HMS ''Windsor Castle'' was a triple-decker, 102-gun

first-rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a first rate was the designation for the largest ships of the line. Originating in the Jacobean era with the designation of Ships Royal capable of carrying at least ...

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 ...

ship 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 tactics in the Age of Sail, naval tactic known as the line of battl ...

. She was renamed HMS ''Cambridge'' in 1869, when she replaced a ship of the same name as gunnery ship off

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

Life

Early life

She was laid down at Pembroke Dockyard as HMS ''Victoria'' in 1844, to the design of . She was intended to carry 110 guns, but work was suspended. She was reordered on 29 June 1848 to a modified design, and reordered again on 28 February 1857 when she was ordered to be converted from sail to mixed sail/steam propulsion whilst on the stocks and to be fitted with 120 guns. She was renamed ''Windsor Castle'' on 6 January 1855 and launched by Lady Pakington on 26 August 1858, having since been reduced to carry 116 guns, and then 102 guns. She cost a total of £117,030, £84,555 spent on her hull as a sailing vessel, her conversion had cost another £14,878. 204 feet long, and of 4971 tons displacement, she had a crew of 930, but almost immediately entered the first-class steam

reserve Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US v ...

– ''

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'' reported on 13 September 1860 reported her as among the "ships and gunboats in the first-class steam reserve which could be got ready for the pennant at a short notice". By 1862 she had been reduced to 97 guns.

Gunnery school

She was renamed HMS ''Cambridge'' in 1869, when she replaced a ship of the same name as gunnery ship off

. On 8 December 1872, she was driven ashore in a storm. At that point, she was armed with 29 guns. She was refloated the next day. ''Cambridge'' was later joined by HMS ''Calcutta'' as her tender, with a wooden bridge between the bow of HMS ''Cambridge'' and the stern of the ''Calcutta''. Other of her tenders included HMS ''Gorgon'', ''Plucky'' and ''Sabrina'' (around 1877) and HMS ''Bonetta'', ''Bulldog'', ''Cuckoo'', ''Hecate'', ''Plucky'', ''Sabrina'', ''Snap'' (around 1890), and ''Undaunted'' (from 1901). In 1890, some of her officers were listed as bound for ''Foudroyant'' and ''Perseus''. In June 1902 she was at Devonport, when Rear-Admiral

Assheton Curzon-Howe Admiral Sir Assheton Gore Curzon-Howe (10 August 1850 – 1 March 1911) was a British naval officer who served as Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet from 1908 to 1910. Early life Curzon-Howe was the thirteenth and youngest child of ...

hoisted his flag on board as second in command of the

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Fate

She was towed on 30 October 1907 to No. 5 Basin of the

Royal Dockyard Royal Navy Dockyards (more usually termed Royal Dockyards) were state-owned harbour facilities where ships of the Royal Navy were built, based, repaired and refitted. Until the mid-19th century the Royal Dockyards were the largest industrial c ...

to enable the gunnery school to move ashore into the Naval Barracks, paid off on 4 November that year and sold to Cox on 24 June 1908 for breaking up at Falmouth.

Captains

* January 1869 – May 1871: Fitzgerald Algernon Charles Foley *February 1874: F. Herbert R.N. * Around 12 August 1877: Thomas Le Hunte Ward * 15 August 1883 – 25 August 1886: George Stanley Bosanquet * December 1896: William Metcalfe Lang * August 1898 – 1900: Captain

Robert William Craigie Admiral Robert William Craigie (25 July 1849 – 21 August 1911) was a Royal Navy officer who served as Admiral-Superintendent of Chatham dockyard from 1902 to 1905. Biography Craigie was born in 1849, and joined the Royal Navy in 1863. He was ...

* August 1900 – August 1903: Captain

Charles Ramsay Arbuthnot Admiral Charles Ramsay Arbuthnot (5 February 1850 – 30 September 1913) was an officer of the British Royal Navy. Biography Arbuthnot was born in Liverpool, England, the son of George Clerk Arbuthnot (1803–1876) of Marisbank, Midlothian, (th ...

Citations

References

* * Lyon, David and Winfield, Rif, The Sail and Steam Navy List, All the Ships of the Royal Navy 1815–1889, pub Chatham, 2004,

External links

* * *http://www.pdavis.nl/ShowShip.php?id=1196
Royal Navy Gunnery School – The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History
{{DEFAULTSORT:Windsor Castle (1858) Ships of the line of the Royal Navy History of Plymouth, Devon 1858 ships Maritime incidents in December 1872