HMS Resistance (1861)

The Defence-class ironclads were designed as smaller and cheaper versions of the {{sclass|Warrior|ironclad|0}} armoured frigates. This meant that they could not fit the same powerful engines of the Warrior-class ships and were therefore {{convert|2|kn|lk=in}} slower and had far fewer guns. The naval architect Sir Nathaniel Barnaby, a future Constructor of the Navy, considered that, in terms of combat, a Defence-class ship was worth one quarter of a Warrior.

HMS Resistance was {{convert|280|ft|m|1}} long between perpendiculars and {{convert|291|ft|4|in|m|1}} long overall.Silverstone, p. 157 She had a beam of {{convert|54|ft|2|in|m}} and a draft of {{convert|26|ft|2|in|m|0}}.Ballard, p. 241 The ship displaced {{convert|6070|LT|t|lk=on}} and had a ram in the shape of a plough, the first capital ship in the Royal Navy to be fitted with one.Ballard, p. 168 The hull was subdivided by watertight transverse bulkheads into 92 compartments and had a double bottom underneath the engine and boiler rooms. Resistance was {{convert|128|ft|8|in|1}} shorter overall and displaced over {{convert|3000|LT|t}} less than the Warrior-class ironclads.

The Defence-class ships had a single two-cylinder trunk steam engine made by John Penn and Sons driving a single {{convert|21|ft|m|1|adj=on}} propeller.Ballard, p. 246 Four rectangular boilersChesneau & Kolesnik, p. 8 provided steam to the engine at a working pressure of {{convert|20|psi|kPa kg/cm2|0|abbr=on|lk=on}}. The engine produced a total of {{convert|2329|ihp|lk=on}}. During sea trials on 25 August 1873, Resistance had a maximum speed of {{convert|11.4|kn}}. The ship carried {{convert|450|LT|t}} of coal,Ballard, pp. 246–247 enough to steam {{convert|1670|nmi|lk=in}} at {{convert|10|knots}}.

The ironclad was ship rigged and had a sail area of {{convert|24500|sqft|sqm|0}}. The lower masts and bowsprit were made of iron to withstand the shock of ramming. Resistance could make about {{convert|10.5|kn}} under sail and the funnel was semi-retractable to reduce wind resistance while under sail alone. The ship's propeller could be hoisted up into the stern of the ship to reduce drag while under sail.Ballard, pp. 164–166 She was re-rigged as a barque from September 1864 to April 1866 before returning to her original ship rig.Parkes, p. 29

The armament of the Defence-class ships was intended to be 18 smoothbore, muzzle-loading 68-pounder guns, eight on each side on the main deck and one each fore and aft as chase guns on the upper deck, plus four rifled breech-loading 40-pounder guns as saluting guns. This was modified during construction to six rifled 110-pounder breech-loading guns, ten 68-pounders and two 32-pounder smoothbore guns, the only such weapons ever mounted in a British ironclad. Both breech-loading guns were new designs from Armstrong and much was hoped of them. Four of the 110-pounder guns were installed on the main deck amidships and the other two became chase guns; all of the 68-pounder guns were mounted on the main deck. Firing tests carried out in September 1861 against an armoured target, however, proved that the 110-pounder was inferior to the 68-pounder smoothbore gun in armour penetration and repeated incidents of breech explosions during the Battles for Shimonoseki and the Bombardment of Kagoshima in 1863–1864 caused the navy to begin to withdraw the gun from service shortly afterwards.Parkes, pp. 27–28

The {{convert|7.9|in|mm|adj=on|sigfig=3}} solid shot of the 68-pounder gun weighed approximately {{convert|68|lb|kg|1}} while the gun itself weighed {{convert|10640|lb|kg|0}}. The gun had a muzzle velocity of {{convert|1579|ft/s|m/s|abbr=on}} and had a range of {{convert|3200|yd}} at an elevation of 12°. The {{convert|7|in|mm|adj=on|sigfig=3}} shell of the 110-pounder Armstrong breech-loader weighed {{convert|107|-|110|lb|1}}. It had a muzzle velocity of {{convert|1150|ft/s|m/s|abbr=on}} and, at an elevation of 11.25°, a maximum range of {{convert|4000|yd}}. The 110-pounder gun weighed {{convert|9520|lb|0}} while the 40-pounder weighed {{convert|3584|lb|0}}. All of the guns could fire both solid shot and explosive shells.Lambert, pp. 85–87, 89

Resistance was rearmed during her 1867–1868 refit with fourteen 7-inch and two {{convert|8|in|0|adj=on}} rifled muzzle-loading guns.Ballard, p. 165 The new guns were heavier so fewer could be carried. The shell of the 15-calibre 8-inch gun weighed {{convert|175|lb|kg|1}} while the gun itself weighed {{convert|9|LT|t}}. It had a muzzle velocity of {{convert|1410|ft/s|m/s|abbr=on}} and was credited with the ability to penetrate a nominal {{convert|9.6|in|mm|0}} of wrought iron armour at the muzzle. The 16-calibre 7-inch gun weighed {{convert|6.5|LT|t}} and fired a {{convert|112|lb|kg|1}} shell. It was credited with the nominal ability to penetrate {{convert|7.7|in|mm|adj=on|0}} armour.Chesneau & Kolesnik, p. 6

