum:{{Inflation|UK|8400|1903}}}} in current pounds.
Notes
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Footnotes
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References
- {{cite book|last=Ballard |first=G. A., Admiral|authorlink=George Alexander Ballard |title=The Black Battlefleet |year=1980 |publisher=Naval Institute Press |location=Annapolis, Maryland|isbn=0-87021-924-3}}
- {{cite book|last=Beeler|first=John|title=Birth of the Battleship: British Capital Ship Design 1870–1881|year=2001|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|isbn=1-55750-213-7}}
- {{cite book|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905|editor=Gardiner, Robert|publisher=Conway Maritime Press|location=Greenwich|date=1979|isbn=0-8317-0302-4|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/conwaysallworlds0000unse_l2e2}}
- {{cite book|last=Parkes|first=Oscar|title=British Battleships|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|year=1990|edition=reprint of the 1957|isbn=1-55750-075-4}}
- {{cite book|last=Silverstone|first=Paul H.|title=Directory of the World's Capital Ships|year=1984|publisher=Hippocrene Books|location=New York|isbn=0-88254-979-0}}
{{Cyclops class ironclad}}
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Category:Cyclops-class monitors