A surviving Ironclad

From the first Ironclad warships to the battle of Tsushima.
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IronDuke
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A surviving Ironclad

Post by IronDuke »

Board members might find this ship interesting:
HMVS Cerberus was built in Britain in 1868 as Flagship of the Victorian Colonial Navy in Australia. She was only the second Warship to pass through the Suez Canal. She is the worlds last surviving Ironclad Breastwork monitor and was the genesis of the design of most of the Royal Navy's Pre-Dreadnought Battleships C. 1870-1905. She was commissioned until 1923 and is, easily, the oldest surviving ship to have served in the Royal Australian Navy. She can be seen just outside Melbourne Australia and there is a very active campaign to both save and, eventually, restore her.
Ted
http://www.cerberus.com.au/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Restore_Cerberus/
"It only takes two or three years to build a ship but three hundred to build a tradition" Admiral Cunningham RN
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RF
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Re: A surviving Ironclad

Post by RF »

These are interesting articles, albeit from an Australian perspective.

This is a ship certainly worth preserving, if only for educational value.

Thanks for the post Ted, as usual in Britain this sort of thing seems to get little publicity.....
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IronDuke
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Re: A surviving Ironclad

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It is very hard to get the mass of the general public interested in her here in Australia. However we continue to grind away at it.
Ted
"It only takes two or three years to build a ship but three hundred to build a tradition" Admiral Cunningham RN
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Re: A surviving Ironclad

Post by chcrawfish »

The oldest surviving ironclad is HMS Warrior. She's currently at Naval Base Portsmouth, not far from HMS Victory.
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IronDuke
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Re: A surviving Ironclad

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chcrawfish wrote:The oldest surviving ironclad is HMS Warrior. She's currently at Naval Base Portsmouth, not far from HMS Victory.

Yes I know HMS Warrior of 1860 and have been aboard her. Also in England is the sail and steam sloop HMS Gannet of 1878 (she is at Chatham in Kent).

HMVS Cerberus of 1868 is the oldest surviving Ironclad Breastwork Monitor, she also has two of only three Cooper Coles gun turrets in the world (the other being on Huascar in Chile).
Ted
"It only takes two or three years to build a ship but three hundred to build a tradition" Admiral Cunningham RN
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Re: A surviving Ironclad

Post by hammy »

She's an awful mess though , it'dd almost be easier to build a new one , probably cheaper too .

The turrets , being armoured , are fairly intact , but the hull is in rags in places .
I mean I'm a ship lover too , but there are occasions when you have to just turn away , or show people a reconstruction or computerised simulation .
" Relax ! No-one else is going to be fool enough to be sailing about in this fog ."
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Re: A surviving Ironclad

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Actually only her -unarmoured- lower hull is in a bad state -easily replaced.

She is actually in better condition than either the James Craig (now in Sydney) or the SS Great Britain (now in Bristol England) were before their restoration. She is a unique ship and very important in terms of both Australian, and even British maritime and naval history.

At the moment Friends of the Cerberus have a plan -and the money- to brace her, to avoid any further major collapse, but this is only a bandaid solution until we can move her ashore and restore her, at least externally, to something like her 1890 appearence. She is still very saveable.
Ted
"It only takes two or three years to build a ship but three hundred to build a tradition" Admiral Cunningham RN
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chcrawfish
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Re: A surviving Ironclad

Post by chcrawfish »

Then there's the USS Olympia in Philadephia.....ouch! Quite a bit of her upper works and guns/turrets are refabrications.
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hammy
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Re: A surviving Ironclad

Post by hammy »

The only reason Warrior survived is that the hull is just about indestructible , and was stripped for use as a floating fuel oil bunkering pontoon in Pembroke dock
( or was it Milford haven ? ) .

Come Mrs Thatchers Great Recession of the 1980s ( " A price worth paying " ) and they towed her up to Hartlepool , and put the unemployed to work on her to recreate the " Original " appearance , never have got done otherwise .

The ship I'd Love to see restored is HMS Caroline , the Jutland era light cruiser , presently fairly under-utilised and unavailable for viewing as an RNVR Drill ship in Belfast , N.Ireland .
" Relax ! No-one else is going to be fool enough to be sailing about in this fog ."
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IronDuke
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Re: A surviving Ironclad

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I believe plans are in hand to preserve HMS Caroline once she pays off as an RNVR Drill ship. She is after all the last survivor of Jutland and the second oldest Commissioned RN Warship.
Ted
"It only takes two or three years to build a ship but three hundred to build a tradition" Admiral Cunningham RN
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Re: A surviving Ironclad

Post by OSCSSW »

I'm new aboard this forum. I am here to spend time with people who enjoy naval history. I hope to learn a lot and maybe contribute a little bit.

I went aboard a surviving ironclad during a Danube river cruise.
She is the SMS Leitha/Lajta and she is moored riverside in Budapest.

She is a mid 19th century single turret monitor.
She is in mint condition and well worth visiting.
"You see those battleships sitting there, and you think they float on the water, don't you?... You are wrong, they are carried to sea on the backs of those Chief Petty Officers!" Admiral William Halsey USN :wink:
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Re: A surviving Ironclad

Post by Steve Crandell »

Welcome to KBismarck! Not as busy as navweaps, but more civilized.
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Re: A surviving Ironclad

Post by Kev D »

Steve Crandell wrote: Wed Sep 29, 2021 1:14 pm Welcome to KBismarck! Not as busy as navweaps, but more civilized.
Much more civilised! :clap:
We are off to look for trouble. I expect we shall find it.” Capt. Tennant. HMS Repulse. Dec. 8 1941
A review of the situation at about 1100 was not encouraging.” Capt. Gordon, HMS Exeter. 1 March 1942
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OSCSSW
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Re: A surviving Ironclad

Post by OSCSSW »

Here is a recent update on the status of Cerberus
Looks like there is some hope for her restoration.


We can be contacted either via the contact form or via our postal address below:

Friends of the Cerberus Inc.,
PO Box 1231,
Blackburn North,
Victoria 3130
Australia

https://www.cerberus.com.au/
"You see those battleships sitting there, and you think they float on the water, don't you?... You are wrong, they are carried to sea on the backs of those Chief Petty Officers!" Admiral William Halsey USN :wink:
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Re: A surviving Ironclad

Post by marcelo_malara »

Yes! This forum is great, you can make the strangest and more difficult question and someone will surely answer.

Welcome!
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