Scorpion-class ironclad

British class of ironclad warships

The two Scorpion class ironclads, and , were ironclad warships ordered by the Confederate States Navy in 1862 and seized in 1863 by the British to prevent their delivery. This would have violated the Foreign Enlistment Act, which forbade British subjects to build or arm any ships for governments at war with governments friendly to Great Britain. The Scorpion class were masted turret ships, each with two gun turrets that were designed to mount a pair of heavy muzzle loading guns. They were purchased for service in the Royal Navy in 1864 and served briefly with the Channel Fleet before they became guard ships at Bermuda and Hong Kong. Scorpion was sold in 1903 and sank under tow to be scrapped, while Wivern was sold for scrap in 1922.

In March 1862, a contract was placed with Laird & Son Co. by Captain James D. Bulloch, a naval agent for the Confederate States of America, for two double turreted warships designed for ramming attacks at a cost of £93,750 each, exclusive of armament and ammunition. They were intended, together with other warships, to break the Federal blockade of Confederate coastal cities and to hold some Northern cities for ransom. The ships had a length between perpendiculars of 224 feet (68 m), a beam of 42 feet (13 m), and a draught of 17 feet (5 m) at deep load. They displaced The hull was divided by 12 watertight bulkheads and the ships had a double bottom beneath the engine and boiler rooms. Their crew consisted of 152 officers and men. The gun turrets, designed by Captain Coles of the Royal Navy, sat on circular turntables that were built on an iron radial platform with arms that rested on beveled wheels in diameter. Each turret required a crew of 18 men to rotate them via a system of rack and pinion gears; one minute was required for a full 360° rotation. They could be rotated from inside the turret as well from outside. In emergencies the turret could be turned by a block and tackle as well as use of handspikes. A leather flap extended around the bottom of the turret and over the gap between the turret and the deck to reduce any water leakage through the gap. Like most contemporary ironclads they were fitted with a forged iron ram. The ships had 6 feet (2 m) of freeboard that could be increased by 5 feet (2 m) hinged bulwarks abreast the turrets. In service the ships proved to be buoyant and seaworthy although they rolled heavily which meant that their decks were often awash. Their flat bottom and small rudder, however, caused steering problems before the wind. Because of their seaworthiness and powerful guns they have been judged superior to any monitor built by the United States Navy. The ships carried of coal, enough to steam at .

No ordnance had been ordered by the Confederates before the ships were seized in 1863, but in British service they mounted a pair of 9 inch rifled muzzle loading guns in each turret. The shell of the gun weighed while the gun itself weighed The gun fired its shell at a muzzle velocity of and was credited with the ability to penetrate a nominal of wrought iron armour at The guns could fire both solid shot and explosive shells. According to Parkes, going from full depression to full elevation supposedly took one hour in smooth water and with an even keel!

In his letter of 29 October 1862, Confederate Navy Secretary Stephen Mallory named yard number 294 as North Carolina and number 295 as Mississippi. In January 1863 the Foreign Secretary, Lord Russell, notified Bulloch, who had purchased the ships in his own name, that the ships would be prevented from sailing if they were doing so to form part of the fleet of a nation currently at war. Wivern burst one of her 9 inch guns in 1867, but none of the 13 people in the turret was injured. She was given the same sort of refit as her sister ship in Devonport beginning in August 1868. The ship became the guard ship at Hull from January through October 1870 and was then placed in reserve from 1870 until 1880. That year she was sent to Hong Kong where she became the harbour defence ship. Wivern became a distilling ship in 1898 and was sold in May 1922 for scrap.