HMS ''Scorpion'' was an

ironclad An ironclad was a steam engine, steam-propelled warship protected by iron armour, 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 ince ...

turret ship Turret ships were a 19th-century type of warship, the earliest to have their guns mounted in a revolving gun turret, instead of a broadside arrangement. Background Before the development of large-calibre, long-range guns in the mid-19th centur ...

built by John Laird Sons & Company, at

Birkenhead Birkenhead () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liverpool. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic co ...

, England. She was one of two

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 secretly ordered from the Laird shipyard in 1862 by the

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), also known as the Confederate States (C.S.), the Confederacy, or Dixieland, was an List of historical unrecognized states and dependencies, unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United State ...

. Her true ownership was concealed by the fiction that she was being built as the Egyptian warship ''El Tousson''. She was to have been named CSS ''North Carolina'' upon delivery to the Confederacy. Her sister was built under the false name ''El Monassir'' and was to have been renamed CSS ''Mississippi''. In October 1863, a few months after their launch and before they could be completed, the UK Government seized the two ironclads. In 1864 the Admiralty bought them and commissioned them into 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 ...

: ''El Tousson'' as HMS ''Scorpion'' and ''El Monassir'' as . ''Scorpion'' had a long Royal Navy career, until she was lost in the North Atlantic in 1903.

Design and description

''North Carolina'' and her sister were intended, together with other warships, to break the Federal

blockade A blockade is the act of actively preventing a country or region from receiving or sending out food, supplies, weapons, or communications, and sometimes people, by military force. A blockade differs from an embargo or sanction, which are ...

of Confederate coastal cities and to hold some Northern cities for ransom.Scharf, p. 784 The ships had a

length between perpendiculars Length between perpendiculars (often abbreviated as p/p, p.p., pp, LPP, LBP or Length BPP) is the length of a ship along the summer load line from the forward surface of the stem, or main bow perpendicular member, to the after surface of the ste ...

of , a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Radio beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially lo ...

of ,Gardiner, p. 20 and a draught of at

deep load The displacement or displacement tonnage of a ship is its weight. As the term indicates, it is measured indirectly, using Archimedes' principle, by first calculating the volume of water displaced by the ship, then converting that value into weig ...

. They displaced . The hull was divided by 12 watertight bulkheads and the ships had a

double bottom A double hull is a ship hull design and construction method where the bottom and sides of the ship have two complete layers of watertight hull surface: one outer layer forming the normal hull of the ship, and a second inner hull which is some di ...

beneath the

engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ge ...

and boiler rooms. Their crew consisted of 152 officers and ratings.Parkes, p. 78 The ''Scorpion''-class ships had two horizontal direct-acting steam engines, built by Lairds, each driving a single

propeller shaft A drive shaft, driveshaft, driving shaft, tailshaft (Australian English), propeller shaft (prop shaft), or Cardan shaft (after Girolamo Cardano) is a component for transmitting mechanical power, torque, and rotation, usually used to connect o ...

, using steam provided by four tubular

boiler A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, centra ...

s. The engines produced a total of which gave the ships a maximum speed of . The ships carried of coal, enough to steam at . They were

barque A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel with three or more mast (sailing), masts of which the fore mast, mainmast, and any additional masts are Square rig, rigged square, and only the aftmost mast (mizzen in three-maste ...

-rigged with three masts. The

funnel A funnel is a tube or pipe that is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, used for guiding liquid or powder into a small opening. Funnels are usually made of stainless steel, aluminium, glass, or plastic. The material used in its constructi ...

was made semi-retractable to reduce wind resistance while under sail.Parkes, p. 79 No ordnance had been ordered by the Confederates before the ships were seized in 1863, but in British service they mounted a pair of 9-inch rifled muzzle-loading guns in each turret. The guns could fire both

solid shot A round shot (also called solid shot or simply ball) is a solid spherical projectile without explosive charge, launched from a gun. Its diameter is slightly less than the caliber, bore of the gun barrel, barrel from which it is shot. A round s ...

and explosive shells. According to Parkes, going from full depression to full elevation supposedly took one hour in smooth water and with an even keel! The ''Scorpion''-class ships had a complete waterline belt of wrought iron that was thick amidships and thinned to at the bow and at the stern. It completely covered the hull from the upper deck to below the

waterline The waterline is the line where the hull of a ship meets the surface of the water. A waterline can also refer to any line on a ship's hull that is parallel to the water's surface when the ship is afloat in a level trimmed position. Hence, wate ...

. The armour protection of the turrets was quite elaborate. The inside of the turret was lined with of iron boiler plate to which T-shaped beams were bolted. The space between the beams was filled with of

teak Teak (''Tectona grandis'') is a tropical hardwood tree species in the family Lamiaceae. It is a large, deciduous tree that occurs in mixed hardwood forests. ''Tectona grandis'' has small, fragrant white flowers arranged in dense clusters (panic ...

. This was covered by an iron

lattice Lattice may refer to: Arts and design * Latticework, an ornamental criss-crossed framework, an arrangement of crossing laths or other thin strips of material * Lattice (music), an organized grid model of pitch ratios * Lattice (pastry), an or ...

thick that was covered in turn by of teak. The iron plates were bolted to the outside using bolts that ran through to the interior iron "skin". The area around the

gun ports A gun is a device that propels a projectile using pressure or explosive force. The projectiles are typically solid, but can also be pressurized liquid (e.g. in water guns or cannons), or gas (e.g. light-gas gun). Solid projectiles may be fr ...

was reinforced by 4.5-inch plates to give a total thickness of 10 inches. The turret roof consisted of T-shaped beams covered by iron plates.Putnam, p. 11

Construction and career

In early 1864, the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong * Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Tra ...

purchased both for the

and named them ''Scorpion'' and . Commissioned in July 1865, ''Scorpion'' was assigned to the Channel Fleet until 1869, with time out for a refit that reduced her sailing rig from a

bark Bark may refer to: Common meanings * Bark (botany), an outer layer of a woody plant such as a tree or stick * Bark (sound), a vocalization of some animals (which is commonly the dog) Arts and entertainment * ''Bark'' (Jefferson Airplane album), ...

to a

schooner A schooner ( ) is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel defined by its Rig (sailing), rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more Mast (sailing), masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than t ...

. In late 1869, she moved to

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

for coast and harbour defence service. ''Scorpion'' remained there for over three decades before being removed from the effective list. ''Scorpion'' was sunk as a target in 1901 but raised the next year and sold in February 1903. She was lost at sea while under tow to the U.S., where she was to be scrapped.

Notes

References

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Scorpion (1863), Hms Scorpion-class ironclads Ships built on the River Mersey 1863 ships Victorian-era battleships of the United Kingdom Ships sunk as targets Maritime incidents in 1901 Maritime incidents in 1903 Shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean