HMS Lord Warden

Lord Warden was {{convert|280|ft|m|1}} long between perpendiculars and had a beam of {{convert|59|ft|m|1}}. The ship had a draught of {{convert|23|ft|11|in|m|1}} forward and {{convert|27|ft|11|in|m|1}} aft. She displaced {{convert|7842|LT|t|lk=on}} and had a tonnage of 4,080 tons burthen.Ballard, p. 241

Lord Warden had a low centre of gravity which meant that she rolled very badly; she was said to be second only to her sister as the worst roller in the Victorian fleet. This characteristic was so dramatic that when the rolling propensities of ships were compared, it was usual to say "as bad a roller as the {{HMS|Prince Consort|1862|2}}", the Lord Clydes being beyond compare. In sea trials in 1867 with {{HMS|Bellerophon|1865|2}}, Lord Warden was taking water through her gun ports, while Bellerophon could have fought her main armament in safety.Parkes, pp. 57, 97 She was, however, very handy and sailed well in all weathers under sail or steam.Ballard, p. 82 Her crew consisted of 605 officers and ratings.Parkes, p. 94

The ship had a single three-cylinder horizontal-return, connecting-rod steam engine, made by Maudslay, Sons and Field, that drove a single propellerBallard, p. 80 using steam provided by nine rectangular boilers.Roberts, p. 13 The engine produced {{convert|6706|ihp|lk=on}} during sea trials on 13 September 1867 which gave Lord Warden a speed of {{convert|13.5|kn|lk=in}} under steam. The engine proved to be the most powerful and the most reliable ever placed in a wooden hull for the Royal Navy. She carried a maximum of {{convert|600|LT|t}} of coal.Ballard, pp. 81, 246

Lord Warden was ship-rigged with three masts and had a sail area of {{convert|31000|sqft|sqm}}.Parkes, p. 97 To reduce drag, the funnels were telescopic and could be lowered. Her best speed under sail alone was {{convert|10|kn}}, nearly the slowest of any British ironclad.

The ship was designed to carry an armament of 14 rifled muzzle-loading (RML) guns eight-inch and 2 RML seven-inch guns. Lord Warden was completed, however, with a pair of RML nine-inch guns, 14 RML {{convert|8|in|adj=on|spell=in}} guns, and 2 RML {{convert|7|in|0|adj=on|spell=in}} guns. The latter guns served as forward chase guns on the main deck where they were very wet and useless in a head sea. One of the {{convert|9|in|0|adj=on|spell=in}} guns was the forward chase gun on the upper deck and the other became the stern chase gun on the main deck. A dozen of the {{convert|8|in|0|adj=on|spell=in}} guns were mounted on the main deck on the broadside amidships and the remaining pair were positioned on the quarterdeck on the broadside.Parkes, p. 96

The shell of the nine-inch gun weighed {{convert|254|lb|kg|1}} while the gun itself weighed {{convert|12|LT|t|0}}. It had a muzzle velocity of {{convert|1420|ft/s|m/s|abbr=on}} and was rated with the ability to penetrate {{convert|11.3|in|mm|0}} of wrought-iron armour. The eight-inch gun weighed {{convert|9|LT|t|spell=in}}; it fired a {{convert|175|lb|kg|1|adj=on}} shell at a muzzle velocity of {{convert|1410|ft/s|m/s|abbr=on}} and was credited with the ability to penetrate {{convert|9.6|in|mm|0}} of armour. The seven-inch gun weighed {{convert|6.5|LT|t}} and fired a {{convert|112|lb|kg|1|adj=on}} shell that was able penetrate {{convert|7.7|in|mm|adj=on|0}} of armour.Roberts, p. 6

The entire side of Lord Warden{{'}}s hull, except for the side of the upper deck, was protected by wrought-iron armour that tapered from {{convert|4.5|in|mm|0}} at the ends to {{convert|5.5|in|mm|0}} amidships. It extended {{convert|6|ft|1}} below the waterline. The forward chase guns on the upper deck were protected by 4.5-inch armour plates on the sides of the hull and a 4.5-inch transverse bulkhead to their rear protected them from raking fire. The armour was backed by {{convert|30|in|0}} of oak and the {{convert|1.5|in|0}} iron skin of the ship.Ballard, pp. 77–78

File:HMS Lord Warden on Her Passage from Queensferry, Edinburgh to Portsmouth, Crossing over the Brown Ridge Shoal, North Sea.jpg to Portsmouth]]

