HMS PENELOPE 1889.
Armoured corvette of 4,470 tons, with 8-8" and 3-40 pdr guns. Built by Pembroke
Dock 18.6.1867, became a coastguard ship 1869, then in 1891 guardship at the Cape, finally a prison hulk in 1897 at the Cape.
Was sold there 12.7.1912 and broken up in Genoa in 1914.
Log Book November 1986
Ascension SG422, 538
Penelope HMS (armoured corvette)
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john sefton
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Penelope HMS (armoured corvette)
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aukepalmhof
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Re: Penelope HMS (armoured corvette)
04 Sept. 1865 laid down as a ironclad on the yard of Pembroke Dockyard for the Royal Navy, she was the first iron vessel to be laid down there.
18 June 1867 launched under the name HMS PENELOPE.
Displacement 4.470 tons, dim. 79.3 x 15.2 x 5.4m. (draught).
Two Maudslay 3 cyl. steam engines, 4.763 ihp., 4 boilers, twin-hoisting screws, speed 12.8 knots. Two rudders. Bunker capacity 500 tons coal.
Ship rigged, sail area 18.250 square feet. Her best-recorded speed under sail was 8.5 knots. Due to her shallow draught, she tended to drift to leeward under sail.
Armament 8 – 8 inch M.L. in her main battery, 2 – 5 inch Breech Loading guns. 2 - 20 pdrs. BLR guns.
Got a ram bow.
Crew 350.
27 June 1868 completed.
She was the last small ironclad to be built for the Royal Navy, classified as a central battery armored corvette. At that time she was the only warship in the Royal Navy whose boats could carry her whole crew as once.
First she joined the Channel Squadron, but in 1869 moved to the First reserve squadron for the Harwich district as guardship the next 18 years. Only in 1882 she made a quick voyage to Egypt, she was with the reserve squadron on its summer cruise at Gibraltar and as no armored ship in the Mediterranean squadron had a shallow enough draught for use in the Suez Canal, HMS PENELOPE was sent to Alexandria, Egypt, arriving three days before the bombardment.
11 July 1882 during the bombardment of Alexandria, HMS PENELOPE began shelling the Mex Forts outside the breakwater from a distance of 1.200 yards, but then raised her anchor and drifted in to the 700 yards before steaming out and drifting back again. She then sailed into the inner harbour.
In all HMS PENELOPE fired 231 rounds during the action.
Of her crew eight were wounded by enemy fire. The ship was hit eight times, holing her hull. One shot had entered the battery and struck the engine room hatch. It then fell into the engine room and landed on the hatch grating without exploding.
One of her portside guns had its muzzle chipped but could still be used.
Some crewmembers of the HMS PENELOPE landed on the 13th July to restore order in Alexandria.
Sailed on 14 July from Alexandria with on board Rear Admiral Hoskins to Port Said, in the operations there she acted as flagship.
During the following Te-el-Kebir campaign, some of the crew of the HMS PENELOPE fought in the Battle of Kassassin on 09 September 1882. They manned a 40 pounder Armstrong gun and shelled the Egyptian attackers. Lieutenant Charles Purvis, who commanded the gun team, was wounded and lost a leg.
Then the HMS PENELOPE returned to her guardship duties and was paid off.
1887 Re-fitted.
1888 Sent to the Cape of Good Hope to act as the receiving ship for the Simons Bay headquarters.
1897 Used as a prison hulk in Capetown till 1905.
12 July 1912 sold at Capetown.
1914 Scrapped at Genoa, Italy.
Source: mostly copied from http://members.lycos.co.uk/bluejackets/penelope.htm
18 June 1867 launched under the name HMS PENELOPE.
Displacement 4.470 tons, dim. 79.3 x 15.2 x 5.4m. (draught).
Two Maudslay 3 cyl. steam engines, 4.763 ihp., 4 boilers, twin-hoisting screws, speed 12.8 knots. Two rudders. Bunker capacity 500 tons coal.
Ship rigged, sail area 18.250 square feet. Her best-recorded speed under sail was 8.5 knots. Due to her shallow draught, she tended to drift to leeward under sail.
Armament 8 – 8 inch M.L. in her main battery, 2 – 5 inch Breech Loading guns. 2 - 20 pdrs. BLR guns.
Got a ram bow.
Crew 350.
27 June 1868 completed.
She was the last small ironclad to be built for the Royal Navy, classified as a central battery armored corvette. At that time she was the only warship in the Royal Navy whose boats could carry her whole crew as once.
First she joined the Channel Squadron, but in 1869 moved to the First reserve squadron for the Harwich district as guardship the next 18 years. Only in 1882 she made a quick voyage to Egypt, she was with the reserve squadron on its summer cruise at Gibraltar and as no armored ship in the Mediterranean squadron had a shallow enough draught for use in the Suez Canal, HMS PENELOPE was sent to Alexandria, Egypt, arriving three days before the bombardment.
11 July 1882 during the bombardment of Alexandria, HMS PENELOPE began shelling the Mex Forts outside the breakwater from a distance of 1.200 yards, but then raised her anchor and drifted in to the 700 yards before steaming out and drifting back again. She then sailed into the inner harbour.
In all HMS PENELOPE fired 231 rounds during the action.
Of her crew eight were wounded by enemy fire. The ship was hit eight times, holing her hull. One shot had entered the battery and struck the engine room hatch. It then fell into the engine room and landed on the hatch grating without exploding.
One of her portside guns had its muzzle chipped but could still be used.
Some crewmembers of the HMS PENELOPE landed on the 13th July to restore order in Alexandria.
Sailed on 14 July from Alexandria with on board Rear Admiral Hoskins to Port Said, in the operations there she acted as flagship.
During the following Te-el-Kebir campaign, some of the crew of the HMS PENELOPE fought in the Battle of Kassassin on 09 September 1882. They manned a 40 pounder Armstrong gun and shelled the Egyptian attackers. Lieutenant Charles Purvis, who commanded the gun team, was wounded and lost a leg.
Then the HMS PENELOPE returned to her guardship duties and was paid off.
1887 Re-fitted.
1888 Sent to the Cape of Good Hope to act as the receiving ship for the Simons Bay headquarters.
1897 Used as a prison hulk in Capetown till 1905.
12 July 1912 sold at Capetown.
1914 Scrapped at Genoa, Italy.
Source: mostly copied from http://members.lycos.co.uk/bluejackets/penelope.htm