HMS Bellisle and HMS Rupert

HMS Belleisle and HMS Rupert had somewhat lacklustre and inactive careers in the Royal Navy. In the case of HMS Belleisle (and her sistership HMS Orion), they were designed for the Turkish Navy and bought at the time of a Russian war scare in the late 1870s. As a result, they were oddities and were – in my opinion – only kept in service to help maintain the apparent strength of the Royal Navy. HMS Rupert – on the other hand – was a combination of two previous designs, HMS Hotspur (which was an armoured ram with a fixed turret) and HMS Glatton.

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HMS Belleisle

She was designed by a Turkish naval architect, Ahmed Pasha, and was originally ordered by the Ottoman Navy as the Peik-i-Sheref from the Samuda Brothers shipyard at Cubitt Town, London. She was laid down in 1874, launched on 12th February 1876, commissioned on 2nd July 1878, and completed seventeen days later.

Her characteristics were as follows:

• Displacement: 4,870 tons
• Dimensions:
• Length: 245ft (75m)
• Beam: 52ft (16m)
• Draught: 21ft (6.4m)
• Propulsion: 4 x coal-fired boilers providing steam to 2 x Maudslay Sons & Field horizontal steam engines, each driving a propellor
• Speed: 12.1 knots
• Complement: 249
• Armament:
• 4 x single 12-inch (305mm) rifled muzzle loading guns
• 4 x single 20-pdr breech-loading guns
• 4 x single 3-pounder Hotchkiss quick-firing guns (added in the 1880s)
• 2 x torpedo launching carriages
• Armour:
• Belt: 6-inches to 12-inches (150mm to 300mm)
• Battery: 8-inches to 10-inches (200mm to 250mm)
• Bulkheads: 5-inches to 9-inches (130 mm to 230mm)
• Conning tower: 9-inches (230mm)
• Deck: 1-inch to 3-inches (25mm to 76mm)

HMS Belleisle served as coastguard ship at Kingstown, Ireland from 1878 until 1892, and other than undertaking live firing practice four times each year, a short annual squadron cruise, and a single refit at Devonport, she was inactive. In 1879, her funnel was raised by 16ft (4.9m). She paid off into the "B" Reserve in April 1893, then into the Fleet Reserve in May 1894, and was finally paid off in May 1900 when she was converted into a target ship. She was sunk during tests to see if cellulose could be used to automatically swell and plug holes caused by torpedoes hits and her wreck was raised and sold in October 1903 for scrapping in Germany.

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HMS Rupert

She was designed in the period after the Battle of Lissa (1866) and her primary weapon was intended to be her ram. Unlike the earlier ram built for the Royal Navy – HMS Hotspur – she was fitted with a turret similar to that fitted to HMS Glatton. HMS Rupert was constructed at Chatham Dockyard, Kent, laid down on 6th June 1870, launched of 12th March 1872, and completed on 1st July 1874.

Her characteristics were as follows:

• Displacement: 5,440 tons
• Dimensions:
• Length: 250ft (76m)
• Beam: 53ft (16m)
• Draught: 22ft 6in (6.86m)
• Propulsion: ? x coal-fired boilers providing steam to 2 x Napier steam engines, each driving a propellor
• Speed: 13.6 knots
• Complement: 217
• Armament (As built):
• 1 x twin 10-inch (254mm) rifled muzzle loading guns
• 2 x single 60-pdr smoothbore guns
• Armament (1887):
• 1 x twin 10-inch (254mm) rifled muzzle loading guns
• 2 x single 6-inch breech-loading guns
• 4 x single 6-pounder quick-firing guns
• 8 x machine guns
• 4 x 14-inch (356mm) torpedo tubes
• Armament (1892):
• 1 x twin 9.2-inch (234mm) rifled breech-loading guns
• 2 x single 6-inch breech-loading guns
• 4 x single 6-pounder quick-firing guns
• 8 x machine guns
• 4 x 14-inch (356mm) torpedo tubes
• Armour:
• Belt: 9-inches to 11-inches (230mm to 280mm)
• Breastwork: 12-inches (305mm)
• Turret: 14-inches (360mm) on the turret face & 12-inches (305mm) on the sides
• Conning towers: 12-inches (305mm)
• Deck: 2-inches to 3-inches (51mm to 76mm)

Although HMS Rupert was built in Chatham, she was commissioned at Devonport Dockyard. She then served in the Mediterranean from 1876 to 1880 before joining the Reserve at Portsmouth. She was recommissioned during the 1885 Russian war scare for service as part of the Particular Service Squadron, and once the scare was over, she became the guard ship at Hull until 1890.

HMS Rupert was reconstructed and rearmed between 1891 and 1893, and then she became the guardship at Pembroke until 1895. This was followed by a spell as guard ship at Gibraltar and then Port Said. In April 1902 HMS Rupert returned to Plymouth, where she paid off on 28th May. She then formed part of the Fleet Reserve until 1904, when she was sent to Bermuda to act as guard ship. She was sold for scrapping in 1907.