HMS ''Immortalité'' was one of seven

armoured cruiser The armored cruiser was a type of warship of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was designed like other types of cruisers to operate as a long-range, independent warship, capable of defeating any ship apart from a battleship and fast eno ...

s built for the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

in the mid-1880s. She was sold for scrap on 11 January 1907.

Design and description

''Immortalité'' 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 ster ...

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 *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

of and a draught of . Designed to displace , all of the ''Orlando''-class ships proved to be overweight and displaced approximately . The ship was powered by a pair of three-cylinder

triple-expansion steam engine A compound steam engine unit is a type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages. A typical arrangement for a compound engine is that the steam is first expanded in a high-pressure ''(HP)'' cylinder, then having given up he ...

s, each driving one shaft, which were designed to produce a total of and a maximum speed of using steam provided by four

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, central h ...

s with

forced draught The difference between atmospheric pressure and the pressure existing in the furnace or flue gas passage of a boiler is termed as draft. Draft can also be referred to as the difference in pressure in the combustion chamber area which results in the ...

. The ship carried a maximum of of coal which was designed to give her a range of at a speed of . The ship's complement was 484 officers and ratings.Chesneau & Kolesnik, p. 65 ''Immortalité''s main armament consisted of two

breech-loading A breechloader is a firearm in which the user loads the ammunition (cartridge or shell) via the rear (breech) end of its barrel, as opposed to a muzzleloader, which loads ammunition via the front ( muzzle). Modern firearms are generally breech ...

(BL) Mk V guns, one gun fore and aft of the superstructure on pivot mounts. Her secondary armament was ten BL guns, five on each

broadside Broadside or broadsides may refer to: Naval * Broadside (naval), terminology for the side of a ship, the battery of cannon on one side of a warship, or their near simultaneous fire on naval warfare Printing and literature * Broadside (comic ...

. Protection against torpedo boats was provided by six quick-firing (QF) 6-pounder Hotchkiss guns and ten

QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss The QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss or in French use Canon Hotchkiss à tir rapide de 47 mm were a family of long-lived light naval guns introduced in 1886 to defend against new, small and fast vessels such as torpedo boats and later submarines. T ...

guns, most of which were mounted on the main deck in broadside positions. The ship was also armed with six 18-inch (457 mm)

torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...

s: four on the broadside above water and one each in the bow and stern below water. The ship was protected by a

waterline The waterline is the line where the hull of a ship meets the surface of the water. Specifically, it is also the name of a special marking, also known as an international load line, Plimsoll line and water line (positioned amidships), that indi ...

compound armour Compound armour was a type of armour used on warships in the 1880s, developed in response to the emergence of armor-piercing shells and the continual need for reliable protection with the increasing size in naval ordnance. Compound armour was a n ...

belt Belt may refer to: Apparel * Belt (clothing), a leather or fabric band worn around the waist * Championship belt, a type of trophy used primarily in combat sports * Colored belts, such as a black belt or red belt, worn by martial arts practit ...

thick. It covered the middle of the ship and was high. Because the ship was overweight, the top of the armour belt was below the waterline when she was fully loaded. The ends of the armour belt were closed off by transverse bulkheads . The lower deck was thick over the full length of the hull. The conning tower was protected by of armour.

Construction and service

''Immortalité'', named for the French frigate ''Immortalité'' captured in 1798, was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

on 18 January 1886 by

Chatham Royal Dockyard Chatham Dockyard was a Royal Navy Dockyard located on the River Medway in Kent. Established in Chatham in the mid-16th century, the dockyard subsequently expanded into neighbouring Gillingham (at its most extensive, in the early 20th century, ...

. The ship was launched on 7 June 1887, and completed in July 1889.Lyon & Winfield, p. 269 In March 1900 she had successful machinery trials in the North Sea, and was transferred to the A division of the Medway Fleet Reserve. She was commissioned at

Chatham Chatham may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Canada * Chatham Islands (British Columbia) * Chatham Sound, British Columbia * Chatham, New Brunswick, a former town, now a neighbourhood of Miramichi * Chatham (electoral district), New Brunswic ...

on 21 May 1901 by Captain

Sackville Carden Admiral Sir Sackville Hamilton Carden (3 May 1857 – 6 May 1930) was a senior Royal Navy officer of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In cooperation with the French Navy, he commanded British naval forces in the Mediterranean S ...

as seagoing tender to the Wildfire, flagship at

Sheerness Sheerness () is a town and civil parish beside the mouth of the River Medway on the north-west corner of the Isle of Sheppey in north Kent, England. With a population of 11,938, it is the second largest town on the island after the nearby town ...

. She took part in the

fleet review A fleet review or naval review is an event where a gathering of ships from a particular navy is paraded and reviewed by an incumbent head of state and/or other official civilian and military dignitaries. A number of national navies continue to ...

held at

Spithead Spithead is an area of the Solent and a roadstead off Gilkicker Point in Hampshire, England. It is protected from all winds except those from the southeast. It receives its name from the Spit, a sandbank stretching south from the Hampshire ...

on 16 August 1902 for the

coronation A coronation is the act of placement or bestowal of a coronation crown, crown upon a monarch's head. The term also generally refers not only to the physical crowning but to the whole ceremony wherein the act of crowning occurs, along with the ...

of King

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria an ...

, and two months later Captain Archibald Peile Stoddart succeeded Carden in command on 16 October 1902.

Notes

References

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External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Immortalite Orlando-class cruisers Ships built in Chatham 1887 ships