HMS Royal Oak (1862)

HMS Royal Oak (1862)

HMS Royal Oak was the first ship of the Prince Consort class, and is sometimes described as a half-sister to the other three ships.

In common with the others of her class, she started life as a wooden two-decked second-rate line-of-battle ship of 91 guns. She was cut down by one deck while on the stocks, and was at the same time lengthened by 21 feet (6.4 m) in order to accommodate her changed armament. The ends of the ship were also modified, from the classical wooden battleship line to a straight stem and a rounded stern. The side armour extended the full length of the hull, and was backed with 28 inches (710 mm) of oak. As her hull was of wood, there was no possibility of dividing the ship into water-tight compartments, nor was it found possible to fit any transverse armoured bulkheads into her.

Although she was fitted with a hoisting propeller, she usually sailed with it merely disconnected. Notwithstanding this impediment, she recorded the greatest speed under sail alone ever achieved by an ironclad warship. Travelling from Gibraltar to Malta on 9 February 1864 she logged 13.5 knots (25 km/h), and in doing so became the only ironclad ever to make a higher speed under sail than she could make under power.