Cerberus-class monitor

Class overview
Builders	Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company
Operators	Royal Navy Royal Australian Navy
Built	1867–1870
In commission	1870–1924
Completed	2
General characteristics
Displacement	3,344 long tons (3,398 t)
Length	225 ft (69 m)
Beam	45 ft (14 m)
Draught	15 ft 4 in (4.67 m)
Propulsion	2 shaft Maudslay, 1,360 ihp (Cerberus) 2 shaft Ravenhill 1,436 ihp, (Magdala)
Speed	9.75 knots (11 mph; 18 km/h) (Cerberus) 10.6 knots (12 mph; 20 km/h) (Magdala)
Complement	155
Armament	4 × 10-inch (254 mm) (2×2) Rifled Muzzle Loading guns
Armour	Belt: 6–8 in (150–200 mm) with 9–11 in (230–280 mm) wood backing Turret: 9–10 in (230–250 mm) Breastworks: 8–9 in (200–230 mm) Deck: 1–1.5 in (25–38 mm)

Cerberus class monitors were a class of breastwork monitors constructed in the late 19th century for the Royal Navy. Also referred to as "ironclads" and "turret ships", the ships of the Cerberus class were designed by Sir Edward Reed following requests by several dominions and colonies of the British Empire for warships to be used as coastal defence ships. The class consisted of two ships: HMS Cerberus, which was operated by the colony of Victoria, and HMS Magdala, which spent her life operating in Bombay Harbour. A third ship, HMS Abyssinia, was built to a scaled-down version of the design, and may be consided a half-sister.

The size of the ships was limited by cost, consequent upon the limited budgets of the countries placing the orders. They were designed and built to be used as local defence ships, and it was not expected that they would ever need to be deployed far away from their bases. Their displacements were on the order of half that of contemporary ships being commissioned into the Royal Navy. It was therefore possible to design them without sails or rigging and dependent only upon their engines, with a resulting limitation in their effective range.

The absence of masts and rigging resulted in two meaningful benefits. The weight saved by requiring less sailing equipment, crew, and supplies allowed more weight to be worked into the ship's armour. This also meant it was possible to arm the ships with two gun turrets, one fore and one aft, which had wholly unobstructed fields of fire over the bow and stern, and on wide arcs amidships.

The turrets were mounted on the upper deck and hence had a greater height above water and a correspondingly greater command than guns mounted on the broadside on the main deck. The turret armament provided an additional advantage of allowing the ships to have a low freeboard. This increased the steadiness of the ship and allowed the hull armour to be applied more thickly over a more limited height of exposed hull.

Although they were built to order for distant parts of the British Empire, and although none of them ever operated alongside any Royal Naval vessel in peace or in war, these ships were nonetheless always listed as part of the strength of the Royal Navy.

Ships

• HMVS Cerberus- harbour defence vessel at Melbourne, Australia
• HMS Magdala - harbour defence vessel at Bombay, India

See also

• HMS Abyssinia - harbour defence vessel at Bombay, India, built to a similar, but smaller, design.

Notes and References

Sources

• Archibald, E.H.H. (1971). The Metal Fighting Ship in the Royal Navy 1860-1970. New York: Arco Publishing Co. ISBN 0-6680-2509-3.
• Brown, D.K., Warrior to Dreadnought, Warship Development 1860-1906, ISBN 1-84067-529-2
• Chesneau, Roger and Kolesnik, Eugene M. (ed.), Conway's All The Worlds Fighting Ships, 1860-1905 (Conway Maritime Press, London, 1979), ISBN 0-85177-133-5.
• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
• Fuller, Howard (December 2005). ""A portentous spectacle": The Monitor U.S.S. Miantonomoh Visits England" (PDF). International Journal of Naval History. 4 (3). Retrieved 2008-11-27.
• Lyon, David (1980), "Steam, Steel and Torpedoes", The Ship, vol. 8, Ipswich: National Maritime Museum/W.S.Cowell Ltd. for Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, ISBN 0-1129-0318-5 {{citation}}: More than one of |location= and |place= specified (help).
• Parkes, Oscar, British Battleships, ISBN 0-85052-604-3.