HMS Warrior

Sometimes, you miss incredible sights just because you're used to them.

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The other day, I was at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard and realised I had my camera with me, so I snapped two pictures of the steam-powered HMS Warrior 1860.

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They're lovely, aren't they?

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It wasn't until I decided to post them on my blog that I looked into the history of this ship. And it's a pretty amazing journey she's gone on.

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She's not just a pretty ship. HMS Warrior is the world's first iron-hulled, ocean going battleship - stunning technology from a time when Britain truly ruled the seas.

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Her hull is flanked by 4.5 inch thick iron plates, making her absolutely impervious to all cannon fire of that period. She was invulnerable and the most powerful warship on the planet in no uncertain terms.

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Classified as a frigate, despite her awesome firepower, the Warrior was powered by both sails and a coal-burning steam engine. This gave her an enormous speed advantage over other ships still reliant on the speed and direction of the wind.

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When she was constructed, HMS Warrior cost a (then) staggering £350,000. Compare that to the cost of a modern day Nimitz class aircraft carrier - an estimated $4.5 billion.

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While the Warrior was incredibly advanced for her day, the march of technology was never more rapid than during the Victorian era. With advances in steam technology, shipbuilding and weaponry, the HMS Warrior quickly became obsolete and was withdrawn from active service in 1883, barely twenty years later. Compare that to the HMS Victory, who's naval career (thanks to the intervention of First Sea Lord Hardy's wife) continued from launch in 1781 to a career as a Naval Telegraph School that continued until 1904.

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The HMS Warrior became a storage hulk, sold by the navy in 1924 and finally finishing up in Pembroke Dock, renamed "Oil Storage Hulk C77." Hardly a fitting fate for a ship that once represented everything tangible about the Pax Britannia - even if she never saw battle.

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It was the Maritime Trust, led by the Duke of Edinburgh, who recognized the important contribution HMS Warrior made to British naval history. The trust was set up in 1970 specifically to save this important ship.

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In 1979, Warrior hit the seas once again to arrive at her new home, Hartlepool, where she underwent an £8 million restoration to return this hulk to her former glory.

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It's ironic that the restoration cost almost 23 times more than the original construction of the ship!

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In 1987, the glorious HMS Warrior finally found her new home, at Portsmouth Historic Dockyards. When I took this photo during an idle moment, I had no idea just what this amazing ship had gone through in it's journey to Portsmouth.

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If you're in Portsmouth, you can visit HMS Warrior and HMS Victory at the Historic Dockyard.