HMS Donegal (1858)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Donegal.

HMS Donegal was one of two 101-gun second-rate screw-driven Conqueror-class ship of the line built for the Royal Navy during the 1850s. Completed in 1859, she served with the Channel and North America and West Indies Squadrons before she was decommissioned in 1870. The ship was renamed Vernon I in 1886 when she became part of HMS Vernon, the Royal Navy's torpedo and mine school. The ship was sold for scrap in 1925.

The Donegal at sea, by John Cantiloe Joy, 1885
History
Royal NavyUnited Kingdom
Name	Donegal
Ordered	27 December 1854
Builder	HM Dockyard Devonport
Laid down	27 September 1855
Launched	23 September 1858
Completed	27 August 1859
Commissioned	23 June 1859
Decommissioned	30 September 1870
Renamed	As Vernon I, 14 January 1886
Reclassified	As training ship, 14 January 1886
Fate	Sold for scrap, 18 May 1925
General characteristics (as built)
Class & type	Conqueror-class ship of the line
Tons burthen	3,245 bm
Length	275 ft (83.8 m) (o/a)
Beam	55 ft 5 in (16.9 m)
Draught	21 ft (6.4 m)
Depth of hold	24 ft 5 in (7.4 m)
Installed power	3,103 ihp (2,314 kW; 3,146 PS)
Propulsion	Screw propeller
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Speed	11.8 kn (21.9 km/h; 13.6 mph)
Complement	930
Armament	Lower gundeck: 36 × 8 in (203 mm) shell guns Upper gundeck: 36 × 32 pdr guns Forecastle & Quarterdeck: 28 × 32 pdr guns; 1 × 68 pdr gun

Design and description

The Conqueror-class ships were lengthened version of the preceding HMS Saint Jean d'Acre. Donegal had an overall length of 275 feet (83.8 m), 240 feet (73.2 m) on the gundeck and 204 feet 10 inches (62.4 m) on the keel. She had a beam of 55 feet 5 inches (16.9 m), a depth of hold of 24 feet 5 inches (7.4 m) and measured 3245 71⁄94 tons burthen. Her armament consisted of thirty-six 8 in (203 mm) shell guns on her lower gundeck and thirty-six 32-pounder (56 cwt) guns^{[Note 1]} on her upper gundeck. Between her forecastle and quarterdeck, she carried twenty-eight 32-pounder (42 cwt) guns and a single 68-pounder gun.^[1]

The Conquerors were powered by a two-cylinder horizontal trunk steam engine built by John Penn and Sons producing 800 nominal horsepower to drive a single propeller. Donegal's engine produced 3,103 indicated horsepower (2,314 kW; 3,146 PS) during her service and gave her a maximum speed of 11.8 knots (21.9 km/h; 13.6 mph). Her crew numbered 930 officers and ratings.^[1]

Construction and career

Donegal was ordered on 27 December 1854 and was laid down at HM Dockyard Devonport on 27 September 1855.^[1] She was launched on 23 September 1858,^[2] commissioned on 26 June 1859 and completed on 27 August.^[1] Upon commissioning she sailed to Liverpool to recruit a crew. She then joined the Channel Squadron, where she took part in a number of fleet reviews. In November 1861 she was one of a number of ships transporting troops to Mexico, and in February 1862 she assisted the recovery of equipment and stores from the wreck of her sister HMS Conqueror. On 28 October 1859 William Hall was awarded his Victoria Cross aboard the Donegal whilst she was anchored in Queenstown.^[3]

She spent several years as a coastguard vessel at Liverpool. She took the last surrender of the American Civil War on 6 November 1865 when the CSS Shenandoah surrendered after travelling 9,000 miles (14,500 km) to do so. The Shenandoah had originally been in the Pacific Ocean when news reached her of the end of the Civil War, necessitating such a long voyage.^[4] On her next assignment she carried Vice-Admiral Sir Henry Kellett and a replacement crew to relieve HMS Ocean, then on the China Station under Vice-Admiral Henry Keppel. She was then commanded by Captain William Hewett, seconded by John Fisher. In 1870 she became a tender to HMS Duke of Wellington, which was then a receiving ship in Portsmouth. Donegal was paid off on 30 September 1870.

On 14 January 1886, Donegal was hulked and merged into the Torpedo School at Portsmouth, and her name was changed to Vernon. Between 1888 and 1892 she was commanded by Captain Arthur Knyvet Wilson. On 23 April 1895 she was moved to Portchester Creek, along with the rest of the hulks making up the school.

She remained in this role until the torpedo school moved onshore in 1923, and Donegal was sold for scrap on 18 May 1925 to Pounds, of Portsmouth.^[2] Some of the timbers and panelling were used to rebuild the Prince of Wales public house (reopened as The Old Ship in 2007) in Brighouse in 1926.^[5]

The Old Ship public house in Brighouse which was built from the timbers of the decommissioned HMS Donegal in 1926

Notes

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