Cyclops-class monitor: Difference between revisions

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{{short description|Class of breastwork monitors}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2018}}

{{Use British English|date=January 2018}}

{|{{Infobox ship begin}}

{{Infobox ship image

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|Name=''Cyclops'' class

|Builders=

|Operators={{navy|UKUnited Kingdom}}

|Class before={{HMS|Rupert|1872|6}}

|Class after={{sclass-|Conqueror|ironclad|4}}

|Built range=1870–1877

|In service range=1874–1901

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|}

The '''''Cyclops''-class monitor''' was a group of four [[ironclad warship|ironclad]] [[breastwork monitor]]s built for the [[Royal Navy]] during the 1870s. They were slightly modified versions of the {{sclass-|Cerberus|monitor|3|warship}}s. The ships were ordered to satisfy demands for local defence during the war scare of 1870, but the pace of construction slowed down tremendously as the perceived threat of war declined. The ''Cyclops''-class monitors spent most of their careers in [[Wikt:mothball|reserve]] and were finally sold off in 1903.

==Design and description==

The immediate reason why these ships were ordered was for local coast defence during the war scare during the [[Franco-Prussian War]] of 1870, but they were chosen for several other reasons. They were small and cheap, and their shallow draft was thought to limit them to defensive operations, which appealed to economy and defence-minded Members of Parliament. The [[British Admiralty|Admiralty]], however, envisioned them attacking shallow-water ports that larger ironclads could not enter and operating in the shallow waters of the [[Baltic Sea]].<ref>Beeler, pp. 101–02</ref>

The ships used the basic design of the ''Cerberus''-class breastwork monitors to reduce design and construction time. Their hulls were completed very quickly, but thebuilding pace of building reduced as the likelihood of their immediate use diminished. They were delivered to the Royal dockyards in 1872 and commissioned for [[fitting out]], but a number of years elapsed before that process was completed, asand there was little sense of urgency remained.<ref name=p12>Parkes, p. 212</ref>

The ships had ana [[length between perpendiculars]] of {{convert|225|ft|m|1}}, a [[beam (nautical)|beam]] of {{convert|45|ft|m|1}}, and a [[draft (ship)|draught]] of {{convert|16|ft|3|in|m}} at [[deep load]]. They displaced {{convert|3480|LT|MT}}. Their crew consisted of 156 officers and men.<ref name=p8>Parkes, p. 213</ref>

The ''Cyclops''-class ships and other ships of her type were described by Admiral [[George Alexander Ballard]] as being like "full-armoured knights riding on donkeys, easy to avoid but bad to close with."<ref>Ballard, p. 219</ref> While not unfit to face heavy weather their decks were frequently awash in even a moderate sea. Their accommodations were rated the worst in the fleet, referred to by ordinary seamen as "ratholes with tinned air".<ref>Ballard, pp. 218</ref>

===Propulsion===

The ''Cyclops''-class ships had two steam engines, each driving a single {{convert|12|ft|m|1|adj=on}} propeller. ''Cyclops'' and ''Hydra'' had 4-cylinder [[Marine steam engine#Compound|inverted compound steam engines]] made by John Elder that had a working pressure of {{convert|60|psi|kPa kg/cm2|0|abbr=on|lk=on}}. The engines produced a total of {{convert|1472|-|1528|ihp|lk=in}} on [[sea trial]]s which gave the ships a maximum speed around {{convert|11|kn|lk=in}}. The engines used by ''Hecate'' and ''Gorgon'' were built by Ravenhill and were simple horizontal 4-cylinder [[Marine_steam_engineMarine steam engine#Direct_actingDirect acting|direct acting steam engines]]. Their working pressure was {{convert|34|psi|kPa kg/cm2|0|abbr=on}} and they produced a total of {{convert|1579|-|1709|ihp}} for about the same speed. The first pair of ships carried {{convert|250|LT|t}} of coal while the second pair carried {{convert|270|LT|t}}.<ref>Ballard, pp. 246–49</ref> This was enough to steam {{convert|3000|nmi|lk=in|abbr=on}} at {{convert|10|knots|abbr=on}}.<ref>Silverstone, p. 169</ref>

===Armament===

The ships mounted a pair of [[RML 10 inch 18 ton gun|10-inch rifled muzzle-loading guns]] in each turret. The shell of the {{convert|10|in|mm|singadj=on|sigfig=3}} gun weighed {{convert|407|lb|kg|1}} while the gun itself weighed {{convert|18|LT|t}}. The gun had a [[muzzle velocity]] of {{convert|1365|ft/s|m/s|abbr=on}} and was credited with the ability to penetrate a nominal {{convert|12.9|in|mm|abbr=on}} of [[wrought iron]] armour at the [[muzzle (firearms)|muzzle]]. The guns could fire both [[Round shot|solid shot]] and [[Shell (projectile)|explosive shells]].<ref>Gardiner, p. 6</ref> They were mounted on compound pivoting carriages that used hydraulic jacks to elevate and depress the guns.<ref name=p12/>

===Armour===

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==References==

{{Commons category|Cyclops class monitor}}

* {{Citecite book|last=Ballard |first=G. A.,|authorlink=George AdmiralAlexander Ballard |title=The Black Battlefleet |year=1980 |publisher=Naval Institute Press |___location=Annapolis, MD Maryland|isbn=0-87021-924-3 |oclc=}}

*{{cite book|last=Beeler|first=John|title=Birth of the Battleship: British Capital Ship Design 1870–1881|year=2001|publisher=Naval Institute Press|___location=Annapolis, MD|isbn=1-55750-213-7}}

*{{Cite book|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905|editor=Gardiner, Robert |publisher=Conway Maritime Press|___location=Greenwich|date=1979|isbn=0-8317-0302-4|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/conwaysallworlds0000unse_l2e2}}

*{{Cite book|last=Parkes|first=Oscar|title=British Battleships|publisher=Naval Institute Press|___location=Annapolis, MD|year=1990|edition=reprint of the 1957|isbn=1-55750-075-4}}

*{{Cite book|last=Silverstone|first=Paul H.|title=Directory of the World's Capital Ships|year=1984|publisher=Hippocrene Books|___location=New York|isbn=0-88254-979-0}}

{{Cyclops class ironclad}}

{{British ironclads}}

{{Good article}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cyclops Class Monitor}}

[[Category:Cyclops-class monitors]]

[[Category:Monitors of the United Kingdom]]

{{Good article}}