- Author
- Bastock, John
- Subjects
- None noted
- Tags
- None noted.
- RAN Ships
- None noted.
- Publication
- December 1971 edition of the Naval Historical Review (all rights reserved)
INFLEXIBLE
Launched: 1876
Displacement: 11,880 tons
Length: 344 feet
Beam: 75 feet
Armament: Four 16-in. 80-ton rifled muzzle- loaders (firing a 1,684lb. projectile). Six 20- pounders. Two submerged torpedo-tubes.
Protection: (Iron with steel skin). Sides up to 24in. thick, backed by 25in. of teak. Turrets up to 17in.
Machinery: IHP 8,407. Twin screws. Speed under steam, 14 knots.
After the advent of the Warrior, the Royal Navy passed through a highly experimental period, and the battle-fleet consisted of a most varied assortment of types, shapes and sizes. By the 1870s, the principle of mounting the heavy guns in revolving barbettes or turrets had become firmly established.
Inflexible, proclaimed as the fighting machine par excellence, incorporated the thickest armour and the heaviest muzzle- loaders ever carried afloat. The turrets were mounted en echelon, allowing a nominal all- round fire of at least two guns, with all four becoming effective on the midships bearings.
Rigged as a brig, her sails were practically useless for propulsion, having been installed mainly to enable her company to join in evolutions aloft with other vessels of the fleet. The sailing rig was replaced by pole masts and fighting-tops in 1885.