HMS Ocean (1862)
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| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | HMS Ocean |
| Builder: | Devonport Dockyard |
| Laid down: | 23 August 1860 |
| Launched: | 19 March 1862 |
| Completed: | July 1866 |
| Fate: | Sold 1882 and broken up |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Prince Consort class, Barquentine |
| Displacement: | 6,832 tons |
| Length: |
252 ft (77 m) converted 273 ft (83 m) |
| Beam: |
57 ft (17 m) converted 58 ft 6 in (17.83 m) |
| Draught: |
25 ft (7.6 m) light 26 ft 6 in (8.08 m) deep load converted 24 ft 0 in (7.32 m) light 26 ft 9 in (8.15 m) deep load |
| Propulsion: |
One-shaft Maudsley horizontal reciprocating engine I.H.P.= 3,750 (2,800 kW) |
| Sail plan: | Single-topsail barque, sail area 25,000 sq ft (2,300 m2) |
| Speed: |
12.9 kn (23.9 km/h) under power 11.5 kn (21.3 km/h) under sail |
| Complement: | 605 |
| Armament: |
1866: 24 × 7 in (180 mm) muzzle-loading rifles 1867: 4 × 8 in (200 mm) muzzle-loading rifles 20 × 7 in (180 mm) muzzle-loading rifles |
| Armour: |
Battery and belt: 4.5 in (110 mm) amidships 3 in (76 mm) fore and aft |
HMS Ocean was the last of the Royal Navy's Prince Consort class battleships to be completed.
In common with her sisters, HMS Prince Consort and Caledonia and her half-sister Royal Oak she was originally laid down as a 91-gun second-rate line-of-battle ship, and was converted during construction to an armoured frigate. The appellation "frigate" relates to the number of guns carried, and is a hold-over from the rating system employed in the Napoleonic era; she would, of course, have been more than a match for any non-armoured ship-of-the-line of any nationality.
Service history
She was initially commissioned at Devonport for service with the Channel Fleet, which at that time was the usual first commission of a Royal Navy battleship. She was, however, immediately transferred to the Mediterranean, and from there to the Far East Fleet; she arrived in Batavia (now Jakarta) on 27 October 1867. She was the only armoured ship ever to double the Cape of Good Hope under canvas alone.
She served on the China Station between 1867 and 1872 without once docking, and returned home thereafter under steam at an average rate of 4.5 knots (8.3 km/h). She was held in dockyard reserve until sold. Between commissioning and the end of her sea-going career, she never anchored in British waters.
Ocean holds a record in having sailed 453 nautical miles (839 km) on 26 August 1867 with cold boilers on her trip from Gibraltar to Hong Kong, the greatest distance ever covered under sail power only by a British ironclad.
She carried no saluting guns, which meant that she had to use her main armament for this purpose on ceremonial occasions; it is reported that this could be overpowering in enclosed harbours.
References
- Oscar Parkes British Battleships ISBN 0-85052-604-3
- Conway All the World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905 ISBN 0-85177-133-5
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