HMS Fisgard II

HMS Fisgard II (launched as Invincible, 1869)

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Name	Fisgard II (launched as Invincible, 1869)	Explanation
Type	Central battery ironclad
Launched	29 May 1869
Hull	Iron
Propulsion	Screw
Builders measure	3774 tons
Displacement	6010 tons
Guns	14
Fate	1914
Class	Audacious
Ships book
Note	1904 = Erebus, t.s. 1906 = Fisgard II. 1914.09.17 foundered off Portland
Snippets concerning this vessels career
Date	Event
13 October 1870 - 22 November 1871	Commanded by Captain Charles Webley Hope, ship of First Reserve, Hull
6 August 1872 - 18 December 1874	Commanded (from commissioning at Plymouth) by Captain John Clark Soady, Mediterranean (uncluding service in the small squadron under Vice-Admiral Sir Hastings Yelverton blockading the Spanish Mediterranean coast).
25 March 1878 - 27 November 1879	Commanded by Captain Lindesay Brine, Channel squadron
28 November 1879 - 9 January 1881	Commanded by Captain Hon. Edmund Robert Fremantle, Mediterranean
1 January 1881 - 21 March 1882	Commanded by Captain Robert O'Brien Fitzroy, Mediterranean
1 March 1882 - 30 April 1884	Commanded by Captain Robert Henry More Molyneux, Mediterranean
1 May 1884 - 14 May 1884	Commanded by Acting Captain Reginald Friend Hannam Henderson
15 May 1884 - 21 December 1885	Commanded (until paying off) by Captain Claude Edward Buckle, Mediterranean then China
23 November 1886 - 31 May 1888	Commanded by Captain Charles George Fane, guard ship, Southampton (off Netley) and in the First Reserve Squadron at the Naval review for Queen Victoria's golden jubilee (23 July 1887)
1 June 1888	Commanded by Captain Arthur Thomas Brooke, Coast Guard, Southampton
April 1904	Renamed Erebus
January 1906	Renamed Fisgard II
*Extracts from the Times* newspaper**
Date	Extract
Fr 14 February 1868	OUR IRON-CLAD FLEET. — A return likely to be called for annually has been laid before Parliament, giving an account of our iron-clad fleet built, building, or ordered. The return, which is dated the 30th of August, 1867, contains a list of 31 ships then completed, 13 of them wholly armour-clad, and 18 partially. They are: — The Black Prince, 32 guns; Warrior, 32; Defence, 16; Resistance, 16; Achilles, 26; Hector, 18: Valiant, 18; Minotaur, 26; Agincourt, 26; Northumberland, 26; Royal Oak, 24; Prince Consort, 24; Caledonia, 24; Ocean, 24; Royal Alfred 18; Zealous, 20; Bellerophon, 15; Lord Clyde, 24; Lord Warden, 18; Penelope, 11; Pallas, 8; Favourite, 10; Research, 4; Enterprise, 4; Waterwitch, 2; Vixen, 2; Viper, 2; Royal Sovereign, 5; Prince Albert, 4; Scorpion, 4; Wivern, 4. Twenty-one of these ships are of more than 3,000 tons each. Six other ships were at the date of this return building; two to be wholly armour-clad, and four partially; the Hercules, just launched; the Monarch, 6 guns, to be launched in June; the Captain, 6, the Repulse, 12, to be launched in April; the Audacious, 14, in December; and the Invincible, 14, in March, 1869. All these six ships exceed 3,700 tons. Another, the Bellona, is ordered [and apparently later cancelled]. Lastly, there are the four wholly armour-clad batteries launched in 1855 and 1856, the Erebus, Terror, Thunderbolt, and Thunder; the three first of 16 guns, and the last 14, their tonnage ranging from 1,469 to 1,973. The first cost of the 31 iron-clad ships completed amounted in the whole to 7,284,294l. This includes fittings, but the accounts for some of the latter ships are not yet closed, and this sum does not include incidental and establishment charges. These last indirect charges, calculated in accordance with the recommendation of the Committee on Dockyard Manufactures, add about 35 per cent. to the gross direct charges for labour and materials expended upon each ship in the financial year 1864-65, about 51 per cent. for 1865-66, and the year 1866-67 is for the present estimated to show the same ratio of 51 per cent. These indirect charges have amounted, on the Bellerophon, to no less than 114,372l.; Lord Warden, 104.292l., with a further addition to follow: Royal Alfred, 69,999l., also liable to some addition; Lord Clyde, 66,964l.; Pallas, 61,076l. The most costly of the ships have been the Minotaur, 450,774l.; the Agincourt, 446,048l., both of them with unsettled claims for extra payment; the Northumberland, 433,130l., with the accounts not yet closed; the Achilles, 444,590l.; and the Hercules, estimated at 401,000l. Further sums have to be added to the cost of these ships for dockyard, incidental, and establishment charges.
