HMS Vanguard (1870)

Vanguard
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Vanguard
Builder	Laird, Son & Co., Birkenhead
Laid down	21 October 1867
Launched	3 January 1870
Commissioned	28 September 1870
Fate	Sunk in accident on 1 September 1875
General characteristics
Class and type	Audacious-class ironclad battleship
Displacement	6,034 long tons (6,131 t)
Length	342 ft 3 in (104.32 m)
Beam	54 ft (16 m)
Draught	23 ft 2 in (7.06 m)
Installed power	4,830 ihp (3,600 kW)
Propulsion	2 × coal-fired Ravenhill reciprocating steam engines 6 × Cochrane boilers[1] 2 × shafts
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Speed	13 kn (15 mph; 24 km/h)
Complement	450
Armament	10 × 9 in (230 mm), 12-ton RML guns 4 × 6 in (150 mm), 64 pdr (29 kg) RML 'chaser' guns (two at bow and two at stern) 6 × 20 pdr (9.1 kg) guns, bow ram
Armour	Belt: 6–8 in (15–20 cm) Battery: 4–6 in (10–15 cm) Bulkheads: 4–5 in (10–13 cm)
Notes	Armour is iron plating with teak backing.

The eighth HMS Vanguard of the British Royal Navy was an Audacious-class central battery ironclad battleship, by Edward Reed launched in 1870. In 1875, the ship was sunk during a summer cruise in a collision in fog with the ironclad HMS Iron Duke. None of the crew were lost, but the commanding officer of the ship never commanded another vessel in his career. The wreck lies near the Kish lightship off the coast of Ireland and is protected under the Irish National Monument Act.