HMS Dreadnought was designed by Sir Edward Reed, the Director of Naval Construction. She was originally going to be named Fury, and the design was an enlarged and improved version of the earlier Devastation-class of ironclad turrets ships. She was was laid down in Pembroke Dockyard on 10th September 1870, launched on 8th March 1875, and completed on 15th February 1879.
On completion, HMS Dreadnought was placed in reserve until 1884 when she was finally commissioned so that she could serve with the Mediterranean Fleet. She remained there for ten years before returning to the UK, where she underwent a refit at Chatham Dockyard.
This was followed by a period as coast guard ship at Bantry Bay, Ireland, that started in March 1895 and lasted until March 1897. She then moved to Devonport, where she became a depot ship. In 1900 she was partially re-armed and re-classified as a 2nd-class battleship, and took part in the fleet manoeuvres in 1900 and 1901. In June 1902, she was refitted again to prepare her for service as a tender.
On 16th August 1902, Dreadnought took part in the Fleet Review that was held to mark the coronation of King Edward VII. Immediately afterwards, she returned to Devonport to become the tender to HMS Defiance, the Royal Navy's torpedo school ship. She was decommissioned in 1905 and sold to Thomas W Ward for scrapping in 1908, and this was completed by early 1909.
Her characteristics were as follows:
- Displacement: 10,886 tons
- Dimensions:
- Length: 343ft (105m)
- Beam: 63ft (19.5m)
- Draught: 26ft 6in (8.1m)
- Propulsion: 12 x coal-fired cylindrical boilers providing steam to 2 x 3-cylinder Humphry & Tennant vertical compound-expansion steam engines, each driving a propellor
- Speed: 14 knots
- Complement: 369
- Armament:
- 2 x twin 12.5-inch (343mm) rifled muzzle-loading guns
- 10 x single 1-inch Nordenfelt quick-firing multi-barrelled guns (fitted in 1884; removed in 1894)
- 6 x single 6-pounder Hotchkiss quick-firing guns (fitted in 1894)
- 10 x single 3-pounder Hotchkiss quick-firing guns (fitted in 1894)
- Armour:
- Belt: 8-inches to 14-inches (203mm to 356mm)
- Bulkheads: 13-inches (356 mm to 406mm
- Turrets: 14-inches (330mm)
- Conning tower: 6-inches to 14-inches (152mm to 356mm)
- Deck: 2.5-inches to 3-inches (68mm to 76mm)
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