HMS Princess Royal (1853)

HMS Princess Royal was the lead ship of her class of 91-gun second rate ships of the line built for the Royal Navy in the 1850s. Completed in 1854, she participated in the Crimean War of 1854–1855. The ship was sold for scrap in 1872.

Description

Princess Royal measured on the gundeck and on the keel. She had a beam of, a depth of hold of, a deep draught of and had a tonnage of 3130 tons burthen. The ship was fitted with a horizontal two-cylinder single-expansion steam engine built by Maudslay, Sons and Field that was rated at 400 nominal horsepower and drove a single propeller shaft. Her boilers provided enough steam to give the engine that was good for a speed of. Her crew numbered 850 officers and ratings.
The ship's muzzle-loading, smoothbore armament consisted of thirty-two shell guns on her lower gundeck and thirty-four 32-pounder (56 cwt) guns on her upper gundeck. Between her forecastle and quarterdeck, she carried twenty-four 32-pounder guns and a single 68-pounder gun.

Princess Royal was ordered as a 90-gun second rate in 1840 under the name of Prince Albert and she was laid down at HM Dockyard, Portsmouth in February 1841. Her name was changed to Princess Royal on 26 March 1842, but she was re-ordered on 15 April 1847 to a modified John Edye design. The ship was reordered again as a steam-powered, 90-gun second rate on 23 September 1852. The conversion was ordered on 30 October and work began on 15 November which included inserting a section into the ship's middle to accommodate the steam engine. She was launched on 23 June 1853 and was commissioned by Captain Lord Clarence Paget on 29 October 1853. Princess Royal was completed for sea on 11 March 1854.
She took part in both the Baltic Campaign and the naval bombardment of Sevastopol during the Crimean War. She later served as the flagship of Rear-Admiral George St Vincent King in his role as Commander-in-Chief, East Indies and China Station.
In 1865, Princess Royal conveyed Sir Harry Smith Parkes, accompanied by a detachment of Royal Marines, to the treaty port of Yokohama on his appointment as envoy to Japan. Admiral of the Fleet Lord Walter Kerr served as a lieutenant on board Princess Royal during the ship's deployment to Japan. She was sold to be broken up on 7 December 1872.