HMS Audacious (1869)

Audacious in 1870
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Audacious
Ordered	29 April 1867
Builder	Robert Napier, Govan
Cost	£256,291
Laid down	26 June 1867
Launched	27 February 1869
Completed	10 September 1870
Commissioned	October 1870
Decommissioned	1894
Renamed	Fisgard in 1904 Imperieuse in 1914
Reclassified	Depot ship in 1902; training hulk 1906; receiving ship in 1914; storeship in 1920.
Fate	Sold for scrap 15 March 1927
General characteristics
Class and type	Audacious-class ironclad
Displacement	6,034 long tons (6,131 t)
Length	280 ft (85.3 m)
Beam	54 ft (16.5 m)
Draught	23 ft (7.0 m)
Installed power	4,021 ihp (2,998 kW)
Propulsion	1 shaft, 1 horizontal return connecting rod steam engine
Sail plan	ship rigged
Speed	12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Range	1,260 nmi (2,330 km; 1,450 mi) at 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement	450
Armament	10 × 9-inch rifled muzzle-loading guns 4 × rifled muzzle-loading 64-pounder guns
Armour	Belt: 6–8 in (152–203 mm) Bulkheads: 4–5 in (102–127 mm) Battery: 4–6 in (102–152 mm)

HMS Audacious was the lead ship of the Audacious-class ironclads built for the Royal Navy in the late 1860s. They were designed as second-class ironclads suitable for use on foreign stations and the ship spent the bulk of her career on the China Station. She was decommissioned in 1894 and hulked in 1902 for use as a training ship. The ship was towed to Scapa Flow after the beginning of the First World War to be used as a receiving ship and then to Rosyth after the war ended. Audacious was sold for scrap in 1929.