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 ...
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 Fr ...
in the 1840s. She was fitted with steam propulsion in 1858–1859. In 1871 ''Lion'' was converted into a
training ship
A training ship is a ship used to train students as sailors. The term is mostly used to describe ships employed by navies to train future officers. Essentially there are two types: those used for training at sea and old hulks used to house class ...
Sir William Symonds
Sir William Symonds CB FRS (24 September 1782 – 30 March 1856, aboard the French steamship ''Nil'', Strait of Bonifacio, Sardinia)Surveyor of the Navy, with each ship built with a slightly different hull shape to evaluate their speed and handling characteristics. ''Lion'' had a length at the
gundeck
The term gun deck used to refer to a deck aboard a ship that was primarily used for the mounting of cannon to be fired in broadsides. The term is generally applied to decks enclosed under a roof; smaller and unrated vessels carried their guns on ...
of and at the
keel
The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...
hold
Hold may refer to:
Physical spaces
* Hold (ship), interior cargo space
* Baggage hold, cargo space on an airplane
* Stronghold, a castle or other fortified place
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Hold (musical term), a pause, also called a Ferma ...
burthen
Burden or burthen may refer to:
People
* Burden (surname), people with the surname Burden
Places
* Burden, Kansas, United States
* Burden, Luxembourg
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Burden'' (2018 film), an American drama film
* '' ...
.Winfield, p. 174 The ''Vanguard''s had a wartime crew of 720 officers and ratings.Lyon & Winfield, p. 97
The ''Vanguard'' class ships of the line were armed with twenty 32-pounder (56 cwt)"Cwt" is the abbreviation for
hundredweight
The hundredweight (abbreviation: cwt), formerly also known as the centum weight or quintal, is a British imperial and US customary unit of weight or mass. Its value differs between the US and British imperial systems. The two values are disti ...
, 56 cwt referring to the weight of the gun. cannon and two 68-pounder
carronade
A carronade is a short, smoothbore, cast-iron cannon which was used by the Royal Navy. It was first produced by the Carron Company, an ironworks in Falkirk, Scotland, and was used from the mid-18th century to the mid-19th century. Its main funct ...
s on her lower
gundeck
The term gun deck used to refer to a deck aboard a ship that was primarily used for the mounting of cannon to be fired in broadsides. The term is generally applied to decks enclosed under a roof; smaller and unrated vessels carried their guns on ...
, twenty-eight 32-pounder (50 cwt) cannon and another pair of 68-pounder carronades on the upper gundeck. On her quarterdeck were fourteen 32-pounder (42 cwt) cannon and on the
forecastle
The forecastle ( ; contracted as fo'c'sle or fo'c's'le) is the upper deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or, historically, the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters. Related to the latter meaning is the phrase " ...
deck were eight more 32-pounder (42 cwt) cannon.
Modifications
When ''Lion'' was ordered to be modified for steam propulsion in 1856, she was fitted with a two-cylinder horizontal trunk steam engine of 400
nominal horsepower
Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are the ...
that drove a single propeller shaft. On trials the engine produced which gave the ship a speed of .Lyon & Winfield, p. 213
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 ...
the following July. She was launched on 29 July 1847 and completed on 26 September. The ship was not fitted out and ''Lion'' was placed in ordinary. Her construction cost £59,113. Between February 1858 and May 1859, she was fitted with steam propulsion.
''Lion'' was sold for scrap on 11 July 1905.