Conqueror-class ironclad

Class overview
Builders	Chatham Dockyard
Built	1879–1886
In commission	1887–1908
Completed	2
General characteristics
Displacement	Conqueror: 6,200 tons Hero: 6,440 tons
Length	270 feet (82.3 m) p/p 288 feet (87.8 m) o/a
Beam	58 feet (18 m)
Draught	Conqueror: 22 ft (6.7 m) light 24 ft 3 in (7.39 m) deep load Hero: 21 ft 7 in (6.58 m) light 25 ft 8 in (7.82 m) deep load
Installed power	4,500 indicated horsepower (3,400 kW)
Propulsion	2-shaft inverted compound engines
Speed	14 knots (26 km/h)
Complement	330 men
Armament	Armoured ram 2 BL 12-inch (304.8 mm) guns 4 × 6-inch Mk II breech-loaders 7 × 6-pounder quick firers 6 torpedo tubes
Armour	Belt: 12 inches tapering to 8 inches Citadel: 12 inches to 10.5 inches Turret: 14 inches face, 12 inches sides Conning tower: 12 inches to 6 inches Bulkhead: 11 inches Deck: 2.5 inches to 1.25 inches (32 mm)

The Conqueror class battleships were ironclad warships which served in the Victorian Royal Navy, and whose main weapon was designed to be the Ram.

The class consisted of two ships, HMS Conqueror and HMS Hero. At the time of their inception and design, it appeared to naval architects that armour plate could be made resistant enough to protect the essential areas of warships from incoming artillery fire, and that therefore an alternative method of offence was needed in order to achieve a decisive outcome in any future naval combat. The answer appeared to be to use the whole ship as a projectile with which to ram an enemy.

These ships were of only moderate size, and were intended to be adequately fast, and manoevrable enough to be able to catch and strike a fleeing or manoeuvering enemy. They carried a single turret carrying two large guns, which were intended to engage on either beam an enemy who had evaded a ramming attack. Firing over the bow was expected to cause unacceptable structural damage from blast.

The ships were not seen as successful, as they were too small for efficient service as ocean-going vessels, and too large to function close inshore as coast- or harbour-defence ships. They only had some nine feet of freeboard forward, and could not make more than ten knots in rough weather. They also rolled excessively. Neither ship ever saw any front-line deployment, spending their entire lives as gunnery tenders or in reserve.

References

• Oscar Parkes, British Battleships ISBN 0-85052-604-3
• Conway, All the World's Fighting Ships ISBN 0-85177-133-5
• D K Brown, Warrior to Dreadnought ISBN 1-86176-022-1