HMS Valiant (1863) facts for kids
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Line drawing of the Valiant
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Quick facts for kids History |
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 United Kingdom |
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| Name | Valiant |
| Ordered | 25 January 1861 |
| Builder | |
| Laid down | February 1861 |
| Launched | 14 October 1863 |
| Completed | 15 September 1868 |
| Commissioned | September 1868 |
| Decommissioned | 1885 |
| Fate | Sold for scrap, 1956 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Hector-class armoured frigate |
| Displacement | 7,000 long tons (7,100 t) |
| Length | 280 ft 2 in (85.4 m) |
| Beam | 56 ft 4 in (17.2 m) |
| Draught | 26 ft 2 in (8 m) |
| Installed power | |
| Propulsion | 1 shaft, 1 HRCR steam engine |
| Sail plan | Barque-rigged |
| Speed | 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
| Range | 800 nmi (1,500 km; 920 mi) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
| Complement | 530 |
| Armament |
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| Armour |
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HMS Valiant was a powerful warship built for the Royal Navy in 1861. She was an armoured frigate, meaning she was a large sailing ship with a steam engine and strong metal armor. Valiant was the second ship of her kind, known as the Hector-class class.
Building Valiant took a long time. Her first builders went out of business, which caused big delays. Even after she was launched in 1863, it took five more years to get her guns because of supply problems.
Finally, in 1868, Valiant was ready for duty. She became a guard ship for Southern Ireland until 1885. Later, she was used for training and as a storage ship, even holding kite balloons during World War I. In 1926, she became a floating oil tank. Valiant was sold for scrap in 1956, ending her long and varied career.
Contents
About the Valiant Class Warships
The Hector-class ironclads were designed to be smaller and cheaper than earlier warships like the Warrior-class class. They were an improved version of the Defence-class ships. These new ships had extra armor and more powerful engines.
Valiant was about 280 feet 2 inches (85.4 m) long. She was 56 feet 4 inches (17.2 m) wide and had a draft of 26 feet 2 inches (8 m). The ship weighed about 7,000 long tons (7,100 t), which was 300 long tons (300 t) more than planned.
Her hull was divided into 92 waterproof sections by walls. She also had a double bottom under the engine and boiler rooms. These ships were designed to be very stable when turning. However, they tended to roll a lot in rough seas.
How Valiant Moved
Valiant had one large 2-cylinder steam engine. This engine was built by Maudslay Sons & Field. It powered a single 20-foot-2-inch (6.1 m) propeller. Six boilers created steam for the engine.
The engine could produce 3,560 indicated horsepower (2,650 kW) of power. During tests in 1865, Valiant reached a top speed of 12.65 knots (23.43 km/h; 14.56 mph). The ship could carry 450 long tons (460 t) of coal. This was enough to travel 800 nautical miles (1,500 km; 920 mi) at full speed.
The ship also had sails, like a barque. Her sail area was 24,500 square feet (2,276 m2). The funnel could be lowered to reduce wind resistance when sailing. The ship was supposed to have a way to lift its propeller out of the water when sailing. This would reduce drag, but this feature was never added.
Valiant's Weapons
The Hector-class ships were originally meant to have 32 smoothbore guns. However, this plan changed during construction. They were then supposed to have eight new breech-loading guns and twenty-four older guns.
These new breech-loading guns were not very good. Tests showed they couldn't pierce armor as well as older guns. Also, they often exploded during battles in 1863–1864. Because of these problems, the navy stopped using them.
Since Valiant's construction took so long, she never got these faulty guns. Instead, she was armed with sixteen 7-inch (178 mm) and two 8-inch (203 mm) rifled muzzle-loading guns. The two 8-inch guns were placed on the upper deck. Four 7-inch guns were also on the upper deck. The other twelve 7-inch guns were on the main deck.
The 8-inch gun fired a 175 pounds (79.4 kg) shell. It could shoot through about 9.6 inches (244 mm) of iron armor. The 7-inch gun fired a 112 pounds (50.8 kg) shell. It could penetrate about 7.7-inch (196 mm) of armor.
Valiant's Armor
The Hector-class ships had a strong iron waterline armor belt. This belt was 4.5 inches (114 mm) thick. It covered the middle 216 feet (65.8 m) of the ship. The front and back parts of the ship were not protected by this belt.
To protect against shots from the front or back, there were 4.5 inches (114 mm) thick walls at each end of the belt. The armor went down 5 feet 8 inches (1.7 m) below the waterline. The main deck also had armor along its entire length. In the middle, it was 4.5 inches (114 mm) thick. It became thinner, 2.5 inches (64 mm) thick, towards the ends of the ship.
Behind the armor was 18 inches (457 mm) of strong teak wood. Because the back of the ship had no armor, the steering system was very easy to hit and damage.
Valiant's Life at Sea
HMS Valiant began construction on February 1, 1861. The company building her, Westwood, Baillie, went bankrupt in November 1861. Another company, Thames Ironworks, took over. This caused her launch to be delayed until October 14, 1863.
In 1865, French naval officers visited Valiant while she was being finished. Because new guns were in short supply, Valiant was not fully ready until September 1868. This was almost five years after she was launched!
After being commissioned, Valiant served as the First Reserve guard ship in Southern Ireland. She stayed there until 1885. This was a very long time for a British ironclad to be in one place. She did leave once to get new boilers installed.
In 1878, Valiant joined a special fleet during a time of tension with Russia. She sailed up the Dardanelles under Admiral Hornby. On July 20, 1884, another warship, HMS Defence, accidentally crashed into Valiant. This happened in Lough Swilly. Valiant's hull was damaged, and her boats and fittings on one side were torn off.
Valiant was taken out of active service in 1885. She spent thirteen years in a partly taken-apart state. In 1897, she became part of a training school for stokers (people who tended the ship's boilers). She was even renamed Indus IV in 1904.
During World War I, in 1915, she was changed into a storage ship for kite balloons. Her name was changed again to HMS Valiant III. In 1922, she was offered for sale, but no one bought her. So, in 1926, she became a floating oil tank. She stayed in this role until 1956. That year, Valiant was sold to Belgian ship breakers and towed to Bruges on December 8, 1956, to be taken apart.
Images for kids
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Messers. Maudslay's engines of 800-horse power for the Valiant were shown at the 1862 International Exhibition
