HMS Wivern (1863)
HMS Wivern (1863)


Royal NavyVessels

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NameWivern (1863)Explanation
TypeMasted turret ship   
AcquiredOctober 1863
HullIron
PropulsionScrew
Builders measure1899 tons
Displacement2751 tons
Guns4
Fate1922
ClassScorpion
Ships bookADM 135/512
Note1863.08.29 launched as El Monassir (Turkish) but intended for US Confederate navy.
Siezed and purchased.
1898 h.s.
Snippets concerning this vessels career
DateEvent
28 September 1865
- 28 October 1867
Commanded (from commissioning at Portsmouth) by Captain Hugh Talbot Burgoyne, Channel squadron
9 April 1870
- 12 October 1870
Commanded by Captain Charles Webley Hope, ship of First Reserve, Hull
Extracts from the Times newspaper
DateExtract
Th 24 August 1865

THE VISIT OF THE FRENCH FLEET TO PORTSMOUTH.

The preparation for the entertainments to be given by the naval, civil, and military authorities at Portsmouth to the officers of the French fleet progresses very satisfactorily. The ballroom in course of construction, under the supervision of the superintending civil engineer of the dockyard, in the quadrangle of the Royal Naval College, is already partially floored and roofed in, and will be handed over to the upholsterers and decorators on the 26th inst. - that is, three days before the arrival of the fleets at Spithead from Brest, so that ample time will remain to complete all the details. The approaches to the Naval College are exceedingly good, with a wide semicircular drive for the arrival and departure of carriages. The entrance hall of the College is very spacious, and will, when properly decorated, form a most appropriate vestibule to the ballroom. The latter is being constructed, as we have already stated, in the quadrangle of the College, and is 107ft. in length by 55ft. in breadth, clear of all the upright timbers. Its height is 20ft. to the plates of the roof and 36ft. to its apex. Right and left of the ballroom from the entrance the supper tables will be arranged in the College rooms, access being gained to the latter from the ballroom by temporary broad flights of steps. At the opposite end of the ballroom to the entrance a temporary opening has been made into the College gymnasium, which will be elegantly decorated and fitted with refreshment buffets. The ballroom itself will be made to represent a vast tent, whose roof and walls are composed of the tricolour of France. The apex of the roof of this tent, and the plate line, will be marked with a gold cable four inches in diameter, to relieve the somewhat monotonous outline which would otherwise predominate. Banks of shrubs and flowering plants will be placed round the base of the hall and its approaches, while rich trophies of arms and flags will decorate the walls. Seven devices in gas will also occupy positions on the walls, and 40 candelabra of four wax lights each have also been provided for the same purpose. From the roof of the hall will hang massive chandeliers with wax lights. The orchestra is set back from the ballroom, and will not, therefore, detract from the space given. It will be a noble room; but still, with even its unusual size, the question remains, is it sufficiently large for the occasion? We ourselves doubt it, for accommodation should have been provided for thousands where it is now only being provided for hundreds. There is every probability of the "crush" at the Admiralty Ball at Portsmouth being greater even than that recently experienced at the ball given in honour of our flag at the Hôtel de Ville, Cherbourg.
