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concept remained alive. With the advent of steam-powered vessels, with their enhanced speed and lack of dependence for direction on the wind, the ram as a potent weapon of attack gained credibility in Naval circles and in Ship
Constructors' departments. This first became apparent in the American Civil War, when many attempts were made by ships on both sides to ram their opponents, with almost uniform lack of success. (The Confederate
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It was assumed that the bearings upon which a usual turret turned would not survive the shock of the impact consequent upon the use of the ram against an enemy ship. Her single 12-inch (305 mm) gun was therefore positioned in a fixed cupola perforated by four firing-ports through which the gun
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or before that a ship, while it might carry weaponry, was itself a potent weapon if used as a missile against other ships. In the era of sail-powered warships with their intrinsic limitations of speed and manoeuvrability the practice of ramming opponents fell by default into disuse, although the
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was less than virtually all of her potential targets, it quickly became apparent that ramming attacks on ships under way were almost guaranteed to miss, and she quickly descended from being a ship held to be of great military value to be the most useless member of the battle-fleet.
379:, which immediately heeled over and sank. This resulted in all ironclad battleships designed for the next forty years being built to carry a ram; a weapon which, while causing the loss of a number of ships accidentally, never sank another major enemy warship of any nationality.
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could be discharged. None of these ports allowed the gun to be fired straight ahead, where a potential ramming target would be situated. It was therefore only possible to engage these targets with the gun if the ramming attack missed.
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was designed to work with the Fleet, to bring into action her main weapon, her ram. This projected some ten feet (3 m) ahead of her bow perpendicular, and was reinforced by an extension of the armoured belt.
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416:. The deck beneath the mounting was a turntable which allowed the gun to rotate between several gunports within a fixed circular armored turret. One of the gun
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in the Sea of
Marmara during the Russo-Turkish war of 1878. She then returned to Devonport, where she remained until her major reconstruction, undertaken by
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of 1885. She was guardship at
Holyhead until 1893, was again in reserve until 1897, and was posted thereafter to serve as guardship at the
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The battle which most influenced the exaggerated faith in the ram as a weapon was the
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was commissioned at
Devonport in 1871. On 26 January, she collided with the
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19 ft (5.8 m) light, 20 ft 8 in (6.30 m) deep load
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Conning tower: 10 inches (250 mm) front, 6 inches (150 mm) rear
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between 1881 and 1883. Her only active service thereafter was with the
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Turret: 10 inches (250 mm) front, 8.5 inches (220 mm) rear
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Belt: 11 inches (280 mm) tapering to 8 inches (200 mm)
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Deck: 2.75 inches (70 mm) tapering to 1 inch (25 mm)
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Chesneau, Roger & Kolesnik, Eugene M., eds. (1979).
563:. No. 10284. Newcastle upon Tyne. 2 February 1872.
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She remained in reserve until 1876. She served with
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478:off Plymouth. Both vessels were severely damaged.
631:Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905
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1707:Victorian-era battleships of the United Kingdom
585:. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.
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210:Two-shaft Napier reciprocating, I.H.P.= 3,500
605:: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
250:12 inch (305 mm) 25-ton muzzle-loading rifle
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1186:Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1872
76:Learn how and when to remove this message
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485:Her 12-inch 25-ton gun was fired on the
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39:This article includes a list of general
19:For other ships with the same name, see
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268:12 inch (305 mm) muzzle-loading rifles
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635:. Greenwich: Conway Maritime Press.
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254:2 × 64-pounder muzzle-loading rifles
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45:it lacks sufficient corresponding
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373:rammed the (stationary) Italian
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16:Royal Navy ironclad ram warship
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559:"Marine Intelligence".
347:Virginia (ex-Merrimack)
186:235 ft (72 m)
170:General characteristics
60:more precise citations.
