HMS Nile and HMS Collingwood

Towards the end of the 1880s, the Royal Navy had begun to design and build ironclad battleships which were the precursors of the pre-dreadnought. They had four main guns and a battery of medium and light quick-firing secondary guns mounted in a central superstructure. The only question that remained unanswered was whether the main guns should be mounted in turrets or barbettes. Two examples of these designs were the Trafalgar-class turret battleships and the Admiral-class barbette battleships.

HMS Nile

HMS Nile was one of two Trafalgar-class turret battleships. (The other was HMS Trafalgar.) They were an improved version of the earlier turret ironclad HMS Dreadnought which was - in turn - a development of the Devastation-class turret ironclads. She was also heavily armoured like the preceding Victoria-class turret battleship. She was laid down at Pembroke Dockyard on 8th April 1886, launched on 27th March 1888, and completed on 10th July 1891.

Her characteristics were as follows:

• Displacement: 12,590 tons
• Dimensions:
• Length: 345ft (105.2m)
• Beam: 73ft (22.3m)
• Draught: 28ft 6in (8.7m)
• Propulsion: 6 x coal-fired cylindrical boilers providing steam to 2 x three-cylinder triple-expansion steam engines, each driving a propellor
• Speed: 16.5 knots
• Complement: 537
• Armament:
• 2 x twin 13.5-inch (343mm) rifled breech-loading guns
• 6 x single 4.7-inch (120mm) quick-firing guns
• 8 x single 6-pounder Hotchkiss quick-firing guns
• 9 x single 3-pounder Hotchkiss quick-firing guns
• 4 x 14-inch (356mm) torpedo tubes
• Armour:
• Belt: 14-inches to 20-inches (356mm to 508mm)
• Citadel: 16-inches to 18-inches (406mm to 457mm)
• Battery: 4-inches to 5-inches (102mm to 127mm)
• Bulkheads: 14-inches to 16-inches (356 mm to 406mm)
• Turrets: 18-inches (457mm)
• Conning tower: 14-inches (356mm)
• Deck: 3-inches (76mm)

HMS Nile was commissioned at Portsmouth on 30th June 1891 to take part in manoeuvres. She was assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet, and remained there until January 1898. In August 1890, she had the number of torpedo tubes increased to six. Two years before she returned home, HMS Nile had her 4.7-inch (120mm) guns replaced by 6-inch (152mm) quick-firing guns.

HMS Nile then become the guardship at Devonport, and during her time there, she took part in the Coronation Fleet Review at Spithead on 16th August 1902. She paid off at Devonport in February 1903 and joined the Reserve Fleet there, where she remained until she was sold for scrapping on 9th July 1912.

HMS Collingwood

HMS Collingwood was the first of the Admiral-class barbette battleships and served as the class prototype. She was designed by the Director of Naval Construction, Sir Nathaniel Barnaby, and was inspired by the French Terrible-class ironclads. The design was criticised by the former Chief Constructor of the Royal Navy, Sir Edward Reed, because the ship's belt armour was concentrate amidships rather than along the entire waterline. Like HMS Nile, HMS Collingwood was constructed at Pembroke Dockyard; she was laid down on 12th July 1880, launched on 22nd November 1882, and completed on 1st July 1887.

Her characteristics were as follows:

• Displacement: 9,500 tons
• Dimensions:
• Length: 325ft (99.1m)
• Beam: 68ft (20.7m)
• Draught: 26ft 11in (8.2m)
• Propulsion: 12 x cylindrical coal-fired boilers providing steam to 2 x Humphreys 2-cylinder inverted compound-expansion steam engines, each driving a propellor
• Speed: 16.8 knots
• Complement: 498
• Armament:
• 2 x twin 12-inch (305mm) rifled breech-loading guns
• 6 x single 6-inch (152mm) rifled breech-loading guns
• 12 x single 6-pounder Hotchkiss quick-firing guns
• 8 x single 3-pounder Hotchkiss quick-firing guns
• 4 x 14-inch (356mm) torpedo tubes
• Armour:
• Belt: 8-inches to 18-inches (203mm to 457mm)
• Bulkheads: 7-inches to 16-inches (178 mm to 406mm)
• Barbettes: 10-inches to 11.5-inches (254mm to 292mm)
• Conning tower: 2-inches to 12-inches (51mm to 305mm)
• Deck: 2-inches to 3-inches (51mm to 76mm)

HMS Collingwood took part in the 1888 and 1889 annual summer manoeuvres before serving with the Mediterranean Fleet from November 1889 until March 1897. During her time there, she underwent a refit in Malta in 1896. On her return to the UK she became the coastguard ship at Bantry, Ireland.

Like HMS Nile, she took part in the Coronation Fleet Review at Spithead on 16th August 1902. She was paid off into the Fleet Reserve in June 1903 and moved to East Kyle in January 1905, where she remained there until she was sold for scrap on 11th May 1909.