On board Her Majesty's ships in Portsmouth Harbour all are eager to do a something, no matter how trifling, that may render any chance visit of their French brethren one of mutual and hearty good feeling, On board the Duke of Wellington there are, as yet, none of those extraordinary arrangements visible by which her decks will be transformed from their grim sternness of the present to the dazzling splendour they are intended to assume. Although not visible on board, however, all necessary provisions are made, and under the energetic direction of Capt. Seccombe, who bears a wonderful reputation for taste and general management in such matters, the final issue of the arrangements on board the Duke is certain to be successful. It has been suggested by some fastidious people that a ship bearing some other name than that of the military opponent of the Great Napoleon might have been selected by our Admiralty for the occasion. This, however, is sheer nonsense. Old rivalries in arms are now forgotten by both nations, or only remembered as so many pages in history which two peoples, formerly endeavouring to the uttermost to destroy each other, may now study together and with mutual benefit. Besides, is not the ship an old companion in arms of the Imperial navy, carrying as she did the flag of a British admiral in company with one bearing the tricolour of an admiral of France on the waters of the Baltic Sea? On board no ship here or elsewhere will the officers of the French navy receive a heartier welcome than on board the Duke of Wellington. Turning to the military portion of the coming fêtes, and which will necessarily be restricted, owing to the limited stay of the fleets at Spithead, if for no other cause, every precaution is being taken to render whatever manoeuvres may be decided upon by the authorities as effective as possible. Amid all this note of preparation and bustle in the naval and military camps, the civil element is not silent. A working committee, with the Mayor, Mr. R.W. Ford, at its head, is energetically employed in making complete the preparations of the citizens for the entertainment of our honoured guests. Nearly 1,500l. has already been sent in to the committee to meet the necessary expenses, but a total of 2,000l. is required for the purpose, which, however, will no doubt in good time be forthcoming. It is a most gratifying proof of the good feeling entertained by all classes to read in the subscription list the names of many county families and others living at a distance from Portsmouth. Their money has been handed in no doubt from a feeling that the entertainment of the officers of the French fleet at Portsmouth is a national rather than a local question, and that too great honour could not well be done to the guests of the occasion.
The "Governor's Green" where the civic entertainments will be given, is, as its name implies, a large and nearly square plot of green sward, and is admirably situate for the purpose. It is in close contiguity to the main street of the town, and has unusually wide approaches for entrance and exit. On two sides it is bounded by the sea face of the town ramparts, and on the others by the garrison church, monastery wall, railways, &c. The entrance to the Green from the Grand Parade will be under a triumphal arch, which, if only executed as designed, will produce a striking effect and be a credit to all concerned. Triumphal arches are, however, generally speaking, very ticklish matters to deal with. They may turn out exceedingly well, or they may prove to be excessively ridiculous, and it would therefore be unwise to venture on any prophecy relative to the one at Portsmouth. The triumphal arch passed through, the Governor's Green is fairly entered upon, and in the immediate front and on the right of the visitor, under the elm trees, on the fortifications, and by the line of railings alluded to, will be lofty poles, with bannerets, connected with festoons of evergreens and lit up by night with gas in opaque shades. On the left of the entrance are the buildings and marquees in which the entertainments, consisting of a déjeuner, promenade concert, and ball, will take place. A decorated porch of entrance leads into the first hall or apartment, circular in form, and 80ft. in diameter. From this an ante-room leads to another apartment, 140ft. in length by 40ft. in breadth. This latter is but a continuation of the main apartment in which the déjeuner will be given, a permanent building 100ft. in length by 50ft in breadth, presenting a broad vista of 240ft. in length. All will be brilliantly illuminated with gas, and decorated with choice flowering plants, evergreens, arms, and flag trophies, &c. The committee have ample space to work upon, even for the display of all the art enthusiasm available in or around Portsmouth, and there can be no doubt that all the ornamentation will be effective, in good taste, and to the entire satisfaction of both friends and guests.
