HMS Lion (1847)

HMS Lion by Charles Dixon
History
United Kingdom
Name	Lion
Ordered	12 March 1840
Builder	Pembroke Dockyard
Laid down	July 1840
Launched	29 July 1847
Completed	26 September 1847 (in ordinary)
Fate	Sold for scrap, 11 July 1905
General characteristics
Class and type	Vanguard-class ship of the line
Tons burthen	2583 42⁄94 bm
Length	190 ft (57.9 m) (gundeck)
Beam	57 ft (17.4 m)
Draught	18 ft 10 in (5.7 m)
Depth of hold	23 ft 4 in (7.1 m)
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Complement	720 (wartime)
Armament	78 guns: Gundeck: 26 × 32 pdrs, 2 × 68 pdr carronades Upper gundeck: 26 × 32 pdrs, 2 × 68 pdr carronades Quarterdeck: 14 × 32 pdrs Forecastle: 2 × 32 pdrs, 2 × 32 pdr carronades Poop deck: 4 × 18 pdr carronades

HMS Lion was a 80-gun second rate Vanguard-class ship of the line built for the Royal Navy in the 1840s. She was fitted with steam propulsion in 1858–1859. In 1871 Lion was converted into a training ship at HM Dockyard, Devonport. The ship was sold for scrap in 1905.

The Vanguard class was designed by Sir William Symonds, Surveyor of the Navy, with each ship built with a slightly different hull shape to evaluate their speed and handling characteristics. Lion had a length at the gundeck of 190 feet (57.9 m) and 153 feet 5 inches (46.8 m) at the keel. She had a beam of 57 feet (17.4 m), a draught of 18 feet 4 inches (5.6 m) and a depth of hold of 23 feet 4 inches (7.1 m). The ship's tonnage was 2,589 63⁄94 tons burthen.^[1] The Vanguards had a wartime crew of 720 officers and ratings.^[2]

The Vanguard class ships of the line were armed with twenty 32-pounder (56 cwt)^{[Note 1]} cannon and two 68-pounder carronades on her lower gundeck, twenty-eight 32-pounder (50 cwt) cannon and another pair of 68-pounder carronades on the upper gundeck. On her quarterdeck were fourteen 32-pounder (42 cwt) cannon and on the forecastle deck were eight more 32-pounder (42 cwt) cannon.^[2]

When Lion was ordered to be modified for steam propulsion in 1856, she was fitted with a two-cylinder horizontal trunk steam engine of 400 nominal horsepower that drove a single propeller shaft. On trials the engine produced 1,665 indicated horsepower (1,242 kW) which gave the ship a speed of 10.4 knots (19.3 km/h; 12.0 mph).^[3]

Lion was ordered from Pembroke Dockyard on 18 March 1840 and laid down the following July. She was launched on 29 July 1847 and completed on 26 September. The ship was not fitted out and Lion was placed in ordinary. Her construction cost £59,113. Between February 1858 and May 1859, she was fitted with steam propulsion.^[1]

Lion was sold for scrap on 11 July 1905.^[1]

• Lavery, Brian (2003) The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The Development of the Battlefleet 1650-1850. Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-252-8.
• Lyon, David & Winfield, Rif (2004). The Sail & Steam Navy List: All the Ships of the Royal Navy 1815–1889. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 1-86176-032-9.
• Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail, 1793-1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth. ISBN 978-1-84415-700-6.