Title

The Hecla; Torpedo Depot Ship

In

Engineering

Imprint

vol. 26, 6 September 1878, p. 207

Description

Accession No.2253

Abstract

"The Hecla, screw torpedo depot ship, which arrived at Portsmouth last week from Belfast, and which is expected to be commissioned to-day by Captain Morgan Singer, lately in command of the Vesuvius and the Glatton, is altogether a novelty, no other ship of the kind being in existence, and is another concession to the necessities of the new mode of conducting actions at sea. She is to be fitted to carry fast torpedo launches and to follow in the wake of a fleet as a depot, ready to dispatch her flotilla of small craft for their protection when necessary. She is constructed of iron, and measures 390 ft. in length, and is fitted to carry six 64-pounder muzzle-loading rifled guns, four on the broadside and the rest forward and aft. She is also intended to be armed with torpedoes of the Whitehead kind, and is pierced with a broadside port on each side for ejecting them. The after part below is furnished with lathes and drilling and shaping machines, and will be converted into a floating torpedo workshop…'

Related entries

People

• Singer, Morgan