HMS Centurion (1844)

HMS Centurion was a 80-gun second rate Vanguard-class ship of the line built for the Royal Navy in the 1840s.

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Centurion.

History
UK
Name: Centurion
Ordered: 18 March 1839
Builder: Pembroke Dockyard
Laid down: July 1839
Launched: 2 May 1844
Completed: 10 June 1844 (in ordinary)
Fate: Sold for scrap, 19 March 1870
General characteristics
Class and type: Vanguard-class ship of the line
Tons burthen: 2589 ​94⁄94 bm
Length: 190 ft (57.9 m) (gundeck)
Beam: 57 ft 1 in (17.4 m)
Draught: 18 ft 10 in (5.7 m)
Depth of hold: 23 ft 4 in (7.1 m)
Sail plan: Full rigged ship
Complement: 720 (wartime)
Armament:

Description

The Vanguard class was designed by Sir William Symonds, Surveyor of the Navy, with each ship built with a slightly different hull shape to evaluate their speed and handling characteristics. Centurion had a length at the gundeck of 190 feet 8 inches (58.1 m) and 153 feet 5 inches (46.8 m) at the keel. She had a beam of 57 feet 1 inch (17.4 m), a draught of 18 feet 10 inches (5.7 m) and a depth of hold of 23 feet 4 inches (7.1 m). The ship's tonnage was 2,589 ​83⁄94 tons burthen.[1] The Vanguards had a wartime crew of 720 officers and ratings.[2]

The Vanguard class ships of the line were armed with twenty 32-pounder (56 cwt)[Note 1] cannon and two 68-pounder carronades on her lower gundeck, twenty-eight 32-pounder (50 cwt) cannon and another pair of 68-pounder carronades on the upper gundeck. On her quarterdeck were fourteen 32-pounder (42 cwt) cannon and on the forecastle deck were eight more 32-pounder (42 cwt) cannon.[2]

Modifications

When Centurion was ordered to be modified for steam propulsion in 1854, she was fitted with a two-cylinder horizontal steam engine of 400 nominal horsepower that drove a single propeller shaft. On trials the engine produced 1,255 indicated horsepower (936 kW) which gave the ship a speed of 8.5 knots (15.7 km/h; 9.8 mph).[3]

Construction and career

Centurion was ordered from Pembroke Dockyard on 18 March 1839 and laid down the following July. She was launched on 2 May 1844 and completed on 10 June. The ship was not fitted out and Centurion was placed in ordinary. Her construction cost £57,386. Between September 1854 and November 1855, she was fitted with steam propulsion.[1]

Centurion was sold for scrap on 19 March 1870.[4]

Notes
  1. "Cwt" is the abbreviation for hundredweight, 56 cwt referring to the weight of the gun.

Citations
  1. Winfield, p. 173
  2. Lyon & Winfield, p. 97
  3. Lyon & Winfield, p. 190
  4. Lavery, p. 191
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References
  • Lavery, Brian (2003) The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The Development of the Battlefleet 1650-1850. Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-252-8.
  • Lyon, David & Winfield, Rif (2004). The Sail & Steam Navy List: All the Ships of the Royal Navy 1815–1889. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 1-86176-032-9.
  • Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail, 1793-1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth. ISBN 978-1-84415-700-6.
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