The 1850s and 60s saw the beginnings of a revolution in naval technology. Steam engines and screws had gained universal acceptance and iron was increasingly used in ship building. Iron however was not viewed as suitable for warship construction as solid ball shot smashed iron sheets, scattering lethal splinters. Solid shot smashed wooden hulls too, but was easier to repair. The tipping point was the introduction of explosive shell. Explosive shells were basically hollow cast-iron shot, filled with gunpowder and a fuse. When fired into a wooden warship, the effect was catastrophic, as was demonstrated when a Russian squadron armed with shell guns annihilated an Ottoman squadron at the Battle of Sinope in 1853.
The Battle of Sinop Ivan Aivazovsky
Following that massive Ottoman defeat, Great Britain and France intervened in the war against Russia to prevent any Russian advance towards the Mediterranean. In the subsequent Crimean War (1853-56), the combined British, French and Ottoman armies pushed the Russian armies back from the Ottoman Black Sea coast. The Russians withdrew to their well fortified bases in the Crimea, but fear of Russian explosive shells would make the British and French fleets exceedingly cautious.
Two naval innovations made their appearance during the Crimean War that would have long-lasting influence - armor plating and the rotating turret. Unwilling to risk their vulnerable wooden capital ships to the fire of Russian shore batteries, the French sheathed two wooden gunboats with armored iron shields. Improvements to iron smelting had resulted in iron sheets that were flexible enough to dent when struck by a cannonball, instead of shattering. This allowed the French gunboats to close with Russian shore batteries, impervious to both shot and shell. Separately, British Captain, Cowper Coles, had developed a rotating, shielded turret that could be rotated through 360 degrees, which was also debuted at the Siege of Sevastopol.
After the war, the French put these lessons to use and constructed the world's first ironclad ship-of-the line, La Gloire. Launched in 1859, the Gloire was basically a large wooden steam frigate which had been been sheathed with iron armored plates above the waterline. Below the waterline, the hull was wood sheathed with copper to protect against toledo worm. La Gloire and her sisters had a single deck of forty odd muzzle loading rifled cannon.
In service, La Gloire proved less than satisfactory, being heavy, slow and her wooden hull struggled to support the weight of her armor cladding. Her hull would rot rather quickly and she would be stricken from the list in 1879. Nevertheless, she had started a revolution. In Britain, the Admiralty rushed into planning for a countermeasure. This would result in the construction of one of the most handsome warships to ever sail the high seas.
Civilian Predecessors - SS Great Britain
Earlier, in 1843, the British engineer and designer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, had built and launched the world's first all iron passenger ship, the SS Great Britain. The benefits of all-iron construction was obvious to all. At the time of its launch, the Great Britain was the world's longest ship at 98 metres. Her sturdiness was demonstrated in 1846, when she ran aground in the Ireland and lay stranded on the beach for almost an entire year. Had she been a wooden ship, she would have been broken apart in the surf. Once refloated, she was repaired and put back into service.
After a career as a passenger ship, she was converted into a sailing ship until damaged in a fire in 1887 in the Falkland Islands. She was used as a coal hulk until scuttled in 1937. In 1970 the ship was recovered and returned to Britain for restoration. The SS Great Britain is now a tourist attraction in Bristol, the city of her birth (or should it be berth?).
HMS Warrior
Britain's new warship was designed by Chief Constructor of the Navy, Isaac Watts, and Chief Engineer, Thomas Lloyd.
Like the SS Great Britain, the ship was entirely constructed in iron. That said, two 9 inch layers of teak backed the armour plating as a shock absorber. The ship was 115 metres long, which made her somewhat difficult to handle. Unlike the French ironclads with their ram bows, the Warrior was given a clipper bow, giving her a very handsome aspect.
Cost overruns during construction pushed her builders to the verge of bankruptcy. An Admiralty grant of 50,000 pounds kept them afloat. Like SS Great Britain, the Warrior stuck on the stocks at her launch and took several weeks to free. After fitting out, the Warrior began her sea trials in August 1861. Trials resulted in changes to her rig and masts to improve her handling.
HMS Warrior's career was rather uneventful. A pioneering vessel when launched, she was quickly overtaken by the rapid pace of technical innovation and became obsolete. By the 1880s, the Warrior had been downgraded to an armoured cruiser and later a guardship. When her masts were found to be rotten in 1883, they were removed and she was decommissioned. Nevertheless, although completely obsolete, she was not scrapped but found herself in reserve. As late as 1894 she was still being considered for modification and rebuild, but it was finally recognised that this would be impractical. She was converted into a training ship with classrooms built over her deck. Later she became a floating dock and an oil jetty at Portsmouth. She survived in this state until 1925, when the Navy decided to sell her for scrap. However, this was in the aftermath of the Washington Naval Treaty and the Admiralty had recently sold scores of capital and lesser ships for scrap. Consequently, there was little interest - or money - in scrapping a very old ironclad when the market was saturated with higher quality steel scrap. The Warrior's hull was still sound however so she was towed to Pembroke Dock in Wales, where she continued to be used as an oil jetty.
In the 1960s interest in restoring the Warrior - now prosaicly called Oil Fuel Hulk C77 - to her original condition. Surprisingly, the Royal Navy were still using her as an oil dock and were not prepared to give her up. A trust was established with a view to recovering the ship and restoring her, but they would have to wait until the Navy closed their Pembroke Dock oiling facility in 1978. The following year the Royal Navy donated the hulk to the Maritime Trust.
The Warrior was in pretty poor condition by this time but after relocating her to Hartlepool for restoration. The Maritime Trust restored the ship to her 1862 Warrior condition. In 1985 the Warrior restoration was complete and the ship was transferred to her new home in Portsmouth. The Warrior is now part of the National Historic Fleet, which includes Nelson's HMS Victory.
Our visit in 2015
Sadly it was a overcast day when we visited. This made some of the photos rather drab.
On the upper deck the ship is armed mainly with muzzle loading broadside cannons that would not look out of place on HMS Victory.
Fore and aft fire was provided by breech-loading guns in swivel mounts.
Below decks, the capstans for the anchor chains
Cannon balls are stowed in easy access racks on the gun-deck
The rum ration. The daily rum ration was a tradition in the British Navy between 1850 and 1970. There was almost a mutiny among the sailors when the ration was withdrawn in 1970.
Shells and rifle racks
Pistol armory
Captain's cabin
One of the officer's cabins
The officers wardroom
Another cabin. Quite luxurious for the time
Officers cabin with cannon
Supply office
Ventilator and light grating over the engine room.
The reciprocating engines
Steering
The next morning the sun came out and we were able to get a decent shot.
Portsmouth National Maritime Museum website: https://www.nmrn.org.uk/our-museum/portsmouth
And http://www.hmswarrior.org/
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