HMS Algiers (1854)

HMS Algiers was a 91-gun second rate steam and sail-powered ship of the line built for the Royal Navy during the 1850s. Completed in 1854, she served as a troopship during the Crimean War of 1854–1855. The ship was sold for scrap in 1870.

HMS Algiers off Sebastopol
History
United Kingdom
Name	Algiers
Ordered	3 October 1833 (as 110-gun first rate) 26 December 1840 (as 90-gun second rate) 25 April 1847 (altered design) 3 August 1852 (conversion to steam)
Builder	Pembroke Dockyard (as first ordered) Plymouth Dockyard (from 1840)
Laid down	10 July 1843
Launched	26 January 1854
Completed	By 30 June 1854
Fate	Sold for scrap, 26 February 1870
General characteristics (as built)
Type	91-gun second rate ship of the line
Displacement	4,730 long tons (4,810 t)
Tons burthen	3,347 bm
Length	255 ft 6 in (77.9 m) (o/a)
Beam	60 ft (18.3 m)
Draught	25 ft 7 in (7.8 m)
Depth of hold	24 ft 5 in (7.4 m)
Installed power	1,117 ihp (833 kW)
Propulsion	1 screw; 1 single-expansion steam engine
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Speed	9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph)
Complement	850
Armament	91 muzzle-loading, smoothbore guns: Lower deck: 32 × 8 in (203 mm) shell guns Upper deck: 32 × 32 pdrs Quarter deck & Forecastle: 26 × 32 pdrs; 1 × 68 pdr

Description

Algiers had an overall length of 255 feet 6 inches (77.9 m) and measured 218 feet 7 inches (66.6 m) on the gundeck and 179 feet 9 inches (54.8 m) on the keel. She had a beam of 60 feet (18.3 m), a depth of hold of 24 feet 5 inches (7.4 m), and a deep draught of 25 feet 7 inches (7.80 m) The ship displaced 4,730 long tons (4,810 t) and had a tonnage of 3,347 tons burthen. The ship was fitted with a four-cylinder single-expansion steam engine built by William Fairbain and Sons that had been taken from the frigate Megaera. The engine was rated at 450 nominal horsepower and drove a single propeller shaft. Her boilers provided enough steam to give the engine 1,117 indicated horsepower (833 kW) that was good for a speed of 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph). Her crew numbered 850 officers and ratings.^[1]

The ship's muzzle-loading, smoothbore armament consisted of thirty-two 8 in (203 mm) shell guns on her lower gundeck and thirty-two 32-pounder (56 cwt) guns^{[Note 1]} on her upper gundeck. Between her forecastle and quarterdeck, Algiers carried twenty-six 32-pounder (42 cwt) guns and a single 68-pounder gun.^[1]

Construction and career

She was initially ordered from Pembroke Dockyard on 3 October 1833 as a 110-gun first rate to a design by Sir William Symonds. On 10 December 1834, the order for Algiers was changed to a 74-gun two decker, but this was changed once more to a 110-gun ship on 5 February 1839. The order was amended once more, to complete her as a 90-gun Albion-class ship of the line on 26 December 1840,^[2] and she was laid down at Plymouth Dockyard on 10 July 1843. Her designs were amended once more, and she was re-ordered on 25 April 1847. The Admiralty ordered that she be lengthened and fitted with screw propulsion while under construction on 3 August 1852. The conversion began on 27 September and Algiers was launched on 26 January 1854. The ship was commissioned on 27 May 1853 under Captain Charles Talbot and completed on 30 June 1854. Algiers served as a troopship during the Crimean War, making voyages first to the Baltic Sea and then the Black Sea.^[3]

Algiers was sold for scrap on 26 February 1870.^[4]

Notes

1. "Cwt" is the abbreviation for hundredweight, 56 cwt referring to the weight of the gun.