Lord Warden, named after the position of the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports,Silverstone, p. 248 was ordered on 25 May 1863 from Chatham Naval Dockyard. She was laid down on 24 December 1863, and launched on 27 May 1865.{{Cite news |title=Launch of the Ironclad Frigate of War, Lord Warden |newspaper=Daily News |location=London |date=29 May 1865 |issue=5947 }} The ship was commissioned in July 1867 to run her sea trials and completed on 30 August,Ballard, p. 240 for the cost of £328,998,Parkes, p. 93 or £322,843, exclusive of armament.Reed, p. 218

After a few months service with the Channel Squadron, Lord Warden was posted to the Mediterranean.Ballard, p. 85 On 30 January 1868, the wooden steam frigate {{HMS|Endymion|1865|6}} was caught by a squall whilst taking up her berth in Valletta Harbour, Malta. She collided with the {{ship|Ottoman ironclad|Mahmoudiah}}, knocking off her bowsprit and then collided with Lord Warden, damaging some of the latter's boats and an accommodation ladder. Endymion was reported to be undamaged.{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Naval and Military Intelligence |date=7 February 1868 |page=12 |issue=26041 |column=B }} On 3 May, she ran aground in the Mediterranean. Repairs cost £2,409. A lieutenant was severely reprimanded and lost a year's seniority.{{Cite news |title=Naval Disasters Since 1860 |newspaper=Hampshire Telegraph |location=Portsmouth |date=10 May 1873 |issue=4250 }} Lord Warden relieved {{HMS|Caledonia|1862|6}} as the squadron flagship in 1869 and served in this position until 1875. In March 1872, Lord Clyde ran aground herself whilst attempting to rescue a British steamship that had gone aground off the island of Pantellaria. Attempts to lighten Lord Clyde enough to float her off were futile, but Lord Warden was able to pull the ship free and tow her to Malta for repair.

File:Battle of Escombrera.jpg in 1873]]

File:HMS Lord Warden off Pantellaria, 1875; 'Man Overboard', Away Life - Boat's Crew, 1875.jpg

In 1875, she returned to the UK for a refit that lasted until the following year.Ballard, pp. 84–85

Upon recommissioning, Lord Warden was assigned to the First Reserve, where she served as a guardship in the Firth of Forth. In this role, she went on annual summer cruises to various ports. During the Russo-Turkish War, she was mobilised and assigned to the Particular Service Squadron formed from all of the ships of the First Reserve, due to concerns that the victorious Russians might be about to attack Constantinople, forcing Great Britain to intervene, but nothing transpired and the ship returned to the Forth after making her summer cruise to Ireland and participating in a fleet review of the Particular Service Squadron by Queen Victoria on 13 August 1878.Wells, pp. 160, 162 Lord Warden was equipped in 1884 with torpedo launchers and torpedo nets before the ship was paid off the following year with her crew being transferred en masse to {{HMS|Devastation|1871|6}}. She was broken up in 1889.

{{reflist|group=Note}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{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=Parkes |first=Oscar |title=British Battleships |publisher=Naval Institute Press |location=Annapolis, Maryland |year=1990 |orig-year=1957 |isbn=1-55750-075-4|author-link=Oscar Parkes}}
• {{cite book|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905|editor1-last=Chesneau|editor1-first=Roger|editor2-last=Kolesnik|editor2-first=Eugene M.|publisher=Conway Maritime Press|chapter=Great Britain and Empire Forces|author-last=Roberts|author-first=John|location=Greenwich, UK|date=1979|isbn=0-8317-0302-4|name-list-style=amp|url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/conwaysallworlds0000unse_l2e2}}
• {{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}}
• {{cite book|last=Reed|first=E. J.|authorlink=Edward James Reed|title=Our Iron-Clad Ships: Their Qualities, Performance and Cost|url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924030752905|year=1869|publisher=John Murray|location=London|oclc=7944535}}
• {{cite book

|last=Wells |first=John

|title=The Immortal Warrior: Britain's First and Last Battleship

|publisher=Kenneth Mason

|year=1987 |location=Emsworth, Hampshire

|isbn=0-85937-333-9

}}

• {{Commons category-inline|HMS Lord Warden (ship, 1865)}}

{{Lord Clyde-class ironclad}}

{{1868 shipwrecks}}

{{1872 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lord Warden, HMS, 1865}}

Category:Lord Clyde-class ironclads

Category:Ships built in Chatham

Category:1865 ships

Category:Victorian-era battleships of the United Kingdom

Category:Maritime incidents in May 1868

Category:Maritime incidents in March 1872