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376:Re d'Italia
58:introducing
21:HMS Hotspur
1702:1870 ships
1697:Steam rams
1681:Categories
1465:Lord Clyde
1244:Monticello
1194:Shipwrecks
1122:Waterwitch
971:Inflexible
800:Enterprise
766:Lord Clyde
572:References
523:colony of
494:live trial
353:Cumberland
335:Background
321:Royal Navy
223:Complement
207:Propulsion
178:4,331 tons
133:, Scotland
41:references
1639:HMS
1626:HMS
1615:Cambridge
1590:Terribile
1576:HMS
1563:HMS
1502:HMS
1489:HMS
1476:HMS
1463:HMS
1450:HMS
1354:Henrietta
1316:USS
1232:El Majidi
1218:USS
1144:Cancelled
1074:Abyssinia
1047:Conqueror
999:Trafalgar
911:Temeraire
891:Belleisle
877:Alexandra
863:Swiftsure
856:Audacious
759:Royal Oak
601:cite book
546:Citations
541:deployed.
502:HMS
497:in 1873.
491:during a
473:steamship
410:broadside
323:ironclad
138:Laid down
1628:Hercules
1552:Charkieh
1460:14 Mar:
1305:Missouri
1099:Gunboats
1067:Cerberus
1058:Monitors
1026:Scorpion
992:Victoria
985:Colossus
849:Hercules
842:Penelope
807:Favorite
793:Research
745:Minotaur
738:Achilles
581:(1980).
363:between
231:Armament
146:Launched
1636:25 Dec:
1623:25 Dec:
1565:Serapis
1560:22 Oct:
1548:19 Oct:
1528:Livonia
1491:Defence
1486:24 Mar:
1473:21 Mar:
1452:Hotspur
1447:26 Jan:
1439:Silesia
1378:Mohican
1350:16 Dec:
1338:25 Nov:
1326:21 Nov:
1318:Polaris
1301:22 Oct:
1276:31 Jul:
1268:America
1264:24 Jul:
1240:29 Apr:
1228:15 Apr:
1088:Cyclops
1081:Glatton
1033:Hotspur
957:Neptune
943:Captain
936:Monarch
917:Admiral
821:Repulse
814:Zealous
724:Defence
717:Warrior
535:Hotspur
525:Bermuda
519:in the
488:Glatton
480:Hotspur
469:Hotspur
450:Hotspur
438:Hotspur
436:aboard
414:Hotspur
388:Hotspur
316:Hotspur
199:Draught
123:Builder
104:History
54:improve
1665:1873 →
1658:← 1871
1610:8 Dec:
1598:5 Dec:
1586:3 Dec:
1578:Daphne
1540:Sappho
1536:7 Sep:
1435:5 Jan:
1390:Russia
1280:Lahloo
1252:6 Jun:
1220:Abeona
1215:7 Mar:
1203:5 Mar:
1040:Rupert
884:Superb
870:Sultan
828:Pallas
731:Hector
639:
620:
589:
504:Rupert
422:shells
383:Design
288:Armour
183:Length
43:, but
1366:Ariel
1115:Viper
1108:Vixen
418:'
408:on a
406:rifle
215:Speed
131:Govan
1613:HMS
1573:Oct:
1524:Jul:
1516:Alma
1512:May:
1499:Mar:
1410:Unk:
1398:Unk:
1386:Unk:
1374:Unk:
1362:Unk:
1313:Oct:
1288:Aug:
1256:Tees
978:Ajax
637:ISBN
618:ISBN
607:link
587:ISBN
314:HMS
272:2 ×
266:2 ×
258:1883
248:1 ×
237:1871
191:Beam
162:Fate
329:ram
325:ram
244:ram
1683::
603:}}
599:{{
420:s
398:A
331:.
129:,
1177:e
1170:t
1163:v
1141:X
1135:S
692:e
685:t
678:v
645:.
609:)
595:.
440:.
260::
239::
79:)
73:(
68:)
64:(
50:.
23:.
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