The programme, so far as it has been settled at present between Admirals Drummond and Eden at the Admiralty — the two official lords on duty in town — and Admiral Sir Michael Seymour at Portsmouth, has been somewhat modified since Tuesday last, and until the Duke of Somerset and the lords now at Brest return to Portsmouth the programme will remain subject to still further modifications. At present the intentions of the Admiralty, so far as they can be ascertained, are to give a dinner on board the Duke of Wellington on the evening of the 29th, the night of the arrival of the fleet. On the following day a dinner to about 100 will be given in the ball-room of the Royal Naval College. On the next day, the 31st, a review of the troops will take place on Southsea-common in the morning, and in the afternoon and evening the civic authorities and inhabitants will entertain the French Minister of Marine and officers of the French fleet in the Governor's Green. On the 1st of September Sir Michael Seymour gives a private dinner at the Admiralty-house, and the ball and supper take place afterwards at the Naval College. Beyond this nothing definitive is known. With the Duke of Somerset and Lord Clarence Paget at the end of one set of telegraphic wires at Brest, the two lords at the Admiralty who are supposed to have the sole arrangement of the coming festivities, and with Sir Michael Seymour as the target for both parties to fire their messages at, it is impossible to say what may be the precise length or breadth of the ultimate official programme. The dockyard, arsenal, and other public establishments will, as is usual with us, be open to the inspection of the French officers every day of their stay at the port, and some return in this respect will, therefore, be made for the extraordinary courtesy and kindness shown to English officers and civilians when going over Cherbourg dockyard during the recent visit of the fleets there. The dockyard of Portsmouth could almost be stowed away in one of the basins of Cherbourg yard, and therefore, if judged by its area only, must appear contemptibly small in the eyes of Frenchmen. The stores and workshops of Portsmouth yard are all pigmies, also, compared with those of Cherbourg; but the machinery in the factory of Portsmouth yard is immeasurably superior in every respect to that in Cherbourg yard, as are also the steamhammer and forges of the smithery. The new foundry, also, is worthy of our reputation as a people that are "workers in metal;" and the pattern shop is unrivalled in any country for its collection of engineering patterns. Of iron ships there are a few that may well pass muster — the ironcased frigate Royal Alfred, fitting for carrying, 12-ton guns on her broadside; the Valiant, iron frigate, in No. 10 dock, completing for commission; the Wivern and Scorpion, Captains H. Burgoyne, V.C., and Commerell, V.C., both double-turreted ships, and each fitted to carry four 12-ton guns, at a maximum draught of water of 12ft.; the Helicon, paddle despatch-vessel, in the bow of which the officers of the Magenta and Solferino may recognise the "beak" of their own ships; the Mersey, wooden frigate, the largest and finest of her class ever constructed; and lastly, though not least important, the iron frigate Minotaur, with her beautiful hull and machinery and most abominable style of rig. To the officers of the French fleet this ship, as she now lies in dock, will be an object of great interest, and the dock also in which she lies, the only dock we have fit to show a stranger, exhibits itself also at the same time under the best possible conditions in having on its blocks one of the largest ironclads in the world. Although, therefore, Portsmouth yard is small and ill-arranged, it yet contains ships and material which will interest our visitors, and upon which we shall be glad to receive their criticism while endeavouring to return the courtesy they themselves have exhibited to us under similar circumstances.
Fr 15 December 1865

THE MINOTAUR.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.


Sir,- I have read with much interest your leading article of the 12th inst. upon the coming trials of the Minotaur to try working the first 12-ton guns that have been carried outside the Isle of Wight in a broadside ship. I agree with you that this is a subject of momentous importance to the country, and sincerely hope that the experiments may prove sufficiently satisfactory to utilize these ships and save our pockets.
But in a question of so much importance we must not content ourselves with a 6,000-ton ship merely carrying to sea these 12-ton guns, but we must be thoroughly satisfied that, under all and the most disadvantageous circumstances, those guns can be efficiently fought at sea. I have no doubt that 12-ton guns can be carried by 6,000-ton ships, loaded, fired, and run in and out by using appliances similar to those I have so successfully used for turret guns, but modified to meet the requirements of the broadside gun, to which I have offered to fit my appliances.
When comparing the turret and broadside system, I must ask your readers to bear in mind that carrying a 12-ton gun in a 6,000-ton ship is one thing, but fighting it effectually in all classes of vessels is another.
It will be found, by reference to my former letters and publications, that the great merit claimed for my inventions is the power of carrying and fighting efficiently the heaviest ordnance on a minimum tonnage with a maximum speed. Truly, you remark that no real sea-going turret-ship has yet been built.
The Royal Sovereign, although she could go wherever her coal could carry her, and lodges her crew most comfortably, is not one, and I can only regret that my endeavours to persuade the Admiralty to build one sea-going experimental ship to compete with Mr. Reed's numerous ones should have hitherto failed. It has to be remarked that the Scorpion and Wivern, although not designed by Messrs. Laird, Brothers, for sea-going cruisers, but built for a special purpose, have proved themselves, beyond all expectations, very good sea boats - the Scorpion having worked her guns and made excellent practice when steaming full speed round a target in a seaway, and I believe that if the improvements proposed by Captains Commerell and Burgoyne for those two little vessels are completed we shall possess two of the most formidable and comfortable sea-going ironclads in the world, considering their tonnage and light draught of water. I can only regret that Captain Burgoyne, who has so thoroughly gone into the matter, and whose proposals are most valuable, should be sent off to the West Indies, instead of being allowed to carry them out.
