HMS ''Queen'' was a 110-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 ...

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 ...

of 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 ...

, launched on 15 May 1839 at

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

. She was the last purely sailing-built battleship to be ordered. Subsequent ones were ordered with both sails and steam engines. All British battleships were constructed with sailing rig until the 1870s. HMS ''Queen'' had an auxiliary steam engine fitted in the late 1850s. She was broken up in 1871.

Ordered

She was ordered in 1827 under the name ''Royal Frederick'', but renamed on 12 April 1839 while still on the stocks in honour of the recently enthroned

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

. She was originally ordered as the final ship of the broadened ''Caledonia'' class, but on 3 September 1833 she was re-ordered to a new design by Sir

William Symonds Sir William Symonds CB FRS (24 September 1782 – 30 March 1856, aboard the French steamship ''Nil'', Strait of Bonifacio, Sardinia)sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same Ship class, class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They o ...

s were originally ordered to the same design; of these a ship originally ordered at Portsmouth Dockyard on 12 September 1833 as ''Royal Sovereign'' took over the name ''Royal Frederick'' on 12 April 1839, and was eventually completed as a screw

battleship A battleship is a large, heavily naval armour, armored warship with a main battery consisting of large naval gun, guns, designed to serve as a capital ship. From their advent in the late 1880s, battleships were among the largest and most form ...

under the name of . Of the remaining two intended sister ships, both ordered from Pembroke Dockyard on 3 October 1833, was eventually completed as a 90-gun screw battleship, while ''Victoria'' was eventually completed as a 90-gun screw battleship under the name . In 1842 she was visited by Queen Victoria.

Crimean War

Giuseppe Schranz - The Gathering of the Fleets

''Queen'' was engaged in the Bombardment of Sevastopol on 17 October 1854 during 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 ...

under Captain Frederick Thomas Michell.Duckers, The Crimean War at Sea, Appendix 1. She was set on fire three times and eventually forced to withdraw from the action. The famous Timothy the tortoise, who was about 160 years old when she icdied in 2004, was the ship's mascot during this time.

Refitted

Between August 1858 and April 1859 ''Queen'' had an auxiliary steam engine fitted, and at the same time was cut down from three decks to two gun decks, and re-armed as an 86-gun ship. She was fitted with a

Maudslay, Sons and Field Maudslay, Sons and Field was an engineering company based in Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, which today also gives its name to the (much larger) London Borough of Lambeth. Lambeth itself was an ancient parish in ...

500 nhp engine and single screw propulsion. Now, being able to cruise at , she was commissioned into the Mediterranean Fleet until 1864.

Broken up

The ship was

broken up Ship breaking (also known as ship recycling, ship demolition, ship scrapping, ship dismantling, or ship cracking) is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships either as a source of Interchangeable parts, parts, which can be sol ...

in 1871 at Surrey Canal Wharf in

Rotherhithe Rotherhithe ( ) is a district of South London, England, and part of the London Borough of Southwark. It is on a peninsula on the south bank of the Thames, facing Wapping, Shadwell and Limehouse on the north bank, with the Isle of Dogs to the ea ...

, on the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...

Breaking-up HMS Queen at Rotherhithe - ILN 1871

Notes

References

*Duckers, Peter (2011) ''The Crimean War at Sea: The Naval Campaigns against Russia, 1854-56.'' Pen & Sword Maritime. . *Lavery, Brian (1983) ''The Ship of the Line – Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650–1850.'' Conway Maritime Press. . *Lyon, David and Winfield, Rif (2004) ''The Sail and Steam Navy List, 1815–1889.'' Chatham Publishing. . *Bonhams, Lot notes for the painting of ''HMS Queen leaving Malta'', by Robert Strickland Thomas. {{DEFAULTSORT:Queen (1839) Ships of the line of the Royal Navy Ships built in Portsmouth 1839 ships Crimean War naval ships of the United Kingdom