HMS Vixen (1865)
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Vixen (left) and the barque Nightwatch (right) at Bermuda Dockyard between 1867 and 1873
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| History | |
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 United Kingdom
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| Name: | HMS Vixen |
| Ordered: | 22 March 1864 |
| Builder: | Charles Lungley, Deptford |
| Cost: | £54,193 |
| Laid down: | 1864 |
| Launched: | 18 November 1865 |
| Commissioned: | 1866 |
| Fate: |
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| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 1,228 tonnes |
| Tons burthen: | 754 bm |
| Length: | 160 ft (49 m) pp |
| Beam: | 32 ft (9.8 m) |
| Draught: | 11 ft (3.4 m) maximum |
| Installed power: | 740 ihp (550 kW) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Sail plan: | Barquentine rig (removed 1873) |
| Speed: | 8.9 kn (16.5 km/h) |
| Range: | 1,080 nmi (2,000 km) at maximum speed |
| Complement: | 80 |
| Armament: | |
| Armour: | 4.5 in (11 cm) iron belt and bulkheads on 10 in (25 cm) of teak |
HMS Vixen was an armoured composite gunboat, the only ship of her class, and the third ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name. She was the first Royal Navy vessel to have twin propellers.
Designed by the Admiralty, Vixen was a half-sister to Viper and Waterwitch, and all three were built mostly as experimental vessels. While Viper and Vixen were twin screw vessels, Waterwitch had a water-pump propulsion system. Viper differed from Vixen mainly in her iron construction.
Vixen was an armoured gunboat of the breastwork type. Her hull was of composite construction, with iron frames and iron bulwarks, but with an outer cladding of 140 mm (5.5 in) teak over the entire hull. An armoured citadel protected her machinery and the ram bow was reinforced by massive ironwork structures. Underwater, her hull was sheathed in copper to prevent marine growth. Vertical trunks were provided at the stern to lift the screws clear of the hull, thereby allowing a better hull-form for purely wind-driven sailing.
She was equipped with two sets of 4-cylinder horizontal single-expansion steam engines, each set powering one of her two-bladed, 9 ft diameter Maudslay & Griffiths screws. In total she developed an indicated 740 horsepower, sufficient for a top speed of 8.9 knots (16.5 km/h). Steam was provided by two Maudslay iron fire-tube boilers with six furnaces.
She was equipped with a barquentine rig, but in 1873 all masts, rigging and upper deck obstructions were removed after the decision for Vixen and Viper to remain permanently in Bermuda.
Vixen was armed with two 7-inch (6½-ton) muzzle-loading rifled guns and two 20-pounder breech-loading rifled guns. One of Vixen or Viper's 7-inch guns was displayed on the waterfront at St George's as recently as 1991.
Vixen was ordered from Charles Lungley of Deptford on 22 March 1864 and laid down the same year. She was launched on 18 November 1865 and commissioned in 1866 under Commander Spencer Phipps Brett for comparative trials. Her total cost was £54,193.
Vixen, Viper and Waterwitch conducted comparative trials at Stokes Bay during the late 1860s. Although turning ability was impressive, none of the ships attained more than 9 1⁄2 knots (17.6 km/h) in an era when Warrior could achieve 14 1⁄2 knots (26.9 km/h). Furthermore, Vixen was nearly lost in the Irish Channel during a winter gale in 1876, making her unsuitable for the open sea under steam or sail. Vixen and Viper were towed to Bermuda in 1868 where they operated within the reefline as floating defensive batteries, extending the defences of the Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda.
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Wikipedia