HMS Temeraire (1876)

HMS Temeraire was an ironclad battleship of the Victorian Royal Navy which was unique in that she carried her main armament partly in the traditional broadside battery, and partly in barbettes on the upper deck.

Temeraire was equipped with two Humpreys & Tennant 2 cyl. steam engines, each driving one shaft and developing a total of 7,697 hp (5,661 kW), with which she reached a top speed of 14.65 knots (16.86 mph). Steam was supplied by twelve boilers. The ship could carry a maximum of 629 t. coal. Temeraire was rigged as a two masted barque and had a sail area of 25,000 sq ft. The ship's crew consisted of 580 officers and ratings.

Her armament was partly conventional, being deployed on the broadside, and partly experimental; she was the first British ship to be equipped with guns in barbettes located on the midline on the upper deck. Indeed, she was the first British ship with barbettes of any kind. The armament consisted of four 11 inch muzzle loading guns, one each on the forecastle and stern, and one each at the forward corners of the central battery to port and starboard. The 11 inch guns were installed on a Moncrieff mount, which had a mechanism for raising and lowering the gun. The mount was on a massive turntable that provided enough space for the hydraulic ramrod. The loading and lifting process, as well as the rotation of the mount, were operated by a disguised stand with four control levers. When the gun was extended and aimed at the target, it was adjusted to elevation graduated in degrees by a rod linkage on each side of the breech. A full gun crew consisted of six men, but the guns could be operated by three in an emergency. In addition, four 10in muzzle loading guns were located in the rear of the central battery, two on each broadside. To protect against attack by boats armed with torpedoes, the ship received four 20 pounder breech loading guns. Temeraire was also fitted with two launchers for spar torpedoes. In 1884, the 20 pounders were replaced by four 25 pounder breech loading guns, and four 3 pounder Hotchkiss and ten 3 pounder Nordenfelt QF guns were also added to the ship. She remained there for the next fourteen years except for the winter of 1887 88 when she was part of the Channel Squadron. Upon her arrival in Besika Bay, she became Admiral Hornby's flagship. In 1878 she was ordered to the Dardanelles to observe the progress of the Russo Turkish War. She remained near Istanbul (then Constantinople) until 1879 to represent a strong British position during the protracted international negotiations that led to the Congress of Berlin. She then took part in the reconquest of Ottoman occupied Cyprus. In 1881 she was paid off in Malta and given a new command. At the outbreak of the Anglo Egyptian War in 1882, she was recommissioned and took part in the attack on the defensive positions on the coast of Alexandria. In 1884, she was again decommissioned and recommissioned the same year for service in the Mediterranean under Compton Edward Domvile. In 1887 she returned home and was paid off at Portsmouth. After being recommissioned for service in the Channel Squadron, she visited Vigo, Genoa, and Lisbon. She then returned home, but the growing threat from the French fleet at Toulon made it necessary to increase British forces in the Mediterranean as well. Therefore, Temeraire was reassigned to the Mediterranean Fleet under the command of James Drummond. During this time, an incident occurred that resulted in a near disaster with HMS Orion. The squadron was in close formation, at sea with Temeraire as the last ship in the starboard column and Orion as the next to last ship in the port column, which, with two hawsers between the columns, resulted in her being four points off port bow of the former in short manoeuvring distance. Both ships were signalled to change position. According to the instructions of the signal book used at the time, such movements had to comply with the traffic rules by moving from port to port. But due to the prevailing situation, the Orion's engines had to be stopped when turning to starboard. When the flagship's signal sounded, the Orion's watch officer kept his engines running, leaving little room to avoid a collision at full speed. Fortunately, the officer on watch of the Temraire had recognized the impending danger and immediately gave the order to head for Orion instead of turning away from it. When Orion's ram struck the Temeraire next to the engine room and below the armour belt, Temeraire's stern was already swinging away from it, which tore through the ship's outer skin and flooded a wing compartment.