Again, referring to the minimum tonnage, it must be remembered that these vessels are under 1,900 tons, drawing only 16ft. 4in. water, with an offensive broadside of four 300-pounders, against the Minotaur of 6,000 tons, 27ft. draught of water, but only carrying four, or a broadside of two, 300-pounders, besides her smaller guns. I feel confident that if either of these little vessels with their present captains (curiously, both V.C.'s), and their crews of only 170, all told, were to meet this Minotaur with her 700 men, they would not hesitate to engage her, and if in a seaway with a certainty of making the Minotaur haul down her colours or sinking her.
In the first place, the Scorpion or Wivern would bring four 300-pounders to bear against her two on each broadside; but mark, the Minotaur represents a target of 8,800 square feet, with numerous open port-holes, while these little vessels' hull proper (for their poops and forecastles may be knocked away without interfering with their fighting powers) present a target of only 1,140 square feet; and, remember, a shot between wind and water will sink her as readily as the Scorpion or Wivern. And this is not all. The gunners in one case have to look through a contracted port, so filled up by the gun that when the ship is rolling and firing against a moving object it would be almost impossible to get a shot; while the captain of the turret has a clear range of vision above all, to take advantage of the other ship's roll, besides a much larger range of training for the guns, enabling these vessels to place themselves in the best position for steadiness, with regard to the sea, when the Minotaur, to bring one of her large guns to bear at all, might be obliged to place herself broadside on to the swell, when her rolling might prevent her working her guns, or, at all events, give her comparatively diminutive adversary an undeniable and fatal advantage.
It may be said these vessels are inferior to the Minotaur in speed; truly, so they are; but as they can bring four heavy guns to bear against the Minotaur's two, they would not wish to run away; and the Minotaur's speed would not avail her unless she wished to do so. Here, again, let me ask impartial judges to bear with me while I explain the advantages inherent to the turret principle for speed. Now, to carry even 12-ton guns at all on the broadside, entailing one on each side, you cannot do with less than 60 feet beam, and as high speed can only be obtained by a certain proportion of length to beam, you then, as in the case of the Minotaur, must have a vessel 400 feet long and 6,000 tons burden, while the Scorpion and Wivern, with only 40 feet beam and 228 feet in length, carry and fight the 12-ton gun with ease; so, to give those vessels the same proportion of breadth to length for speed as the Minotaur, you need to lengthen them only 38 feet; but, mark, their beam is sufficient to work turrets carrying 600-pounders. Fancy, then, a vessel only 264 feet long carrying four 600-pounders against these monsters, carrying only two 12-ton guns of a side.
The MonadnocExternal link, we hear, is going to the Pacific, and although I do not admit that the American turret system can be compared with mine for sea-going purposes, let me ask what vessels have we out there that can cope with her in open fight with her 15-inch guns and low sides? Wherever these Monitors manage to get, we should have vessels of equal fighting powers that can be sent to meet them; and for this reason I have so long and so earnestly tried to persuade their Lordships to build one experimental sea-going turretship, from which in case the time ever should come that we want them we may have learnt what vessels are best adapted and most economical, not only to carry but to fight the heaviest ordnance in any part of the world where England's honour and trade have to be protected.
In conclusion, let me ask why should we build vessels of 6,000 tons to carry broadside guns when turret ships of half the size can do the work?
I have the honour to be, your obedient servant,
Cowper P. Coles.
Madeira Villa, Ventnor, Dec. 13.
