The ''Conqueror''-class

ships of the line A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactic known as the line of battle, which involved the two column ...

consisted of a pair of 101-gun

second rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a second-rate was a ship of the line which by the start of the 18th century mounted 90 to 98 guns on three gun decks; earlier 17th-century second rates had fewer guns ...

screw A screw is an externally helical threaded fastener capable of being tightened or released by a twisting force (torque) to the screw head, head. The most common uses of screws are to hold objects together and there are many forms for a variety ...

-propelled ships designed by the Surveyor’s Department for the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

Design

The ''Conqueror'' class ships were designed in 1852 as two-decker 101-gun second rates in a period when many under-construction sailing ships of the line were being redesigned to use screw propulsion in addition to sail. Two ships were subsequently completed, and .

Careers

Both ships saw service in the

Channel Squadron Channel, channels, channeling, etc., may refer to: Geography * Channel (geography), a landform consisting of the outline (banks) of the path of a narrow body of water. Australia * Channel Country, region of outback Australia in Queensland and pa ...

, and later in the

Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...

. Both were used to transport troops to

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

in support of the

French intervention This is a list of wars involving modern France from the abolition of the French monarchy and the establishment of the French First Republic on 21 September 1792 until the current Fifth Republic. * For wars involving the Kingdom of France (987� ...

there in 1861. HMS ''Conqueror'' was wrecked on

Rum Cay Rum Cay (formerly known as Mamana and Santa Maria de la Concepción) is an island and district of the Bahamas. It measures in area, it is located at Lat.: N23 42' 30" - Long.: W 74 50' 00". It has many rolling hills that rise to about 120 feet (3 ...

whilst carrying this out, but without losses, and most of her machinery, guns and stores were subsequently salvaged. The advent of armoured

ironclads An ironclad was a steam-propelled warship protected by steel or iron armor constructed from 1859 to the early 1890s. The ironclad was developed as a result of the vulnerability of wooden warships to explosive or incendiary shells. The firs ...

, such as in the 1860s made the traditional ships of the line largely obsolete. HMS ''Donegal'' continued in service as a

guard ship A guard ship is a warship assigned as a stationary guard in a port or harbour, as opposed to a coastal patrol boat, which serves its protective role at sea. Royal Navy In the Royal Navy of the eighteenth century, peacetime guard ships were usual ...

, in which role she took the last surrender of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. She was hulked in 1886, and became part of the torpedo training school . She served until the establishment moved on shore in 1923, and was broken up in 1925.

Ships

* :Builder: Devonport Dockyard :Ordered: 16 November 1852 :Laid down: 25 July 1853 :Launched: 2 May 1855 :Completed: 9 April 1856 :Fate: Wrecked at

on 13 December 1861 * :Builder: Devonport Dockyard :Ordered: 27 December 1854 :Laid down: 27 September 1855 :Launched: 23 September 1858 :Completed: 27 August 1859 :Fate: Renamed on 14 January 1886. Sold for breaking up on 18 May 1925

Notes

References

* * Lyon, David and Winfield, Rif, The Sail and Steam Navy List, All the Ships of the Royal Navy 1815-1889, pub Chatham, 2004, *{{cite web , first=William, last=Loney , url=http://www.pdavis.nl/ShowShip.php?id=48 , title= mid-Victorian RN vessels - Donegal, accessdate=2 December 2008 Ship of the line classes Ship classes of the Royal Navy