The Bulwark class were the final class of wooden line-of-battle ships laid down for the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

. They were laid down after . In March 1861 their construction was suspended, and seven were later converted to iron-clads. and were kept on the stocks almost complete, in case of need, until they were scrapped in 1873 and 1872.

Origins

The consensus of British naval opinion after the Crimean War

Crimean War

The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...

 favoured the large steam-powered two-decker line-of-battle ship with 101 or 91 guns. The designs for two-decker evolved. "The 101-gun type were redesigned with an extra 400 tons and engines of 800 nhp [to produce the Duncan class]. The 91s were given similar engines, while their smaller increase in size was largely taken up with an additional 15 feet (4.6 m) overall for a finer length-to-beam ratio and improved lines, . In the 1859 programme the two types were merged to produce a 91-gun ship with the dimensions of the 101-gun type. Two ships built on this plan - the Bulwark and Robust, the latter having been commenced as a 101-gun ship - were preserved on the stocks until 1872, the remaining seven being converted into... ironclads. These last two-deckers were 252 feet (76.8 m) overall... That they all displayed all the classic symptoms of weak construction, such as leaky seams, demonstrated that wood was no longer suitable for the construction of the largest classes of warships."

Britain's first sea-going iron-clad, the was laid down in May 1859, and a further three had been laid down by the end of 1859. Nevertheless, the Royal Navy continued to convert old sailing line-of-battle ships to steam, and to order and lay down new Bulwark-class two-deckers. The objective was to achieve parity with the combined navies of France and Russia. Initially there was great uncertainty about the value of iron-clads. So it was prudent to continue building unarmoured steam line-of-battle ships, which would in any case be "the common currency of sea-power for some years to come."

In March 1861, work on the Bulwark class was suspended. They were retained on the stocks while the smaller was launched on 27 March 1861. The larger ships were better suited for conversion into iron-clads and were held in reserve for that purpose. Similarly, the sailing line-of-battle ships and completed their conversion to steam line-of-battle ships on 21 May and 25 June 1861 respectively.

Design

The Bulwark class ships were a modification of the 101-gun Duncan-class design. They had the same dimensions, but had a new timbering plan dated 29 July 1858, which suited the smaller armament. The reduction in armament was intended to improve the efficiency of the guns.

Key Dates

The following table shows key dates for the Bulwark class.

Ship	Builder	Laid Down	Suspended	Converted to Ironclad	Launched	Completed	Broken Up
	Chatham Chatham Dockyard Chatham Dockyard, located on the River Medway and of which two-thirds is in Gillingham and one third in Chatham, Kent, England, came into existence at the time when, following the Reformation, relations with the Catholic countries of Europe had worsened, leading to a requirement for additional...	8 Mar 1859	7 Mar 1861				Mar 1873
	Devonport HMNB Devonport Her Majesty's Naval Base Devonport , is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy . HMNB Devonport is located in Devonport, in the west of the city of Plymouth in Devon, England...	31 Oct 1859	22 Mar 1861				Aug 1872
	Woolwich Woolwich Dockyard Woolwich Dockyard was an English naval dockyard founded by King Henry VIII in 1512 to build his flagship Henri Grâce à Dieu , the largest ship of its day....	19 Apr 1859		1866	25 Apr 1868	31 Jan 1870	1889
	Pembroke Pembroke Dock Pembroke Dock is a town in Pembrokeshire, south-west Wales, lying north of Pembroke on the River Cleddau. Originally a small fishing village known as Paterchurch, the town was greatly expanded from 1814 onwards following the construction of a Royal Naval Dockyard...	21 Oct 1859		1864	7 Mar 1864	4 Oct 1866	1886
	Portsmouth HMNB Portsmouth Her Majesty's Naval Base Portsmouth is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the British Royal Navy...	1 Dec 1859		22 Jun 1861	15 Oct 1864	23 Mar 1867	1885
	Chatham Chatham Dockyard Chatham Dockyard, located on the River Medway and of which two-thirds is in Gillingham and one third in Chatham, Kent, England, came into existence at the time when, following the Reformation, relations with the Catholic countries of Europe had worsened, leading to a requirement for additional...	1 May 1860		3 Jun 1861	10 Sep 1862	Apr 1863	1885
Triumph HMS Prince Consort (1862) HMS Prince Consort was laid down at Pembroke as the 91-gun second rate battleship HMS Triumph, but her name was changed in February 1862 in memory of the recently deceased Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.... completed as Prince Consort	Pembroke Pembroke Dock Pembroke Dock is a town in Pembrokeshire, south-west Wales, lying north of Pembroke on the River Cleddau. Originally a small fishing village known as Paterchurch, the town was greatly expanded from 1814 onwards following the construction of a Royal Naval Dockyard...	13 Aug 1860		6 Jun 1861	26 Jun 1862	Apr 1864	1882
	Devonport HMNB Devonport Her Majesty's Naval Base Devonport , is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy . HMNB Devonport is located in Devonport, in the west of the city of Plymouth in Devon, England...	23 Aug 1860		3 Jun 1861	19 Mar 1862	Jul 1866	1886
	Woolwich Woolwich Dockyard Woolwich Dockyard was an English naval dockyard founded by King Henry VIII in 1512 to build his flagship Henri Grâce à Dieu , the largest ship of its day....	10 Oct 1860		6 Jun 1861	24 Oct 1862	Apr 1865	1886
Blake	Ordered but never laid down. Cancelled 1863.
Kent	Ordered but never laid down. Cancelled 1863.
Pitt	Ordered but never laid down. Cancelled 1863.

Conversion to iron-clads

Bulwark and Robust were suspended on the stocks in March 1861 in an advanced state of construction. The Controller "had plans prepared for the Bulwark to be converted into a twin turret breastwork monitor but they were never used. As Edward Reed

Edward James Reed

Sir Edward James Reed , KCB, FRS, was a British naval architect, author, politician, and railroad magnate. He was the Chief Constructor of the Royal Navy from 1863 until 1870...

 pointed out this was a wise policy as they would have been inferior to, and yet more costly than, iron-hulled ships built from scratch. "In war time the rapidity with which these ships might be converted into iron-clads would probably outweigh these considerations". Bulwark and Robust were eventually broken up in March 1873 and August 1872 respectively.

The remaining seven ships of the Bulwark class were in a less complete state and were converted into 'ironclad frigates'.

Of these HMS Triumph (later renamed ), , and were converted to 'broadside ironclads' with 1000 nhp engines. had a similar conversion but with the original 800 nhp engine. The development of these four ships is discussed in the article on the Prince Consort class

Prince Consort class battleship

The Prince Consort class of battleship were four Royal Navy wooden-hulled broadside ironclads: HMS Royal Oak, HMS Prince Consort, HMS Ocean, and HMS Caledonia. They were originally laid down as Bulwark-class battleships, but were converted to ironclads...

.

, and were later converted into 'central battery ships'.

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