HMS Belleisle (1876)

History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Belleisle
Builder	Samuda Brothers, Cubitt Town, London
Laid down	1874
Launched	12 February 1876
Completed	19 July 1878
Fate	Broken up 1904
General characteristics
Class and type	Belleisle-class ironclad
Displacement	4,870 tons
Length	245 ft (75 m) p/p
Beam	52 ft (16 m)
Draught	21 ft (6.4 m)
Propulsion	Two-shaft Maudslay horizontal 4,040 ihp (3,010 kW)
Sail plan	Square rig on foremast, gaff on mizzen
Speed	12.1 kn (22.4 km/h)
Complement	249
Armament	4 × 12-inch (305 mm) muzzle-loading rifles 4 × 20-pounder breech-loaders 2 × torpedo carriages
Armour	Belt: 6 in (150 mm)–12 in (300 mm) Battery: 8 in (200 mm)–10 in (250 mm) Bulkheads: 5 in (130 mm)–9 in (230 mm) Conning tower: 9 in (230 mm) Decks: 1 in (25 mm)–3 in (76 mm)

HMS Belleisle was one of the four ships that were under construction for foreign navies in British shipyards which were purchased by the British government for the Royal Navy in 1878, at the time of the Russian war scare.

She was one of the two ironclads of the Belleisle class, the other being HMS Orion. She was built in the Samuda Brothers shipyard at Cubitt Town, London, for service with the Ottoman Navy, under the name of Peik-i-Sheref, and was taken over for the Royal Navy in a completed condition. She was, however, not regarded as fit to serve as a British warship until a number of extensive and expensive modifications were carried out.