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HMS INFLEXIBLE was one of those ships that blended between the sailing
era and the steel navy era. She was an Alexandra class battleship of the
Royal Navy and, at the time of her launch, the most powerful warship
afloat.
She was built at Portsmouth and launched on 27 April, 1876. She was a
brig rigged turret ship with the following dimensions: Length, 320 feet;
breadth, 75 feet; depth, 26.5 feet. Her tonnage was 11,880 with a steel
hull and a complement of 485. She was armed with 4 – 16 inch guns in
twin revolving turrets, 8 – 4.7 inch guns, 4 – 6 pounder guns, and 2 – 3
pounder quick fire guns. HMS INFLEXIBLE had 8400 horse-power using her
twin screws and was capable of 14.75 knots. Her designer was Sir
Nathaniel Barnaby. She was the first battleship to have submerged
torpedo tubes and compound armor. Her armor was the heaviest of any
battleship ever built, being 16 to 24 inches in thickness.
The most progressive British battleship to follow HMS WARRIOR, HMS
INFLEXIBLE incorporated a number of innovative design elements, many of
which became standard features of later warships. She was the first to
have an underwater armor deck in place of vertical armor along the
waterline. The 16-inch guns were the largest fitted on a warship up to
that time. These muzzle loaded rifles could only be loaded from outside
the turrets, a relatively awkward maneuver achieved by depressing the
muzzles into a built-up portion of the armored deck directly above the
magazines. She was also the first ship fitted with electric lights. To
augment the period, the ship was not rated “the best ship in the Fleet”
until her crew perfected its sail handling capability with the brig rig!
She was commissioned and joined the Mediterranean Fleet in 1881. In 1882
the INFLEXIBLE, commanded by Captain John Fisher, took part in the
Egyptian War as part of the uprising by Egyptian General Ahmed Arabi (Arabi
Pasha). In July of 1882 she lay off Alexandria in a fleet of 14 ships,
commanded by Admiral Beauchamp Seymour with his flag in HMS ALEXANDRA.
When the Egyptians failed to surrender their forts, the
commander-in-chief transferred his flag to the lighter draught
battleship HMS INVICIBLE, and on July 11th at 7 am the HMS ALEXANDRA
fired the first shot in the bombardment of Alexandria. The HMS
INFLEXIBLE was stationed in the Corvette Pass, 3750 yards from the
Egyptian fort Mex, and the concussion of her guns smashed her boats and
damaged her superstructure during the ensuing fight. The ships were all
cleared for action with topgallant masts struck and bowsprits rigged in.
By 10 minutes after 7 all ships were engaged and all the Egyptian forts
that could bring their guns to bear replied with vigor. At about 12:30,
when the Mex fort had received sufficient punishment, the HMS INFLEXIBLE
moved eastward and engaged Forts Pharos and Ada. During the fireing, one
of the turret-guns stopped firing, and the gunnery lieutenant, Frank C.
Younghusband, had himself rammed into the gun where he cleared the vent,
and then, after being nearly suffocated by the powder gases, was hauled
out by a rope tied to his feet. By 5 pm all the Egyptian guns were
silent, and the fleet ceased bombarding at 5:30 pm. The HMS INFLEXIBLE
was the ship most injured in the bombardment, being mauled aloft, having
her unarmored parts penetrated in various places and being struck
outside the citadel of armor below the waterline by a 10” Palliser shot.
This shot glanced upwards, passed through the deck, killed Carpenter
Shannon, and mortally wounded Lieutenant Jackson on the superstructure.
It also succeeded in wrecking the captain’s cabin. The Egyptians claimed
they had sunk the HMS INFLEXIBLE at 10 am in the morning! Some weeks
after the bombardment the HMS INFLEXIBLE did go into dry dock for
repairs, but she surely did not sink.
HMS INFLEXIBLE next contributed to a Naval Brigade which occupied and
policed the town of Alexandria with its turbulent population. Her
commander, Captain John Fisher along with Lieutenant Richard Poore,
devised and improvised an armored train with was used with great success
in the ensuing battles on land.
In August 1882 the HMS INFLEXIBLE’S men assisted in the seizure and
occupation of the Suez Canal. The fighting continued through 1885, when
the HMS INFLEXIBLE was involved in contributions to a Naval Brigade
which operated on the Nile under Captain Lord Charles Beresford. They
took part in the battles of Abu Klea, Metemmeh and Wad-Habeshi, and in
the relief of Sir Charles Wilson.
Following these services, HMS INFLEXIBLE had a refit and was then placed
in reserve. She was again commissioned in the Mediterranean from 1890 to
1893. She afterwards served as a guard ship at Portsmouth. She was
subsequently sold out of service and broken up in 1903.
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