HMS Dreadnought (1875)

Bow view of Dreadnought, probably after 1894
Class overview
Operators	Royal Navy
Preceded by	Devastation class
Succeeded by	HMS Inflexible
Completed	1
Scrapped	1
History
United Kingdom
Name	Dreadnought
Ordered	1870 Naval Programme
Builder	Pembroke Dockyard
Way number	No. 2
Laid down	10 September 1870
Launched	8 March 1875
Completed	15 February 1879
Commissioned	1884
Out of service	1905
Reclassified	As second-class battleship, 1900
Fate	Sold for scrap, 14 July 1908
General characteristics (as built)
Type	Ironclad turret ship
Displacement	10,886 long tons (11,061 t)
Length	320 ft (97.5 m) (pp) *343 ft (105 m) (oa)
Beam	63 ft 10 in (19.5 m)
Draught	26 ft 6 in (8.1 m)
Installed power	8,206 ihp (6,119 kW); 12 cylindrical boilers
Propulsion	2 shafts; 2 compound-expansion steam engines
Speed	14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph)
Range	5,700 nmi (10,600 km; 6,600 mi) @ 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement	369
Armament	4 × 12.5 in (320 mm) rifled muzzle-loading guns
Armour	Waterline belt: 14–8 in (356–203 mm) Deck: 3–2.5 in (76–64 mm) Gun turrets: 14 mm (1 in) Conning tower: 14–6 in (356–152 mm) Bulkheads: 13 in (330 mm)

HMS Dreadnought was an ironclad turret ship built for the Royal Navy during the 1870s. Construction was halted less than a year after it began and she was redesigned to improve her stability and buoyancy. Upon completion in 1879, the ship was placed in reserve until she was commissioned in 1884 for service with the Mediterranean Fleet. Upon her return 10 years later, she became a coast guard ship in Ireland for two years. The ship then became a depot ship in 1897 before she was reclassified as a second-class battleship in 1900. Dreadnought participated in the annual fleet manoeuvres for the next two years before she became a training ship in 1902. The ship was taken out of service three years later and sold for scrap in 1908.