Vessel HMS Polyphemus (1881 - 1903)

From
1881
Chatham, United Kingdom
To
1903
Functions
Torpedo ram

Summary

HMS Polyphemus was the first torpedo ram to be commissioned by the Royal Navy. It was designed by Nathaniel Barnaby and laid down at Chatham Naval Dockyard. She was both novel and peculiar in form, structure, fittings and armour, and as a fighting ship she was to be used as a combined ram and armoured torpedo boat, entering enemy harbours with stealth and speed to sink anchored ships.

The armour-plated Polyphemus (length 240 feet, beam 40 feet, draught 19 feet 9 inches; displacement 2610 tons; estimated speed 17 knots) was fitted with two 38-inch by 64-inch by 39-inch stroke 5,5000 indicated horsepower horizontal compound marine engines operating on steam supplied at 120 pounds per square inch by ten locomotive boilers, driving two propellers. It was armed with one bow and four broadside 14 inch submerged torpedo tubes.

In 1883 the Polyphemus' locomotive boilers were replaced with cylindrical multitubular boilers to improve the vessel's average speed.

She was in service from 1881 to 1903.

Skip to

Related entries

Related Glossary Terms

Related People

Published resources

Journal Articles

  • 'The Polyphemus', Engineering, vol. 28, 1 August 1879, p. 87. Details
  • 'Society of Engineers visit to Chatham', The Engineer, vol. 50, 21 September 1880, pp. 225-227. Details
  • 'The Polyphemus', Engineering, vol. 32, 8 July 1881, pp. 38-40. Details
  • 'The Polyphemus', Engineering, vol. 31, 17 June 1881, p. 622. Details
  • 'The Polyphemus', Engineering, vol. 31, 24 June 1881, p. 646. Details
  • 'The Polyphemus', The Engineer, vol. 53, 10 March 1882, p. 174. Details
  • 'The Polyphemus', The Engineer, vol. 54, 22 September 1882, p. 215. Details
  • 'The Polyphemus', Engineering, vol. 34, 15 September 1882, p. 261. Details
  • 'The Polyphemus', The Engineer, vol. 55, 9 February 1883, p. 107. Details
  • 'The Polyphemus', The Engineer, Letter to the Editor by J. C. D. of Worcester, vol. 55, 30 March 1883, p. 247. Details
  • 'The Boilers of the Polyphemus', The Engineer, Letter to the Editor, vol. 55, 16 February 1883, p. 131. Details
  • 'The Evolutionary Squadron', Engineering, vol. 40, 3 July 1885, p. 18. Details
  • 'A strayed torpedo found', The Engineer, vol. 66, 24 August 1888, p. 159. Details
  • Gallwey, E. P., 'The use of torpedoes in war', Scientific American, 1886. Details
  • Longridge, J. A., 'Letter to the Editor: The Polyphemus', Engineering, vol. 32, 5 August 1881, p. 139. Details

Online Resources

Sources used to compile this entry: 'HMS Polyphemus (1881)', in Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Polyphemus_%281881%29.

Prepared by: Rebecca Rigby