HMS Royal Albert (1854)

HMS Royal Albert was a 121 gun three-decker ship of the Royal Navy launched in 1854 at Woolwich Dockyard. She had originally been designed as a sailing ship but was converted to screw propulsion while still under construction.

H.M.S. Royal Albert 131 Guns, 1856, Lithograph T.G.Dutton, after Oswald Walters Brierly
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Royal Albert
Ordered	As sailing ship: 26 March 1842 As screw propelled: 31 January 1852
Builder	Woolwich Dockyard
Laid down	August 1844
Launched	13 May 1854
Completed	By 19 November 1854
Decommissioned	1861
Fate	Sold to Castle for Breaking up, September 1884
General characteristics As sailing ship
Tons burthen	3,393 70/94 bm (enlarged to 3,463 on 24 March 1851)
Length	220 ft (67 m) (overall) 177 ft 2.75 in (54.0195 m) (keel)
Beam	60 ft 10 in (18.54 m)
Depth of hold	25 ft (7.6 m)
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Complement	1000
Armament	120 guns Lower deck: 28 × 32-pdrs + 4 × 68 pdr guns Middle deck: 32 × 32-pdrs + 2 × 68-pdr guns Upper deck: 34 × 32-pdrs Forecastle/Quarterdeck: 6 × 32-pdrs + 14 × short 32pdrs
General characteristics After conversion
Displacement	5,517 tons
Tons burthen	3,726 26/94 bm
Length	232 ft 9 in (70.94 m) (overall) 193 ft 8 in (59.03 m) (keel)
Beam	61 ft (19 m)
Draught	21 ft 6 in (6.55 m) (light) 25 ft (7.6 m) (deep load)
Depth of hold	24 ft 2 in (7.37 m)
Propulsion	Sails 2-cylinder horizontal single expansion trunk Single screw 500 nhp 1,801 ihp
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Speed	10 knots (under steam)
Complement	1,050
Armament	121 guns Lower deck: 32 × 8 in guns Middle deck: 32 × 32-pdrs Upper deck: 32 × 32-pdrs Forecastle/Quarterdeck: 24 × 32-pdrs + 1 × 68-pdr gun

Cross section of the Royal Albert

Lithographs of the launch at Woolwich, 13 May 1854 of HMS Royal Albert screw steamer, claim she had 121 guns and was fitted with screw propellers by John Penn & Sons of Greenwich.

From commissioning at Sheerness she was first commanded by Commander Alexander Little between June and October 1854. From October to November 1854 by Captain Thomas Sabine Pasley while still at Sheerness. From 14 February 1855 to April 1857 she was commanded by Captain William Robert Mends as flagship to Rear-Admiral Edmund Lyons commanding the Mediterranean fleet, then chiefly concerned with the Crimean War. In late December 1855, she sprang a leak whilst on a voyage from the Crimea to Malta and was beached at San Nicholas, Kea, Greece. She was subsequently refloated and taken in to Malta for repairs. From April 1857 to 20 August 1858 she was commanded by Captain Francis Egerton.

From 25 August 1858 to October 1859 she was commanded by Captain Edward Bridges Rice as part of the Channel Squadron under Rear-Admiral Charles Fremantle. She received a new captain on 1 October 1859, Captain Henry James Lacon, who remained up to her paying off at Plymouth on 25 January 1861. Rear-Admiral Robert Fanshawe took over the Channel Squadron from 10 October 1860. In 1884 she was sold for breaking up at Charlton.

• 
  Launch of HMS Prince Albert at Woolwich Dockyard in 1854
• 
  Woolwich Dockyard, launch of Royal Albert 1854
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  Interview between Admiral Lyons and Admiral Bruat on Board the Royal Albert, prior to the attack on Kinburn, 17 October 1855
• 
  The Royal Albert hulk in the Hamoaze, 1890. Thomas Bush Hardy

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.
• Winfield, R.; Lyon, D. (2004). The Sail and Steam Navy List: All the Ships of the Royal Navy 1815–1889. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-032-6. OCLC 52620555.

External links

• Media related to HMS Royal Albert (ship, 1854) at Wikimedia Commons
• Ship information online