&sq=&lang=&file=File:Cyclops_class_monitor_diagrams_Brasseys_1888.jpg) Right elevation plan from Brassey's Naval Annual 1888–1889
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| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | HMS Hydra |
| Namesake | Hydra |
| Builder | Robert Napier and Sons, Govan |
| Cost | £194,334 |
| Laid down | 28 December 1870 |
| Launched | 18 July 1871 |
| Completed | 31 May 1877 |
| Commissioned | August 1872 |
| Out of service | 1901 |
| Refit | 1888–89 |
| Fate | Sold for scrap 7 July 1903 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Cyclops-class breastwork monitor |
| Displacement | 3,480 long tons (3,540 t) |
| Length | 225 ft (68.6 m) (p/p) |
| Beam | 45 ft (13.7 m) |
| Draught | 16 ft 3 in (5.0 m) (deep load) |
| Installed power | 1,528 ihp (1,139 kW) |
| Propulsion | 2 shafts, 2 steam engines |
| Speed | 11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph) |
| Range | 3,000 nmi (5,600 km; 3,500 mi) at 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement | 156 |
| Armament | 2 × 2 - 10-inch rifled muzzle loaders |
| Armour |
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HMS Hydra was the second ship completed of the four Cyclops-class breastwork monitors built for the Royal Navy during the 1870s. The ships were ordered to satisfy demands for local defence during the war scare of 1870, but the pace of construction slowed tremendously as the perceived threat of war declined. The ship spent most of her career in reserve; her only sustained period in commission was four months during the Russo-Turkish War in 1878 when the British were trying to force the Russians to end the war without seizing Constantinople. Hydra was sold for scrap in 1903.