"HMS Warrior: Britain’s first ironclad, today restored" Topic

"The effort involved in restoring a 9100-ton, 420-foot long ship was immense. Planning of the project was meticulous, based as it was on original drawings, official records and personal papers of men who had served on board her. Not only had the hull and internal fittings to be restored, but new funnels, masts, rigging and deck fittings had to be fabricated. A figurehead was also needed since the original had been scrapped and the replica now in position is a work of art in its own right.

All this work still left an empty shell, devoid of engines, boilers, weapons, furnishings, workshops and necessities for daily life of Warrior's crew of over 700. Her armament had consisted of some twenty-six 68-pounder muzzle loaders, larger versions of those employed in Nelson's day, as well as some fourteen breech-loaders, then major technical innovations. The majority of the guns were mounted on a single continuous gun-deck, an arrangement that was standard for warships during the previous three centuries. In this, the Warrior looks somewhat like an overgrown single gundeck frigate of the Napoleonic era. Replica guns were fabricated from fibreglass, so realistically that it's hard not to believe them real…"

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Amicalement
Armand

I have the Warrior and Black Prince in 1/1000 scale (Houston models) one bought finished and one I put together. Am now working on the two turreted ships that were being made for the Confederacy that were taken over by the British.

They didn't fit into the raiting system (number of guns/number of gun decks) the British used to rank their ships. I did here from one source they were rated as ironclad Frigates.

By the time Warrior was launched the rating method for RN ships had changed from the Napoleonic method (more than once). The number of crew were a factor in the newer system and Warrior had a large crew.

Warrior was still classed as a frigate but, because of her large crew, she didn't really fit even the new system and that system was slowly amended until it was completely replaced by more modern terminology.

Neat! This is a ship I would love to see – once I can!

I visited about a dozen years back. Can't believe it's been that long. Well worth the visit, and you can see Victory and the Royal Navy Museum all at the same time.

I much preferred The Warrior over HMS Victory when I visited Portsmouth a few years ago. The Mary Rose was a bit creepy. The Warrior is newly interpreted and seems like a living ship with all the personal belongings of the crew, etc. The Victory was more like a monument.

My preference may have a lot to do with the fact that the HMS Victory has a less than 6 feet of headroom and I repeatedly smacked my head at 6'1". The Warrior was spacious by comparison with plenty of headroom

(smile)

Amicalement
Armand