HMS Inconstant (1868)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Inconstant.

HMS Inconstant about 1885
Class overview
Succeeded byHMS Shah
Completed1
Scrapped1
History
United Kingdom
NameInconstant
BuilderPembroke Dockyard
Laid down27 November 1866
Launched12 November 1868
Commissioned14 August 1869
Renamed
  • Impregnable II, June 1906
  • Defiance IV, January 1922
  • Defiance II, December 1930
Reclassified
Fate
  • Sold for scrap, September 1955
  • broken up in Belgium, 4 April 1956
General characteristics
TypeUnarmored steam frigate
Displacement5,782 long tons (5,875 t)
Tons burthen4,066 bm
Length337 ft 4 in (102.8 m) (p/p)
Beam50 ft 4 in (15.3 m)
Draught25 ft 6 in (7.8 m)
Installed power
Propulsion1 shaft; 1 × trunk steam engine
Sail planShip rig
Speed16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Range2,780 nmi (5,150 km; 3,200 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement600
Armament

HMS Inconstant was an unarmored, iron-hulled, screw frigate built for the Royal Navy in the late 1860s. Upon completion in 1869, she was the fastest warship in the world[1] and was assigned to the Channel Squadron. Two years later the ship was transferred to the Detached Squadron for a brief time before she was paid off into reserve in 1872. Inconstant was recommissioned in 1880 for service with the Flying Squadron that circumnavigated the world in 1880–82. On the return voyage, the ship was diverted to Egypt during the Anglo-Egyptian War of 1882 and played a minor role supporting operations ashore. She was reduced to reserve again after her return and was served as an accommodation ship in 1897. Inconstant was hulked in 1904 and became a training ship in 1906. She continued in that role, under a variety of names, until she was sold for scrap in 1955 and subsequently broken up, the second-to-last surviving Pembroke-built warship in existence.[2]

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  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference p2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).