HMS Enterprise (1864)

The seventh HMS Enterprise of the Royal Navy was a sloop of war launched in 1864 at Deptford Dockyard. Originally laid down as a wooden screw sloop, she was redesigned and completed as an ironclad, making her one of the first vessels of composite construction. She was designed by Edward Reed. Her keel was laid down May 5, 1862, at the Royal Dockyards, Deptford, England. She was launched on February 9, 1864, and completed on June 3, 1864. She served with the Mediterranean Fleet until 1871 when she was placed in reserve; she was assigned to harbor service at Chatham in 1875. On February 23, 1884, she was sold, and in November 1886 was broken up.

General Characteristics

• Displacement: 1350 tons full
• Length: 180 feet
• Beam: 36 feet
• Draught: 12.4 feet to 15.1 feet
• Propulsion:
  • Barque-rigged, 18,250 square feet of sail
  • Ravenhill horizontal steam piston engine, two 45-inch cylinders with an 18-inch stroke producing 160 horsepower at 90 rpm on one shaft
• Speed: 9.9 knots
• Fuel: 95 tons coal
• Complement: 130
• Armament: two 100-pounder "Somersets," two 110-pounder breachloaders, replaced in 1868 by four seven-inch muzzle-loading rifled guns
• Armor belt: iron plate, 4.5 inches thick, from below the load line to the upper decks
• Cost: £62,464

See HMS Enterprise for other Navy ships of this name.