Th 18 August 1870	The Iron Duke, 14, left Keyham yesterday morning, and went round the Eddystone for the contractor's preliminary trial trip. The engines worked very satisfactorily, and on Thursday next the official trial will be made. The following ships are in the Keyham yard. The invincible, 14, is in dock to have her new twin screws fitted; these have been made at Keyham, and are of a different pitch to those she had previously. The fitting out of the Vanguard, 14, and Audacious, 14, is completed, and they are now ready for sea. The Narcissus, 35, flag-ship of the flying squadron, is having new boilers at Keyham, and will be ready for sea at the end of this month. The Lord Clyde, 24, is having her engines put on board; the new cylinders and pistons, and the greater portion of the machinery, has been made at Keyham. The Terrible, 19, is in dock repairing. The Topaze, 31, and Doris, 24, are receiving new boilers, with thorough repairs to machinery, and general refit of the ships. The new screw sloop Tenedos, 6, is in Keyham Basin, waiting to receive her machinery.
Sa 29 October 1870	The Invincible, 14, Capt. Lambert, in charge of Capt. C. Fellowes and Staff of the Steam Reserve, left Plymouth Sound on Wednesday morning for the six hours official steam trial. There was also on board Mr. Murdoch, who had been sent by the Admiralty to test the smoke-consuming apparatus. At the time of the Invincible's leaving the Sound she was at a draught of 21ft. 8in. aft, and 20ft. 6in. forward, her double bottom not being filled with water, and having no ammunition on board, the object of this trial being to test her new screws at a six hours’ run of uninterrupted steaming. At starting the weather was quite calm, but prior to her return a strong breeze set in from the westward with proportionate sea. The ship during the trial was kept, with the wind abeam, and when she first hove in sight on her return, steaming in from the southward, she had the appearance of being almost on her beam ends; and as she approached the Sound it became evident that she was heeling over 17 to 18 deg., and the greatest anxiety prevailed on shore for the safety of the ship. Although the Invincible heeled to this extent she had not a stich of canvas set, and her topgallantmasts ware on deck. It is therefore certain that even if the water ballast and ammunition were on board the ship would be unsafe under canvas, and the same may be said of the other three ships of the same class — namely, the Audacious, the Vanguard, and the Iron Duke.
Tu 1 November 1870	The Naval Commander-in-Chief at Devonport, Admiral Sir Henry Codrington, K.C.B., has been instructed by the Admiralty to detain until further orders the ships of the Audacious class which, with the exception of the Iron Duke at Keyham. are now in Plymouth Sound — namely, the Invincible, the Vanguard, and the Audacious.
Ma 24 July 1871	The Vanguard, 14, Capt. J. Spain, will sail from Plymouth to-dav for Kingston [Kingstown= modern Dun Leoghaire]
Ma 15 November 1880	The following information respecting the movements of Her Majesty's ships is supplied by the Admiralty: — From Malta letters have been received from the Rear-Admiral Superintendent up to the 8th inst.; the Téméraire will be ready for sea the 27th inst.; and the Cygnet on the 20th inst.; the Invincible and Hecla are in port. Her Majesty's troopship Orontes left Port Said for England on the 12th inst. From the West Coast of Africa letters hive been received from the Senior Officer in the Dido, at Fernando Po, up to the 2d of October; had arrived from Bonny on the 1st of October, with the Firebrand in company, and would proceed to Ambas Bay, Batanga, and Cape Lopez, returning to Quitta via St Thomas. The Firebrand would relieve the Firefly at St. Paul de Loando. From the Cape of Good Hope intelligence has been received that the Commodore, in the Boadicea, was at Simon's Bay on the 14th inst. From the East Indies, letters have been received from the Commander-in-Chief, Rear-Admiral Gore Jones, C.B., in the Euryalus, was at Trincomalee up to the 12th of October. Was about to sail for Rangoon, and would be met there by the Eclipse and the Dryad. The Beacon was at Bussorah, the Ready was at Muscat, the Woodlark was at Karachi on the 6th October. The Ruby, the Dragon, and the Wild Swan, were on East Coast of Africa. The Seagull was at Aden, and would visit Jeddah shortly. The Philomel, coming to Aden from Seychelles, arrived there on the 20th October. Her Majesty's Indian troopship Serapis left Bombay for England on Saturday, the 13th inst.

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