Devastation-class ironclad

HMS Devastation in 1896
Class overview
Builders	HM Royal Dockyard, Portsmouth HM Royal Dockyard, Pembroke
Succeeded by	HMS Dreadnought (1875)[3]
Cost	Devastation: £354,000[1] Thunderer: £358,500[2]
Built	1869–1877[3]
In service	1874-1905
In commission	1873-1909
Planned	2
Completed	2
Retired	2
Scrapped	2
General characteristics [4]
Displacement	9,330 long tons (9,480 t)
Length	307 ft (94 m) oa 285 ft (87 m) pp
Beam	62 ft 3 in (18.97 m)
Draught	26 ft 8 in (8.13 m)
Propulsion	As built: Devastation: 2 × Penn 2-cyl trunk direct-acting steam engines turning 2 screws[6] Thunderer: 2 × Humphry's 2-cyl trunk direct-acting steam engines turning 2 screws[7] 8 × rectangular boilers 1890/92 Rebuild: 2 × Maudslay 3-cyl VTE steam engines turning 2 screws 8 × cylindrical locomotive type boilers
Speed	As built:[9] 6,640 ihp (4,950 kW) ND / 13.84 kn (25.63 km/h; 15.93 mph) 1890/92 Rebuild: 7,000 ihp (5,200 kW) ND / 14 kn (26 km/h; 16 mph)
Range	1,800 tons of coal 5,980 nautical miles @ 10 knots 12 days with steam for full speed[5]
Complement	410
Armament	As built: Devastation: 4 × 12 inch RML of 35 tons Mk I naval gun on sliding carriages[8] Thunderer: 2 × 12 inch RML of 35 tons Mk I naval gun on sliding carriages 2 × 12.5 inch RML of 38 tons Mk I or II naval gun Bored to 12 inches instead[7] 1890–92 Rebuild: 4 × 10-inch 32 calibre (25.4 cm) breech-loading naval guns mounted in twin Mark II Turrets 6 × 6-pounder 8-hundredweight [2.244" 40 calibre (57 mm)] quick-fire Mark I naval gun on Mark I* low-angle single mounts 8 × Hotchkiss 3-pounder [1.85" 40 calibre (47 mm)] quick-fire Mark I naval gun on twelve Mark I* low-angle single mounts 5–7 × Nordenfelt multi-barrel guns on pedestal mounts 2 × Gardner light machine guns 2 × Whitehead 14-inch (36 cm) torpedo tubes (fixed below waterline)
Armour	Type: wrought iron with teak or oak backing Sides: 12 and 10 in (300 and 250 mm) Breastwork: 12 and 10 in (300 and 250 mm) Turrets: 14 and 12 in (360 and 300 mm) Backing: 16–18 inches (410–460 mm) teak or oak Deck: 3 and 2 in (76 and 51 mm)

The two British Devastation-class battleships of the 1870s, HMS Devastation and HMS Thunderer, were the first class of ocean-going capital ship that did not carry sails, and the first which mounted the entire main armament on top of the hull rather than inside it.

The ships were designed by Sir Edward Reed, whose concept was to produce short, handy ships of medium size as heavily armed as possible with a good turn of speed, that could attack and destroy an opponent without much risk of being damaged during the process.^[10]