File:HMS Defence (1861).jpg Defence from Brassey's Naval Annual, 1888; the shaded area shows the ship's armour]]

The Defence-class ships had a wrought-iron armour belt, {{convert|4.5|in|mm|0}} thick, that covered {{convert|140|ft|1}} amidships.Parkes, p. 28 The armour extended from upper deck level to {{convert|6|ft|1}} below the waterline. 4.5-inch transverse bulkheads protected the guns on the main deck. The armour was backed by {{convert|18|in}} of teak. The ends of the ship were left entirely unprotected which meant that the steering gear was very vulnerable. They were, however, sub-divided into many watertight compartments to minimize any flooding.Ballard, pp. 165, 244

Resistance was ordered on 14 December 1859 and laid down a week later by Westwood, Baillie at their shipyard in Cubitt Town, London. She was launched on 11 April 1861, commissioned in July 1862 and completed on 5 October at the cost of £258,120.Parkes, p. 25 After completion she served in the Channel Fleet until 1864 when she was transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet, the first British ironclad assigned to that fleet. In 1867 the ship was paid off in Portsmouth for refit and re-armament. Resistance recommissioned in 1869 as guardship in the River Mersey and served there until 1873 when she returned to the Channel Fleet. In 1877 the ship resumed her post as Mersey guardship until she was paid off in 1880 at Devonport.Ballard, pp. 166–167, 240

In 1885 Resistance began to be used as a target for the testing of armour against the effects of torpedoes and gunfire. On 3 February 1888, she sank in Portchester Creek following the test of a Whitehead torpedo.{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Naval And Military Intelligence |date=4 February 1888 |issue=32300 |page=12 |column=D }}

Resistance was sold for scrap to J S Turnbull of Glasgow on 11 November 1898.Ballard, pp. 167–168{{cite news |title=A Shot-riddled Man-of-War in the Mersey |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0004035/18990223/062/0005 |access-date=19 February 2023 |work=Liverpool Journal of Commerce |issue=11644 |date=23 February 1899 |page=5|via=British Newspaper Archive}} On 4 February 1899 she departed Spithead in tow of the Liverpool tugs Pathfinder and Wrestler for the Mersey, to be broken up. In a gale in the Irish Sea on 8 February, her steam steering engine failed due to a boiler problem, she shipped water in the forward compartments and the stokehold. In view of the leaks and the inability to steer, the tugs sought a port of refuge and brought her to anchor inside Holyhead Breakwater, in the outer harbour. Early the next morning it was realised that the ship was taking in more water and would founder where the water had a depth of {{convert|42|feet|metres}}. To prevent a total loss and a potential danger to navigation, she was towed further into the harbour and put ashore in Penrhos Bay.{{cite news |title=Probate, Divorce, and Admiralty Division: The Resistance |work=The Times |issue=35832 |date=18 May 1899 |location=London |page=16|via=Gale}}{{cite news |title=Maritime & Commercial Law: Salvage of an old Ironclad - The Resistance |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001941/18990518/154/0012 |access-date=19 February 2023 |work=Lloyd's list |issue=19248 |date=18 May 1899 |location=London |page=12|via=British Newspaper Archive}}{{r|g=Note|r=According to Ballard,Ballard, pp. 167–168 as well as Lyon & Winfield,Lyon & Winfield, p. 234 and Colledge,Colledge, p. 460 Resistance foundered in Holyhead Bay whilst under tow to the breakers on 4 March 1899 and was later raised and scrapped at Garston, Merseyside|Garston, Liverpool.}}

After salvage operations, Resistance was refloated on 17 February and the tow to the Mersey completed. On 13 March she was beached at Oglet Point, near Garston, where she was broken up by the ironfounders Monks, Hall & Co, of Warrington.{{cite news |title=Rivers Committee - The Collision on the River |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002610/18990505/024/0003 |access-date=19 February 2023 |work=St Helens Examiner |issue=1074 |date=5 May 1899 |location=St Helens, Lancashire |page=3|via=British Newspaper Archive}}

{{reflist|group=Note}}

{{Commons category|HMS Resistance (ship, 1861)}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book|last=Ballard |first=G. A., Admiral |title=The Black Battlefleet |year=1980 |publisher=Naval Institute Press |location=Annapolis, Maryland|isbn=0-87021-924-3 |author-link=George Alexander Ballard}}
• {{cite book|last=Colledge |first=J. J. |title=Ships of the Royal Navy: An Historical Index, Vol.I |year=1969 |publisher=David & Charles |location=Newton Abbot|isbn=}}
• {{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|url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/conwaysallworlds0000unse_l2e2|name-list-style=amp}}
• {{cite book|last1=Lyon|first1=David|last2=Winfield|first2=Rif|title=The Sail & Steam Navy List: All the Ships of the Royal Navy 1815-1889|year=2004|publisher=Chatham Publishing|location=London|isbn=1-86176-032-9}}
• {{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}}

{{Defence class ironclad}}

{{1888 shipwrecks}}

{{1899 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Resistance (1861)}}

Category:Defence-class ironclads

Category:Ships built in Poplar

Category:1861 ships

Category:Victorian-era battleships of the United Kingdom

Category:Maritime incidents in February 1888

Category:Shipwrecks of Wales

Category:Maritime incidents in 1899