HMS Victor Emmanuel (1855)

HMS Victor Emmanuel was a screw-propelled 91-gun second-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, originally launched as HMS Repulse, but renamed shortly after being launched.

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

History
UK
Name:	HMS Victor Emmanuel
Ordered:	4 April 1851
Builder:	Pembroke Dockyard Machinery by Maudslay, Sons & Field
Laid down:	16 May 1853
Launched:	27 February 1855
Commissioned:	9 September 1858
Renamed:	Launched as HMS Repulse Renamed HMS Victor Emmanuel on 7 December 1855
Reclassified:	Hospital and receiving ship from 1873
Fate:	Sold in 1899
General characteristics [1]
Class and type:	Agamemnon-class ship of the line
Tons burthen:	3,074 tons
Length:	230 ft (70 m) (gundeck)
Beam:	55 ft 4 in (16.87 m)
Depth of hold:	24 ft 6 in (7.47 m)
Propulsion:	Sails 2-cyl. horizontal single expansion engines Single screw 600 nhp 2,424 ihp
Sail plan:	Full rigged ship
Speed:	10.674kts (machinery)
Complement:	860
Armament:	(as planned) 80 guns: Lower deck: 36 × 8in guns Upper gundeck: 34 × 32pdrs + 2 × 8in guns Quarterdeck/Forecastle: 2 × 8in + 8 × 10in (as completed) 91 guns: Lower deck: 36 × 8in guns Upper gundeck: 34 × 32pdrs Quarterdeck/Forecastle: 20 × 32pdrs + 1 × 68 pdr

Construction and commissioning

Victor Emmanuel was an Agamemnon-class ship of the line, a class originally designed as 80-gun sailing two-deckers.[2] They were re-ordered as screw ships in 1849, and Victor Emmanuel was duly reclassified as a 91-gun ship on 26 March 1852.[2] She was built and launched on 27 February 1855 under the name HMS Repulse, but was renamed Victor Emmanuel on 7 December 1855, in honour of Victor Emmanuel after he visited the ship.[3] She cost a total of £158,086, with £87,597 spent on her hull, and a further £35,588 spent on her machinery.[2]

Career

She served in the English Channel, the Mediterranean, and off the African coast during the Anglo-Ashanti wars.[3] She was assigned to Hong Kong to replace HMS Princess Charlotte and used as a hospital and receiving ship there from 1873. She was sold in 1899.[2]

Notes

1. Lavery, Ships of the Line, vol. 1, p. 187.
2. Lyon & Winfield. The Sail and Steam Navy List. pp. Chap. 5, pp. 5–6.
3. Loney. "mid-Victorian RN vessels - Victor Emmanuel".

References

• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
• Lyon, David and Winfield, Rif, The Sail and Steam Navy List, All the Ships of the Royal Navy 1815-1889, pub Chatham, 2004, ISBN 1-86176-032-9
• Victor Emmanuel's career

Preceded by HMS Princess Charlotte	Royal Navy receiving ship in Hong Kong 1873–1899	Succeeded by HMS Tamar