HMS Repulse (1892)

File:Royal Sovereign class diagrams Brasseys 1906.jpg, 1906]]

The design of the Royal Sovereign-class ships was derived from that of the {{sclass2|Admiral|ironclad}} battleships, greatly enlarged to improve seakeeping and to provide space for a secondary armament as in the preceding {{sclass|Trafalgar|ironclad|2}} battleships.Gardiner, p. 116; Parkes, pp. 359 The ships displaced {{convert|14150|LT|t|lk=on}} at normal load and {{convert|15580|LT|t}} at deep load. They had a length between perpendiculars of {{convert|380|ft|m|1}} and were {{convert|410|ft|6|in|m|1}} long overall, a beam of {{convert|75|ft|m|1}}, and a draught of {{convert|27|ft|6|in|m|1}}.Chesneau & Kolesnik, p. 32 As a flagship, Repulse{{'}}s crew consisted of 670 officers and ratings in 1903.Burt, p. 73

Repulse was powered by a pair of three-cylinder, vertical triple-expansion steam engines, each driving one shaft. Her Humphrys & Tennant engines were designed to produce a total of {{convert|11000|ihp|lk=in}} and a maximum speed of {{convert|17.5|kn|lk=in}} using steam provided by eight cylindrical boilers with forced draught. The ship reached a speed of {{convert|17.8|kn}} during her sea trials. The Royal Sovereign-class ships carried a maximum of {{convert|1420|LT|t|0}} of coal which gave them a range of {{convert|4720|nmi|lk=in}} at a speed of {{convert|10|kn}}.Burt, pp. 73, 85

File:HMS Repulse (1892) barbette interior.jpg side of Repulse{{'}}s after {{convert|13.5|in|mm|0|adj=on}} barbette. The breech of the barbette{{'}}s starboard gun, its breech block removed, can be seen through the opening at far left. Levers controlling the barbette{{'}}s hydraulic system are in the foreground. Thin splinter plating covers the top of the barbette, through which two sighting ports protruded; the sailor at rear has his head partially through the starboard sighting port.]]

Their main armament consisted of four breech-loading (BL) BL 13.5 inch naval gun Mk I - IV mounted in two twin-barbette mountings, one each fore and aft of the superstructure.Parkes, p. 355 Each gun was provided with 80 rounds. Their secondary armament consisted of ten quick-firing (QF) QF 6 inch Mk I - III naval gun. 200 rounds per gun were carried by the ships. Sixteen QF 6-pounder ({{convert|57|mm|in|abbr=on|1|order=flip}}) guns of an unknown type and a dozen QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss Hotchkiss guns were fitted for defence against torpedo boats. The two 3-pounders in the upper fighting top were removed by 1902 and all of the remaining light guns from the lower fighting tops and main deck followed in 1905–09. Repulse carried seven 14-inch (356 mm) torpedo tubes, although four were removed in 1902.Burt, pp. 73, 85, 87, 93

The Royal Sovereigns' armour scheme was similar to that of the Trafalgars, as the waterline belt of compound armour only protected the area between the barbettes. The {{convert|14|-|18|in|mm|0|adj=on}} belt and transverse bulkheads {{convert|14|-|16|in|0}} thick closed off the ends of the belt. Above the belt was a strake of {{convert|4|in|0|adj=on}} nickel-steel armour closed off by {{convert|3|in|adj=on}} transverse bulkheads. The barbettes were protected by compound armour, ranging in thickness from {{convert|11|to|17|in|mm|0}} and the casemates for the 6-inch guns had a thickness equal to their diameter. The thicknesses of the armour deck ranged from {{convert|2.5|to|3|in|mm|0}}. The walls of the forward conning tower were {{convert|12|-|14|in|0}} thick and the aft conning tower was protected by 3-inch plates.

File:HMS Repulse (1892).jpg, 1893]]

