Service History
HMS Valiant was laid down 1 February 1861 by Westwood, Baillie in Cubitt Town. This company went bankrupt in November 1861 and was ultimately bought by Thames Ironworks, which delayed the ship's launching until 14 October 1863. In August 1865, after Valiant had been towed to Portsmouth for fitting out, the ship was inspected by French officers during a port visit by ironclads of the French Navy. Production of the new muzzle-loaded rifles was slow and ships already in commission had priority so Valiant was not commissioned until September 1868, nearly five years after she was launched.
After Valiant was commissioned she became the First Reserve guard ship in Southern Ireland, where she remained until 1885, an experience unique among the British ironclads, although she did have one break to have new boilers installed. From June to August 1878 the ship formed part of the Particular Service Squadron at the time of the Russian war scare during the Russo-Turkish War, and sailed up the Dardanelles under the command of Admiral Hornby. On 20 July 1884 Valiant was accidentally rammed by the ironclad HMS Defence in Lough Swilly, damaging her hull and tearing off her boats, davits and fittings on one side of the ship. Valiant was paid off in 1885, and saw no further front-line service; lying for thirteen years in a partially dismantled state at Devonport. In 1897 she was assigned to the HMS Indus stoker training establishment, briefly losing her name, before being renamed as Indus IV in 1904. The ship was converted to a kite balloon storeship in 1915, during World War I, and her name was changed to HMS Valiant III. She was offered for sale in 1922, but there were no takers so that she was converted into a floating oil tank in 1926 and towed to Hamoaze, where she remained until 1956. Valiant was sold in that year to Belgian ship breakers and towed to Bruges on 8 December 1956.
Read more about this topic: HMS Valiant (1863)
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—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
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