HMSAbyssinia
 Abyssiniacirca. 1895
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Bombay Marine | |
| Name | HMSAbyssinia |
| Builder | J & W Dudgeon,Cubitt Town,London |
| Cost | £116,549[1] |
| Laid down | 23 July 1868 |
| Launched | 19 February 1870 |
| Completed | October 1870 |
| Fate | Broken up, 1903 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | ModifiedCerberus-classmonitor |
| Displacement | 2,901 tons |
| Tons burthen | 1854bm[1] |
| Length | 225 ft (69 m)pp |
| Beam | 42 ft (13 m) |
| Draught | 14 ft 7 in (4.45 m) |
| Installed power | 1,200ihp(890 kW) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 9.59 knots (18 km/h) |
| Complement | 100 |
| Armament |
|
| Armour |
|
HMSAbyssiniawas abreastwork monitorordered, designed and built byJ & W Dudgeonspecifically for theBombay Marinefor the defence of the harbour atBombay.
She was designed bySir Edward Reed,and was a smaller version of, and hence a half-sister to, theCerberus-classmonitorsCerberusandMagdala.It was intended thatAbyssiniaandMagdalawould serve in mutual support on the same station. Given that the stipulated naval requirement was for two ships for the coastal defence of the Bombay area, the India Office were pressed by theBoard of Admiraltyand theChief Constructorto order two ships of theCerberusclass. After the placing of the order forMagdala,budgetary limitations meant that a smaller, cheaper vessel had to be acquired.
Abyssinia,while being similar in layout toMagdala,was smaller and cost £20,000 less. She had slightly less freeboard, a shorter breastwork, could carry less coal and had about one knot less speed.
The ferry trip out to her base in Bombay was made under her own power, without the use of any sail whatsoever. Unlike her half-sisters, the hull was not built up for the trip, which she made in a faster time than they did.
Service history[edit]
Abyssiniaremained at anchor in Bombay harbour, other than for occasional brief trips for firing practice, for the whole of her service career. When the Indian Harbour Defence Service was discontinued in 1903, she was sold locally and broken up.
Citations[edit]
- ^abWinfield & Lyon 2004,p. 263
References[edit]
- Winfield, R.; Lyon, D. (2004).The Sail and Steam Navy List: All the Ships of the Royal Navy 1815–1889.London: Chatham Publishing.ISBN978-1-86176-032-6.OCLC52620555.
Further reading[edit]
- Oscar Parkes,British BattleshipsISBN0-85052-604-3
- Chesneau, Roger & Kolesnik, Eugene M., eds. (1979).Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905.Greenwich: Conway Maritime Press.ISBN0-8317-0302-4.
- Magdala&Abyssiniaslideshow
External links[edit]
