HMS Warrior - A museum ship I was unaware of.

From:
http://www.strategypage.com/cic/docs/cic438b.asp

 

Its a brilliant museum, and part of the Portsmouth Dockyard with HMS Victory and .The Mary Rose.

 

Thank you, LWD, for bringing this to our attention. Hopefully one day I'll get to visit her.

 

With Victory and Mary Rose there as well it's certainly on my "to do" list next time I make it over the pond.

 

Funny history behind the 'Warrior'.

She is an example of how weapons construction can sometimes actually bring potential conflict to a standstill.

She was constructed as an answer to a French design called "La Glorie", a combination teak and iron hull. 'Glorie' was a wakeup call for the Admiralty, and the construction of 'Warrior' came about, using some of the best materials of her day, and with dimensions designed to tangle with two or more of her adversaries. It was a great success, but did not fire a shot in anger.

'La Glorie' on the other hand, was constructed by a nation that simply did not have the facilities, or the money, to keep turning vessels of this nature out, nor did the French have the nautical expertise to improve on the designs to any great degree. It was rather like a French Admiral Fisher ordering design and construction of the first dreadnaught, and then realizing France could only build one or two more once the genie was out of the bottle. It was "a terrible error."

It convinced the French governments of the day that a naval arms race with England was a losing poposition from the get go. So, they just didn't bother.

Pity Kaiser Bill and Tirpitz could not come to the same conclusion much sooner in their construction program. They reached the same point as the French soon after involving themselves in a general European war!

Of course, having convinced themselves that they needed a navy at all, the Germans naturally tried to evolve a strategy to put it to use. Very arse about way to conduct any type of armaments construction. Even 'The Bomb' had a purpose to begin with, rather than being put together 'just because we could'.

 

One of the finest Heritage-y things we've got is Warrior.
I grew up in Pompey, and got lucky shortly after it was all done as when we first visited she was deserted, and the volunteers there were happy to let us open any hatch, run out any cannon, and generally poke about to our hearts content. One of the Best days out I've ever had.
What we'd really like to see, is her propellers being extended, which if I recall correctly took nearly the entire crew. Never will, but it'd be damned fine.
(she can convert from sail to steam power - intermediate technology, my favourite kind of technology)

She also looks great at Christmas, when they rig up fairy lights in the shape of a Christmas tree on her masts...

Some dodgy pics:







'Victorian' writ large - incredible function for laying the gun, combined with marvellous form






Even her smallarm racks have a certain style.