HMS Sultan (1870)

1870 ironclad of the Royal Navy

HMS Sultan was a broadside ironclad of the Royal Navy of the Victorian era, who carried her main armament in a central box battery. She was named for Sultan Abdulaziz of the Ottoman Empire, who was visiting England when she was laid down. Abdulaziz cultivated good relations with the Second French Empire and the British. In 1867 he was the first Ottoman sultan to visit Western Europe; his trip included a visit to England, where he was made a Knight of the Garter by Queen Victoria and shown a Royal Navy Fleet Review, with Isma'il Pasha of Egypt.

With the exception of some small warships designed only for harbour defence, every ironclad warship so far completed, starting from , had mounted their main armament in broadside batteries. Although the turret armed ships and were building, it was decided by the Board of Admiralty that, pending results from these two experimental ships, Sultan would carry her artillery in a centrally placed box battery. The design of the ship was closely based on the design of Unlike the battery of the earlier ship, that of Sultan was on two levels; the main deck guns provided broadside fire, with limited ahead fire from the foremost gun, while the upper deck guns provided additional broadside fire and also could fire astern, by traversing the after gun on a turntable. The hull had one of the roundest amidships cross section ever adopted at the time of her launch, and this and the low metacentric height of only three feet made her a very steady gun platform. It was soon found, however, that she lacked adequate stability in naval parlance she was "tender" and some six hundred tons of extra ballast had to be inserted into her double bottom.

Gossett, William Patrick (1986) The Lost Ships of the Royal Navy, 1793 1900. (London: Mansell).