HMS Victor Emmanuel (1855)

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

HMS Victor Emmanuel was a 91-gun second rate steam and sail-powered Agamemnon-class ship of the line built for the Royal Navy during the 1850s. Completed in 1858, she initially served with the Channel Squadron and then with the Mediterranean Fleet. The ship was sold for scrap in 1899.

Victor Emmanuel, receiving-ship. British squadron China Station, 1897
History
United Kingdom
Name	Victor Emmanuel
Ordered	4 April 1851
Builder	Pembroke Dockyard
Laid down	16 May 1853
Launched	27 February 1855
Commissioned	9 September 1858
Renamed	Launched as Repulse Renamed Victor Emmanuel, 7 December 1855
Reclassified	Hospital and receiving ship from 1873
Fate	Sold, 1899
General characteristics (as built)
Class & type	91-gun second-rate Agamemnon-class ship of the line
Tons burthen	3,085 58⁄94 bm
Length	230 ft 3 in (70.2 m) (overall)
Beam	55 ft 4 in (16.9 m)
Draught	19 ft 8 in (6.0 m)
Depth of hold	24 ft 6 in (7.5 m)
Installed power	2,424 ihp (1,808 kW)
Propulsion	1 screw; 1 single-expansion steam engine
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Speed	10.7 knots (19.8 km/h; 12.3 mph)
Complement	860
Armament	91 muzzle-loading, smoothbore guns: Lower deck: 36 × 8 in (203 mm) shell guns Upper deck: 34 × 32 pdrs Quarter deck & Forecastle: 22 × 32 pdrs; 1 × 68 pdr

Description

The Agamemnon-class ships of the line were built in response to the perceived threat from France by the construction ofof the Napoléon class battleships.^[1] Victor Emmanuel measured 230 feet 3 inches (70.2 m) on the gundeck and 195 feet 4 inches (59.5 m) on the keel. She had a beam of 55 feet 4 inches (16.9 m), a depth of hold of 24 feet 6 inches (7.5 m), a deep draught of 19 feet 8 inches (5.99 m) and had a tonnage of 308558⁄94 tons burthen. The ship was fitted with a two-cylinder, single-expansion steam engine built by Maudslay, Sons and Field that was rated at 600 nominal horsepower and drove a single propeller shaft. Her boilers provided enough steam to give the engine 2,424 indicated horsepower (1,808 kW) that was good for a speed of 10.7 knots (19.8 km/h; 12.3 mph). Her crew numbered 860 officers and ratings.^[2]

The ship's muzzle-loading, smoothbore armament consisted of thirty-four 8 in (203 mm) shell guns on her lower gundeck and thirty-four 32-pounder (56 cwt) guns^{[Note 1]} on her upper gundeck. Between her forecastle and quarterdeck, she carried twenty-two 32-pounder (45 cwt) guns and a single 68-pounder gun.^[3]

Construction and commissioning

The Victor Emmanuel Hospital Ship; doctors checking on their patients

The Agamemnons were originally designed as 80-gun sailing two-deckers, but the design was revised in 1850 to incorporate more guns and steam power. Victor Emmanuel was ordered on 4 April 1851 as a 91-gun second rate under the name Repulse and was laid down at Pembroke Dock on 16 May 1853. The ship was launched on 27 February 1855, but was renamed Victor Emmanuel on 7 December,^[2] in honour of Victor Emmanuel after he visited the ship.^[1] She was commissioned on 27 July 1858 under the command of Captain James Willcox and completed on 9 September.^[4]

Victor Emmanuel was initially assigned to the Channel Squadron, but was transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet in March 1859.^[4] On 4 May 1861, the ship ran aground on the Leufchino Shoal, in the Mediterranean Sea. Repairs cost £69.^[5] Her armament was reduced to 79 guns during this deployment; she was paid off at Portsmouth on 6 May 1862. Victor Emmanuel was recommissioned on 20 November 1873 to serve as a hospital ship at Cape Coast Castle during the Anglo-Ashanti wars. She was assigned to Hong Kong to replace HMS Princess Charlotte as the receiving ship there from on 11 December 1874.^[2] She was sold in 1899.^[6]

Notes

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