H.M.S. Alexandra
1886
(Spider Navy SN-0-08)
- Class: Alexandra - central battery ironclad of 1873
- Displacement: 9,429 tons
- Dimensions: 325ft (pp) 344ft (oa) x 63ft 10in x 26ft 3in
- Machinery: 2-shaft, Humphreys 2 cyl VIC, 12 cylindrical boilers, 8,498ihp = 15.09 knots
- Armament: 2-11in MLR, 10-10in MLR, 6-20pdr BL, 4 torpedo carriages
- Armor: Belt 12in-6in with 10in-12in wood backing, main battery 12in, puper battery 8in, bulkheads 8in-5in, decks 1in-1.5in
- Complement: 674
- Builder: Chatham Dockyard
- Laid Down: 5 Mar 1873
- Launched: 7 Apr 1875
- Completed: 31 Jan 1877
- Notes: HMS Alexandra was one of the most successful central battery ironclads, although virtually obsolete at the time of completion. It had been intended to call the ship HMS Superb, but the name was changed at her launching, which was undertaken by Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales, who was later Queen Alexandra. She was the first British ironclad to be launched by a member of the Royal Family. When completed she was the fastest steaming battleship afloat. She was barque-rigged with a sail area of 27,500 sq ft and had auxiliary low-power engines to turn her screws while under sail.
Commissioned as flagship, Mediterranean Fleet, and held this position continuously until 1889, being the flagship of Admiral Hornby in his passage through the Dardanelles during the Russian war scare of 1878. She was present at the bombardment of Alexandria in 1882, during which she was hit 24 times but suffered no serious damage. In 1891, she was flagship of the Admiral Superintendent of Naval Reserves at Portsmouth, and remained so until 1901. Her last sea-time was as flagship of the "B" fleet in the maneuvers of 1900. In 1903 she became a mechanical training ship, and she was sold in 1908.
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