Fr 14 February 1868OUR IRON-CLAD FLEET. — A return likely to be called for annually has been laid before Parliament, giving an account of our iron-clad fleet built, building, or ordered. The return, which is dated the 30th of August, 1867, contains a list of 31 ships then completed, 13 of them wholly armour-clad, and 18 partially. They are: — The Black Prince, 32 guns; Warrior, 32; Defence, 16; Resistance, 16; Achilles, 26; Hector, 18: Valiant, 18; Minotaur, 26; Agincourt, 26; Northumberland, 26; Royal Oak, 24; Prince Consort, 24; Caledonia, 24; Ocean, 24; Royal Alfred 18; Zealous, 20; Bellerophon, 15; Lord Clyde, 24; Lord Warden, 18; Penelope, 11; Pallas, 8; Favourite, 10; Research, 4; Enterprise, 4; Waterwitch, 2; Vixen, 2; Viper, 2; Royal Sovereign, 5; Prince Albert, 4; Scorpion, 4; Wivern, 4. Twenty-one of these ships are of more than 3,000 tons each. Six other ships were at the date of this return building; two to be wholly armour-clad, and four partially; the Hercules, just launched; the Monarch, 6 guns, to be launched in June; the Captain, 6, the Repulse, 12, to be launched in April; the Audacious, 14, in December; and the Invincible, 14, in March, 1869. All these six ships exceed 3,700 tons. Another, the Bellona, is ordered [and apparently later cancelled]. Lastly, there are the four wholly armour-clad batteries launched in 1855 and 1856, the Erebus, Terror, Thunderbolt, and Thunder; the three first of 16 guns, and the last 14, their tonnage ranging from 1,469 to 1,973. The first cost of the 31 iron-clad ships completed amounted in the whole to 7,284,294l. This includes fittings, but the accounts for some of the latter ships are not yet closed, and this sum does not include incidental and establishment charges. These last indirect charges, calculated in accordance with the recommendation of the Committee on Dockyard Manufactures, add about 35 per cent. to the gross direct charges for labour and materials expended upon each ship in the financial year 1864-65, about 51 per cent. for 1865-66, and the year 1866-67 is for the present estimated to show the same ratio of 51 per cent. These indirect charges have amounted, on the Bellerophon, to no less than 114,372l.; Lord Warden, 104.292l., with a further addition to follow: Royal Alfred, 69,999l., also liable to some addition; Lord Clyde, 66,964l.; Pallas, 61,076l. The most costly of the ships have been the Minotaur, 450,774l.; the Agincourt, 446,048l., both of them with unsettled claims for extra payment; the Northumberland, 433,130l., with the accounts not yet closed; the Achilles, 444,590l.; and the Hercules, estimated at 401,000l. Further sums have to be added to the cost of these ships for dockyard, incidental, and establishment charges.
Ma 12 July 1880It is proposed to pay off and lay up, after repair, at Devonport, during the present year the Achilles and Agincourt, now with the Channel Squadron, the Condor and Flamingo, now in the Mediterranean, but commissioned for special service in the Black Sea, the Wild Swan, from the East Indies, and the Modeste, Swinger, Sylvia, Hornet, and Midge from the China station. The two latter will pay off at Hongkong and be navigated home by a supernumerary crew is consequence of the majority of their officers and men having volunteered for other service upon the station. The Wivern will also pay off at Hongkong, but will remain as reserve drill ship upon that station. The Devonport reserve contingent will also be strengthened by the return of the Forward from the south-east coast of America, the Griffon from North America and the West Indies, and the Pelican, Penguin, and Shannon from the Pacific. Portsmouth will receive the Minotaur from the Mediterranean, and will be intrusted with her alteration and repair, for which £100,000 will be required, the Swallow and the Elk from the south-east coast of America, the Plover from North America, and the Hector, now Coastguard ship at Southampton. The Fawn, surveying vessel in the Sea of Marmora, having made a fairly accurate sketch of the bed of that sea during the three years she has been engaged on that duty, will return to Chatham to pay off and lay up, as also will the Téméraire from the Mediterranean, and the Tourmaline from the North American coast. Sheerness will have the repairing and charge of the Helicon from the Mediterranean, the Blanche from North America and the West Indies, the Osprey from the Pacific, and the Ruby, Spartan, and Vulture from the East Indies. During the year the Enchantress, the Orontes, the Jackal, the Orwell, and the Foxhound are to be re-commissioned, the latter at Hongkong.


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