HMS Victor Emmanuel (1855)

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

HMS Victor Emmanuel was a screw-propelled 91-gun second-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, originally launched as HMS Repulse, but renamed shortly after being launched.

Victor Emmanuel, receiving-ship. British squadron China Station, 1897
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Victor Emmanuel
Ordered	4 April 1851
Builder	Pembroke Dockyard Machinery by Maudslay, Sons & Field
Laid down	16 May 1853
Launched	27 February 1855
Commissioned	9 September 1858
Renamed	Launched as HMS Repulse Renamed HMS Victor Emmanuel on 7 December 1855
Reclassified	Hospital and receiving ship from 1873
Fate	Sold in 1899
General characteristics [1]
Class and type	Agamemnon-class ship of the line
Tons burthen	3,074 bm
Length	230 ft (70 m) (gundeck)
Beam	55 ft 4 in (16.87 m)
Depth of hold	24 ft 6 in (7.47 m)
Propulsion	Sails 2-cyl. horizontal single expansion engines Single screw 600 nhp 2,424 ihp
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Speed	10.674kts (machinery)
Complement	860
Armament	(as planned) 80 guns: Lower deck: 36 × 8in guns Upper gundeck: 34 × 32pdrs + 2 × 8in guns Quarterdeck/Forecastle: 2 × 8in + 8 × 10in (as completed) 91 guns: Lower deck: 36 × 8in guns Upper gundeck: 34 × 32pdrs Quarterdeck/Forecastle: 20 × 32pdrs + 1 × 68 pdr

Construction and commissioning

Victor Emmanuel was an Agamemnon-class ship of the line, a class originally designed as 80-gun sailing two-deckers.^[2] They were re-ordered as screw ships in 1849, and Victor Emmanuel was duly reclassified as a 91-gun ship on 26 March 1852.^[2] She was built and launched on 27 February 1855 under the name HMS Repulse, but was renamed Victor Emmanuel on 7 December 1855, in honour of Victor Emmanuel after he visited the ship.^[3] She cost a total of £158,086, with £87,597 spent on her hull, and a further £35,588 spent on her machinery.^[2]

Career

The Victor Emmanuel Hospital Ship; doctors checking on their patients

Victor Emmanuel Hospital Ship; patients relaxing along bird cage walk

She served in the English Channel, the Mediterranean, and off the African coast during the Anglo-Ashanti wars.^[3] On 4 May 1861, Victor Emmanuel ran aground on the Leufchino Shoal, in the Mediterranean Sea. Repairs cost £69.^[4] She was assigned to Hong Kong to replace HMS Princess Charlotte and used as a hospital and receiving ship there from 1873. She was sold in 1899.^[2]