Warrior-cLASS

Both ships were laid down in 1859 and construction was rapid, although not without difficulty. Indeed, due to several Admiralty procrastinations, the builders of HMS Warrior nearly went bankrupt and had to be bailed out to the sum of £50,000 to keep them afloat. When Warrior was launched on 29th December 1860, it was during a record-breaking cold winter, and she had to be rocked free from her slipway as she was completely frozen. It took the combined efforts of hydraulic rams, tugs, and dockworkers running along her upper deck from side to side to help break her free. The total cost of the two ships was almost double two equivalent wooden ships of the line. Some of the delays discussed earlier were due to frequent Admiralty design changes to the ships, including the modification of the gun ports to allow for greater arcs of fire for the artillery. A further change was the adjustment of the armour plating with tongue and groove joints to better lock the plating together and improve their resistance to armour-piercing shells. These modifications delayed the completion of the ships for a year past their contractual date.

The Warrior-class ships were 128.0 metres long, 17.78 metres in breadth and had a draught of 7.92 metres. They displaced between 9,284 and 9,398 tonnes and the hull was subdivided into 92 separate compartments. The ships were fitted with double bottoms and two bilge keels, which were the first of their kind in the Royal Navy and helped to lessen the rolling of the ships in heavy seas. Because of their great length, they had poor manoeuvrability, which was aptly demonstrated when Warrior collided with Royal Oak in 1868. They had a noticeable trimming at the bow, partly due to the iron knee fitted on the bow to improve the ship’s aesthetics. This also disallowed any potential ramming manoeuvres against enemy vessels. Efforts to correct the trim with adjustments made in the 1870s were not particularly successful.

Warrior was a common Royal Navy warship name, in tradition mainly with British practice to name warships after strong adjectives that described great might or power. As for Black Prince, she was named after Edward the Black Prince, the heir of Edward III of England, who died before his father leading to the accession of his son, Richard II instead.

The Warrior-class ships were fitted with a single 2-cylinder trunk steam engine made by John Penn and Sons driving a single 7.50 metre propeller, with ten rectangular boilers providing steam for the engine. The engine was the most powerful ever fitted to a warship at the time and produced between 5,267 and 5,772 indicated horsepower. On sea trials in October 1861, Warrior attained a maximum speed of 14.08 knots, with her sister Black Prince being half a knot slower. The ships carried 810 tonnes of coal, which was enough to steam 2,100 nautical miles at 11.0 knots. They were also equipped with sails, with a sail area of 4,497 m2. The lower masts were of wooden construction, with the other masts made out of iron. Warrior could make 13.0 knots on sail power alone, although her sister could only make 11.0 knots. Under both sail and steam Warrior once made an impressive 17.50 knots between Portsmouth and Plymouth against the tide. The ships were also fitted with the largest hoisting propeller ever made. It weighed over 26 tonnes and took 600 men to raise it onto the ship to reduce drag while under sail.

The ship’s crew consisted of 50 officers and 656 ratings in 1863. The majority of the crew lived in the single gun deck, sleeping in hammocks between the guns, up to 18 men between each pair. The officers slept in the aft of the ship in small individual cabins. The captain had two large and well-furnished cabins. Of the 656 ratings, 122 were Royal Marines. The marines manned the aft section of guns and slept in hammocks between the officers and the crew’s accommodation.