HMS ''Howe'' was built as a 121-gun screw

first-rate In the rating system of the British 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 a ...

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 tactic known as the line of battle, which depended on the two colu ...

of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

. She and her sister HMS ''Victoria'' were the first and only British three-decker ships of the line to be designed from the start for screw propulsion, but the ''Howe'' was never completed for sea service (and never served under her original name). During the 1860s, the first ironclad battleships gradually made unarmoured two- and three-deckers obsolete. The highest number of guns she ever actually carried was 12, when she finally entered service as the training ship ''Bulwark'' in 1885. ''Howe'' was named after Admiral

Richard Howe Admiral of the Fleet (Royal Navy), Admiral of the Fleet Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe, (8 March 1726 – 5 August 1799) was a Kingdom of Great Britain, British naval officer. After serving throughout the War of the Austrian Succession, he g ...

. She was renamed a second time to ''Impregnable'' on 27 September 1886, but reverted to ''Bulwark'' in 1919 shortly before being sold for breaking up in 1921. The timbers were used to refurbish in the Tudor revivalist style the interior and fascia of the Liberty Store in London.Liberty Family The Lee Village website
, accessed 16 April 2013

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Howe (1860) Ships of the line of the Royal Navy 1860 ships