The armoured torpedo ram: A developmental dead-end

The photograph of the Tordenskjold in my recent blog post and Archduke Piccolo's related comment reminded me that she was an example of a dead-end in the development of the ironclad, the torpedo ram. She and her like were designed and built to take advantage of two weapons that some contemporary naval tacticians thought would change the nature of naval warfare, the locomotive torpedo and the ram.

Whereas the locomotive torpedo did turn out to be a game changer (but not quite in the way that was expected when Whitehead first developed a practical and reliable example), the ram often proved to be more dangerous to one's own ships than to the enemy's.

(Some famous examples of successful rammings include the CSS Virginia vs. USS Cumberland (the Battle of Hampton Roads, 8th March 1862), the sinking of the Italian ironclad Re d'Italia by the Austrian battleship Erzherzog Ferdinand Max at the Battle of Lissa (20th July 1866), and the sinking of the Chilean steam-powered, wooden corvette Esmeralda by the Peruvian ironclad Husacar on 21st May 1879. 

Accidental rammings include the sinking of HMS Vanguard by HMS Iron Duke during fog off the coast of Ireland on 1st September 1875, the ramming of the SMS Grosser Kurfürst by her sistership, SMS König Wilhelm 31st May 1878 in the English Channel, and probably most famously, the sinking of HMS Victoria by HMS Camperdown off Tripoli in the Lebanon on 22nd June 1893.)

Tordenskjold

She was laid down on 5th June 1879, launched on 30th September 1880, and commissioned on 14th May 1882. She was decommissioned on 14th May 1908 and scrapped later that year.

Her characteristics were:

• Displacement: 2,534 tons
• Dimensions:
• Length: 67.75m (222ft 3in)
• Beam:13.23m (43ft 5in)
• Draught: 4.8m (15ft 9in)
• Propulsion: 8 cylindrical boilers providing steam to 2 compound-expansion steam engines, each of which was connected to a propeller shaft
• Speed: 13 knots
• Range: 1,500 nautical miles
• Complement: 220
• Armament: 1 × 355mm (14-inch) gun; 4 × 120mm (4.7-inch) guns; 4 × 37mm (1.5-inch) Hotchkiss guns; 1 × 380 mm (15-inch) torpedo tube (bow); 3 × 350 mm (14-inch) torpedo tubes (1 in the stern and 1 on either beam)
• Armour:
• Barbette: 203mm (8-inches)
• Conning tower: 31mm (1.2-inches)
• Deck: 95mm (3.7-inches)
• She was also equipped to carry two 2nd-class torpedo boats.

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Only two other torpedo rams were built, USS Intrepid and HMS Polyphemus.

USS Intrepid

She was launched on 5th March 1874 and commissioned on 31st July the same year. She was decommissioned on 22nd August 1882, and it was intended to convert her into a light draught gunboat. Very little work was done, and she stricken on 9th May 1892, and scrapped later that year.

Her characteristics were:

• Displacement: 1,150 tons
• Dimensions:
• Length: 51.89m (170ft 3in)
• Beam: 11m (35ft)
• Draught: 3.7m (12ft)
• Propulsion: 6 cylindrical boilers providing steam to two compound steam engines, each of which was connected to a propeller shaft
• Speed: 11 knots
• Complement: -
• Armament:  4 × 24-pounder howitzers; 5 x spar torpedoes (1 in the bow and 2 on either beam)
• Armour:
• Belt: 100mm to 125mm (4-inches to 5 -inches)
• Deck: 37mm (1.5- inches)
• Lower funnel: 230mm (9-inches)

HMS Polyphemus

She was laid down on 21st September 1878, launched on 15th June 1881 and completed in September 1882. She spent most of her career in the Mediterranean and was paid off in January 1900. She then served as a tender to HMS Defiance, the torpedo school at Devonport from April 1902 until she was sold for scrap on 7th July 1903.

Her characteristics were:

• Displacement: 2,640 tons
• Dimensions:
• Length: 73m (240ft)
• Beam: 11m (37ft))
• Draught: 6.25m (20ft 6in)
• Propulsion: Two compound steam engines, each of which was connected to a propeller shaft
• Speed: 17.8 knots
• Range: -
• Complement: 146
• Armament: 5 × 350mm (14-inch) torpedo tubes (18 torpedoes carried); 6 × 2.54mm (1-inch) Nordenfelt guns
• Armour:
• Conning tower: 200mm (8-inches)
• Deck: 76mm (3-inches)
• Hatch coamings: 100mm (4-inches)