Design and Description
The Minotaur-class armoured frigates were essentially enlarged versions of the ironclad HMS Achilles with heavier armament, armour, and more powerful engines. They retained the broadside ironclad layout of their predecessor, but their sides were fully armoured to protect the 50 guns they were designed to carry. Their plough-shaped ram was also more prominent than that of Achilles.
The Minotaur-class ships were 400 feet (121.9 m) long between perpendiculars and 411 feet (125.3 m) long overall. They had a beam of 58 feet 6 inches (17.8 m) and a draft of 26 feet 10 inches (8.2 m). The ships displaced 10,627 long tons (10,798 t). The hull was subdivided by 15 watertight transverse bulkheads and had a double bottom underneath the engine and boiler rooms.
Minotaur was considered "an excellent sea-boat and a steady gun platform, but unhandy under steam and practically unmanageable under sail" as built. Steam-powered steering improved her maneouvring qualities significantly when it was installed in 1875 and she was judged "one of our very best manoeuvrers we have in the Navy" by Vice Admiral Philip Colomb in 1890. The ship's steadiness was partially a result of her metacentric height of 3.87 feet (1.2 m)
Read more about this topic: HMS Minotaur (1863)
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