HMS James Watt
| Career (UK) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | HMS James Watt |
| Ordered: |
25 April 1847 (as sailing ship) Reordered on 14 June 1849 (as steam and sail) |
| Builder: |
Pembroke Dock Engines by Boulton & Watt |
| Laid down: | September 1850 |
| Launched: | 23 April 1853 |
| Completed: | By 27 March 1854 |
| Renamed: | Ordered as HMS Audacious, renamed on 18 November 1847 |
| Fate: | Sold to Castle for breaking up at Charlton in January 1875 |
| General characteristics as planned | |
| Class and type: | 84-gun Cressy-class second rate ship of the line |
| Tons burthen: | 2,537 80/94 bm |
| Length: |
198 ft 5 in (60.5 m) (overall) 162 ft 8 in (49.6 m) (keel) |
| Beam: | 55 ft (16.8 m) |
| Depth of hold: | 21 ft 8.25 in (6.6 m) |
| Propulsion: | Sails |
| Complement: | 750 |
| Armament: |
84 guns
Upper deck:
Quarter deck/Forecastle:
|
| General characteristics as launched | |
| Class and type: | 91-gun Agamemnon-class second rate ship of the line |
| Tons burthen: | 3,074 45/94 bm |
| Length: |
230 ft (70.1 m) (overall) 194 ft 7.25 in (59.3 m) (keel) |
| Beam: | 55 ft 4 in (16.9 m) |
| Depth of hold: | 24 ft 6 in (7.5 m) |
| Propulsion: |
Sails<br4-cyl. horizontal single expansion 52¼in diam., 3ft stroke Single screw 600 nhp 1,548 ihp = 9.361kts |
| Complement: | 860 |
| Armament: |
As planned:
As completed
|
HMS James Watt was a 91-gun steam and sail-powered second rate ship of the line. She had originally been ordered as one of a two ship class, with her sister HMS Cressy, under the name HMS Audacious. She was renamed on 18 November 1847 in honour of James Watt, the inventor of the steam engine. She was the only Royal Navy ship to bear this name. Both ships were reordered as screw propelled ships, James Watt in 1849, and Cressy in 1852. James Watt became one of the four-ship Agamemnon-class of ships of the line. They were initially planned as 80-gun ships, but the first two ships built to the design, HMS Agamemnon and James Watt, were rerated on 26 March 1851 to 91 guns ships, later followed by the remainder of the class.
The ship had an overall length of 265 feet 3 inches, length between perpendiculars of 230 feet, and beam of 55 feet 5 inches. Her displacement was 3083 tons and her screw was driven by a 600hp engine.[1] She was built at the Royal Dockyard, Pembroke Dock, launched on 23 April 1853 and commissioned at Plymouth in January 1854 by Captain George Elliot. She served in the Baltic campaigns of 1854 and 1855, despite the poor performance of the ship, and the dissatisfaction of Vice-Admiral Charles Napier. Her machinery, taken second hand from the iron frigate HMS Vulcan, was found to be unsatisfactory. By 1856 alterations to the machinery had cost £5,706. She was sold for breaking up to Castle, of Charlton in January 1875.[2]
Notes
References
- Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: the complete record of all fighting ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham. ISBN 9781861762818. OCLC 67375475.
- Winfield, Rif; Lyon, David (2003). The Sail and Steam Navy List, 1815-1889. Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1861760326.
