HMS Magdala (1870)
Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English
Template:Infobox ship imageTemplate:Infobox ship careerTemplate:Infobox ship characteristicsHMS Magdala was a Template:Sclass breastwork monitor of the Royal Navy, built specifically to serve as a coastal defence ship for the harbour of Bombay (now Mumbai) in the late 1860s. She was ordered by the India Office for the Bombay Marine. The original specifications were thought to be too expensive and a cheaper design was ordered. While limited to harbour defence duties, the breastwork monitors were described by Admiral George Alexander Ballard as being like "full-armoured knights riding on donkeys, easy to avoid but bad to close with."[1] Aside from gunnery practice Magdala remained in Bombay Harbour for her entire career. The ship was sold for scrap in 1903.
Design and description
In July 1866 the India Office asked for two floating batteries to defend Bombay and the Controller of the Navy, Vice Admiral Spencer Robinson recommended that monitors be used. He recommended a design with Template:Convert armour belt and Template:Convert protecting the gun turret, armed with the largest possible guns, which would cost £220,000.[2] The India Office thought that this was too expensive and ordered a repeat of Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". instead for only £132,400.[3]
The ships had a length between perpendiculars of Template:Convert, a beam of Template:Convert, and a draught of Template:Convert at deep load. They displaced Template:Convert. Their crew consisted of 155 officers and men.[4]
Propulsion
Magdala had two horizontal direct-acting steam engines, made by Ravenhill, each driving a single propeller.[5] The ship's boilers had a working pressure of Template:Convert. The engines produced a total of Template:Convert on 21 October 1870 during the ship's sea trials which gave her a maximum speed of Template:Convert. Magdala carried Template:Convert of coal,[6] enough to steam Template:Convert at Template:Convert.[5]
Armament
The Cerberus-class ships mounted a pair of 10-inch rifled muzzle-loading guns in each hand-worked turret. The shell of the Template:Convert gun weighed Template:Convert while the gun itself weighed Template:Convert. The gun had a muzzle velocity of Template:Convert and was credited with the ability to penetrate a nominal Template:Convert of wrought iron armour at Template:Convert. The guns could fire both solid shot and explosive shells.[7] Magdala was rearmed in 1892 with four breech-loading BL 8-inch guns.[4]
Armour
The Cerberus-class ships had a complete wrought iron waterline belt that was Template:Convert thick amidships and thinned to Template:Convert at the ends. The superstructure and conning tower were fully armoured, the reason it was called a breastwork, with Template:Convert of wrought iron. The gun turrets had Template:Convert on their faces and Template:Convert on the sides and rear. All of the vertical armour was backed by Template:Convert of teak. The decks were Template:Convert thick, backed by Template:Convert of teak.[8]
Service
HMS Magdala was laid down on 6 October 1868 by the Thames Ironworks in Leamouth, London. She was launched on 2 March 1870 and completed in November 1870. For her delivery voyage to India, Magdala was fitted with three temporary masts and made the trip under sail in the middle of winter without escort, as both her builders and the Royal Navy, considered her sufficiently seaworthy as to make the trip safely. Her life thereafter was wholly spent in Bombay Harbour, with occasional short trips to sea for firing practice.[9] She was sold for scrap in January 1903.[10]
Notes
References
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