Nelson-class cruiser
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}}
{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image=HMS Nelson (AWM 302451).jpg |Ship caption=HMS Nelson anchored in Hobart, 1884 }} {{Infobox ship class overview |Name=Nelson |Builders= |Operators={{navy|United Kingdom}} |Class before= {{HMS|Shannon|1875|6}} |Class after={{sclass|Imperieuse|cruiser|4}} |Cost= |Built range=1874–1881 |In service range=1878–1910 |In commission range=1878–1904 |Total ships completed=2 |Total ships scrapped=2 }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship type=Armoured cruiser |Ship displacement={{convert|7473 |
7630|LT|t |
|Ship length={{convert|280|ft|m|abbr=on}} (p/p)
|Ship beam={{convert|60|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draught={{convert|25|ft|9|in|m|1|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=2 shafts, 2 compound-expansion steam engines
|Ship speed={{convert|14|kn|lk=in}}
|Ship range=
|Ship power=
|Ship complement=560
|Ship armament=*4 × RML 10 inch 18 ton gun rifled, muzzle-loading guns (RML)
- 8 × RML 9 inch 12 ton gun RML guns
- 6 × 20 pdr guns
|Ship armour=Belt: {{convert|6|-|9|in|mm|abbr=on|0}}
|Ship sail plan=Barque-rigged
|Ship notes=
}}
|}
The Nelson-class cruisers were a pair of armoured cruisers built in the 1870s for the Royal Navy.
Design and description
The Nelson-class ships were designed by Nathaniel Barnaby, Chief Constructor of the Royal Navy, as enlarged and improved versions of {{HMS|Shannon|1875|6}} to counter the threat of enemy armoured ships encountered abroad. The ships were not much liked in service as they were deemed too weakly armoured to fight ironclad battleships and not fast enough to catch commerce-raiding cruisers. They were laid out as central battery ironclads with the armament concentrated amidships.Parkes, pp. 239, 241
The Nelsons had a length between perpendiculars of {{convert|280|ft|m|1}}, a beam of {{convert|60|ft|m|1}} and a deep draught of {{convert|25|ft|9|in|m|1}}. The ships displaced {{convert|7473|-|7630|LT|t|}}, about {{convert|2000|LT|t|}} more than Shannon. The steel-hulled ships were fitted with a ram and their crew numbered approximately 560 officers and other ranks.
The ships had two 3-cylinder, inverted compound steam engines, each driving a single two-bladed, {{convert|18|ft|m|adj=on|1}} propeller, using steam provided by 10 oval boilers. They generated a working pressure of {{convert|60|psi|kPa kg/cm2|0|abbr=on|lk=on}} so that the engines produced {{convert|6624|ihp|lk=in}} (Nelson) or {{convert|6073|ihp|abbr=on}} (Northampton). The cylinders of the latter's engines could be adjusted in volume to optimize steam production depending on the demand. They were troublesome throughout the ship's life and she was always about {{convert|1|kn|lk=in}} slower than her sister despite repeated efforts to improve her speed. On their sea trials, Nelson reached her designed speed of {{convert|14|kn}}, but Northampton could only reach {{convert|13.17|kn}}.Parkes, pp. 239, 242–43
Ships
The following table gives the construction details and purchase cost of the Nelson class. Standard British practice at that time was for these costs to exclude armament and stores. In the table:
- Machinery meant "propelling machinery".
- Hull included "hydraulic machinery, gun mountings, etc."The Naval Annual 1895, pp. 192–200
class="wikitable" |
valign="top"
! rowspan=3 |Ship ! align = center rowspan=3 | Builder ! align = center rowspan=3 | Maker ! colspan = 4 |Cost according to |
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! rowspan = 2 align = center width = 74 | Laid Down ! rowspan = 2 align = center width = 74 | Launch ! rowspan = 2 align = center width = 74 | Completion ! align = center colspan= 3| (BNA 1895) ! align = center rowspan= 2| ParkesParkes, p. 239 |
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!align="center"| Hull !align="center"| Machinery !align="center"| Total |
valign="top"
| Nelson |align= center| Elder & Co., Glasgow |align= center| Elder |align=right | 2 Nov 1874 |align=right | 4 Nov 1876 |align=right | 26 Jul 1880 |align= right | £303,310 |align= right | £87,545 |align= right | £390,865 |align= right | £411,302 |
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|align= center| Robert Napier and Sons, Glasgow |align= center| John Penn and Sons |align=right | 26 Oct 1874 |align=right | 18 Nov 1876 |align=right | 7 Dec 1878 |align= right | £296,836 |align= right | £98,968 |align= right | £395,804 |align= right | £414,441 |
Service
Nelson was assigned to the Australia Station in 1881 and became the flagship there in 1885. She remained on station until returning home in 1889 for a lengthy refit. The ship then became guardship at Portsmouth in October 1891 and was placed in fleet reserve in 1894. Nelson was degraded to dockyard reserve in April 1901 and hulked seven months later as a training ship for stokers. She was sold for scrap in July 1910.Parkes, p. 243
Northampton became flagship of the North America and West Indies Station upon commissioning in 1879 and remained there for the next seven years. Upon her return, she was assigned to the reserve and made annual training cruises until she became a boys' training ship in 1894. The ship was paid off ten years later and sold for scrap in April 1905.
Notes
{{Reflist}}
References
- Brassey, T.A. (ed) The Naval Annual 1895
- {{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 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}}
External links
{{Commons category|Nelson class cruiser}}
{{Nelson class cruiser}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson Class Cruiser}}