Repulse was the tenth ship of her name to serve in the Royal Navy.Colledge, pp. 291–92 She was ordered under the Naval Defence Act Programme of 1889 and laid down on 1 January 1890 on Pembroke Dockyard's No. 1 Slipway. The ship was launched on 27 February 1892 by Lady Philipps, wife of Sir Charles Philipps, Bt, Lord Lieutenant of Haverfordwest. The ship was transferred to Portsmouth Dockyard on 5 December,Phillips, pp. 245–46 where she was completed on 21 April 1894,Silverstone, p. 262 at a cost of £915,302. Repulse commissioned there, commanded by Captain Burges Watson,{{cite web|title=H.M.S. Repulse (1892)|url=http://www.dreadnoughtproject.org/tfs/index.php/H.M.S._Repulse_%281892%29|website=www.dreadnoughtproject.org|publisher=The Dreadnought Project|access-date=24 April 2016}} four days later to relieve the ironclad battleship Rodney in the Channel Fleet. She participated in annual manoeuvres in the Irish Sea and Atlantic Ocean in August as a unit of the "Blue Fleet." From 19 to 24 June 1895, the ship was part of the squadron that visited Germany for the opening of the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal. In July–August 1895, Repulse again took part in the annual manoeuvres and Watson was relieved by Captain Ernest Rolfe on 10 October. The ship participated in the manoeuvres again in July 1896, when they were held in the Southwest Approaches and the ship was a unit of "Fleet A." Repulse accidentally collided with her sister ship {{HMS|Resolution|1892|2}} on 18 July, but sustained no significant damage.Burt, p. 93 On 23 December, there was an explosion in one of her coal bunkers that injured nine men.{{cite news|title=H.M.S. Repulse|url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/161832641|access-date=24 April 2016|work=Trove|agency=Adelaide Observer|date=28 Dec 1895|page=27}}

On 26 June 1897, the ship was present at the Fleet Review at Spithead for the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria. The following month, Repulse took part in the annual manoeuvres, this time held off the coast of Ireland. On 21 December, Captain Robert Groome assumed command of the ship; he was relieved by Captain Randolph Foote on 28 June 1899. In July and August, when the annual manoeuvres were held in the Atlantic, she participated as a unit of "Fleet A". Repulse suffered a mishap on 4 February 1900 when a strong tide forced her to collide with an anchored barge as she departed Sheerness.{{Cite newspaper The Times | title=Naval & Military intelligence |date=5 February 1900 |page=11 |issue=36057}} In August 1900, she again was involved in annual manoeuvre in the Atlantic, this time as a unit of "Fleet A1." The following month, Foote was replaced by Captain Spencer Login on the 18th. On 27 October 1901, she ran aground in mud while under tow to her moorings, but was refloated undamaged two hours later.

Repulse departed England on 5 April 1902 for service with the Mediterranean Fleet,{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Naval and Military intelligence|date=7 April 1902 |page=8 |issue=36735}} and arrived at Malta two weeks later.{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Naval & Military intelligence |date=17 April 1902 |page=7 |issue=36744}} In the Mediterranean, she took part in combined exercises of the Mediterranean Fleet, Channel Fleet, and the Cruiser Squadron off Cephalonia and Morea between 29 September and 6 October 1902. Completing her Mediterranean service, she departed Malta on 29 November 1903, arriving at Plymouth on 10 December 1903. She then paid off at Chatham Dockyard on 5 February 1904 for an extensive refit.

With the refit complete, Repulse recommissioned at Chatham, under the command of Captain Henry Totteham, on 3 January 1905 for service in reserve with a nucleus crew. Captain Herbert Heath relieved Tottenham shortly afterwards on 27 February and the ship took part in Reserve Fleet manoeuvres in July. She transferred that crew to the predreadnought battleship Irresistible on 27 November 1906 and received new crew. On 25 February 1907, Repulse departed Chatham for Devonport, to serve there as a special service vessel. The predreadnought battleship {{HMS|Majestic|1895|6}} relieved the ship of this duty on 2 August 1910. In December, Repulse moved to Portsmouth, where she was taken out of service in February 1911. She was sold for scrap on 11 July 1911 to Thos. W. Ward for £33,500, and arrived at Morecambe to be broken up on 27 July.Burt, pp. 93–94

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book|last=Burt|first=R. A.|title=British Battleships 1889–1904|year=2013|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|isbn=978-1-59114-065-8}}
• {{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|location=Greenwich, UK|year=1979|isbn=0-8317-0302-4|name-list-style=amp|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/conwaysallworlds0000unse_l2e2}}
• {{Cite Colledge2006}}
• {{cite book|editor=Gardiner, Robert|title=Steam, Steel and Shellfire: The Steam Warship 1815–1905|series=Conway's History of the Ship|year=1992|publisher=Conway Maritime Press|location=London|isbn=1-55750-774-0}}
• {{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|last1=Phillips|first1=Lawrie; Lieutenant Commander|title=Pembroke Dockyard and the Old Navy: A Bicentennial History|date=2014|publisher=The History Press|location=Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK|isbn=978-0-7509-5214-9}}
• {{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}}

{{Commons category|HMS Repulse (1892)}}

{{Royal_Sovereign_class battleship}}

{{1896 shipwrecks}}{{1900 shipwrecks}}{{1901 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Repulse (1892)}}

Category:Royal Sovereign-class battleships

Category:Victorian-era battleships of the United Kingdom

Category:Ships built in Pembroke Dock

Category:1892 ships

Category:Maritime incidents in 1896

Category:Maritime incidents in 1900

Category:Maritime incidents in 1901