Imperieuse class cruiser

The "Imperieuse" class cruiser was a class of two armoured cruisers launched between 1883 and 1884 for the Royal Navy. In an 1886 magazine article [Sir Edward Reed, "The British Navy", "Harper's Monthly Magazine (European edition)", February 1886] , Sir Edward Reed complained that these ships did not deserve to be called "armoured", as they were not armoured at bow or stern, only along the middle 140 feet (43 m) of each side.

The layout of the main armament was unusual for the time, having one gun each forward and aft, and another gun mounted on either beam - in a lozenge arrangement similar to that employed by the French.

Ships

*"Imperieuse" - launched in 1883, converted to a depot ship in 1905 and renamed "Sapphire II", later reverted back to "Imperieuse" in 1909, and sold in 1913.
*"Warspite" - launched in 1884, scrapped 1906. One of the "Warspite's" 9.2" breech-blocks is/was held at the Royal Military College of Science (RMCS) at Shrivenham.

Building Programme

The following table gives the build details and purchase cost of the members of the "Imperieuse" class. Standard British practice at that time was for these costs to exclude armament and stores. [Note that the costs quoted in the 1895 edition and the 1903 edition are not the same. There seems to have been a revision of the costs quoted for British warships in "The Naval Annual" between the 1902 and 1903 editions, and a further revision between the 1905 and 1906 editions. (The 1906 edition costs cannot be quoted for the "Imperieuse" class because the class is not listed in the 1906 edition.)] In the table:
*"Machinery" meant "propelling machinery".
*"Hull" included "hydraulic machinery, gun mountings, etc." [ The Naval Annual 1895 , p192-200]

References

*Colledge
* Brassey, T.A. (ed) The Naval Annual 1895
* Brassey, T.A. (ed) The Naval Annual 1903
*Chesnau, Roger and Kolesnik, Eugene (Ed.) "Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1860-1905". Conway Maritime Press, 1979. ISBN 0-83170-302-4
* Parkes, Oscar "British Battleships", first published Seeley Service & Co, 1957, published United States Naval Institute Press, 1990. ISBN 1-55750-075-4
* Archibald, E.H.H.; Ray Woodward (ill.) (1971). The Metal Fighting Ship in the Royal Navy 1860-1970. New York: Arco Publishing Co.. ISBN 0-6680-2509-3.

Notes