HMS Colossus (1882)

HMS Colossus, painted in 1891, Malta?
History
Builder:	Portsmouth Dockyard
Laid down:	6 June 1879
Launched:	21 March 1882
Commissioned:	31 October 1886
Fate:	Sold 1908 and broken up
General characteristics
Class & type:	Colossus class second-class battleship
Displacement:	9,420 tons
Length:	325 ft (99 m) pp
Beam:	68 ft (21 m)
Draught:	25 ft 9 in (7.85 m)
Propulsion:	2 shaft Maudslay engine 7,488ihp
Speed:	16.5 knots (30.6 km/h)
Complement:	396
Armament:	4 × BL 12-inch (304.8 mm) guns 5 × BL 6-inch (152.4 mm) guns 4 × 6pdr QF 2 × 14-inch torpedo tubes
Armour:	Citadel: 18 in–14 in Bulkheads: 16 in–13 in Turrets: 16 in faces, 14 in sides and rear

The second HMS Colossus was a Colossus class second-class British battleship, launched in 1882 and commissioned in 1886. She had a displacement of 9,520 tons, and an armament of 4 × 12-inch breechloaders, 5 × 6-inch guns and had a respectable speed of 15.5 knots.

She was one of the first, if not the first, modern battleship. She had several features which would be standard for all gun warships up to the Second World War including all steel construction, a main battery of breech loading major caliber guns (ie. 10 inches or greater) mounted in turrets and was propelled only by steam engines instead of a combination of steam and sails - as was common in the mid-19th century.

She served in the Mediterranean Fleet, from her commission in 1886 to 1893 when she then became a Coastguard ship. In 1895 she was part of the 1st Reserve Squadron, and later coastguard ship at Holyhead.^[1]

She was paid off in November 1901 and placed in reserve, her crew transferred to the Resolution which took over as guardship at Holyhead.^[2] Commander R. Nugent was appointed in command of the ship 25 February 1902.^[3] In 1904 she was re-commissioned as a tender to Excellent. Colossus was put up for sale in 1906, finally being broken up in 1908. Her sister-ship Edinburgh was broken up in 1910.

References

1. "Naval & Military intelligence" The Times (London). Thursday, 11 April 1901. (36426), p. 5.
2. "Naval & Military intelligence" The Times (London). Monday, 18 November 1901. (36615), p. 3.
3. "Naval & Military intelligence" The Times (London). Thursday, 13 February 1902. (36690), p. 6.

• Chesneau, Roger; Eugène M Koleśnik; N. J. M. Campbell (1979). Conway's All the world's fighting ships, 1860-1905. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 978-0-85177-133-5. OCLC 5834247.

External links

• Rob Brassington, An Animated Technical Study of HMS Colossus