H.M.S. Shah
1876
(SpiderNavy SN 0-01)
- Class: Shah - 3 unarmored steam frigates of 1869
- Displacement: 6,250 tons
- Dimensions: 334 x 52 x 25 ft.
- Machinery: 2-cyl compound expansion steam engine, single shaft,
IHP = 16 knots
- Sails:
- Armament: 2-9in muzzle-loading rifles, 16-7in muzzle-loading
guns, 8-5in breach-loading guns; 4 torpedo launchers
- Complement: 600
- Builder: Portsmouth Dockyard, Portsmouth, England
- Laid Down: 7 Mar 1870
- Launched: 10 Sep 1873
- Commissioned: 14 Aug 1876
- Notes: Intended to be named HMS Blonde, but renamed HMS Shah following the visit of the Shah of Persia in 1873. Two near sisters built at the same time were HMS Inconstant and HMS Raleigh.
- Service: Assigned as flagship of the Pacific Station for three years under Adm de Horsey. On 29 May 1877 she fought an action, the Battle of Pacocha, in company with the corvette HMS Amethyst against the Peruvian armored turret ship Huascar, which had been taken over by rebels opposed to the Peruvian government. Neither side was able to damage the other, but during the action Shah fired the first torpedo in combat, although it missed. The rebel ship escaped, but was forced to surrender to the Peruvian government just two days later.
After her Pacific service Shah returned to Britain and went into reserve. In 1904 she was converted to a coal storage hulk. However her iron masts still exist, being used as replacements for the wooden masts on HMS Victory in her preserved state.
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