HMS Raleigh was an unarmoured iron or "sheathed" masted frigate completed in 1874. She was one of a series of three designed by Sir Edward Reed. The other two iron-hulled frigates of independent design were and. The Controller originally intended to build six of these big frigates, but only three were ordered in view of their high cost. They retained the traditional broadside layout of armament, with a full rig of masts and sails. Although widely believed to be named after Sir Walter Raleigh, the ship was in fact named for George of Raleigh.
Building programme
The following table gives the build details and purchase cost of Raleigh and the other two iron frigates. Standard British practice at that time was for these costs to exclude armament and stores. *Date first commissioned.
Design
Raleigh displaced 5,200 tons and was long between perpendiculars by wide, and drew. She was designed as a sailing vessel with an auxiliary steam engine. Under favourable sailing conditions she could make. With nine boilers operating at, her 1-shaft horizontal single expansion engine developed and moved her along at, an unprecedented speed at the time. Two 9-inch muzzle-loading rifle guns and fourteen 7-inch 90 cwt MLR guns formed the main armament, supplemented by six 64-pounder MLRs. The 9-inch guns were chase weapons, mounted at front and back. The fourteen 7-inch guns were the main deck broadside battery. These ships were constructed in response to the fast, wooden American Wampanoag-class frigates, and their iron hulls were clad from keel to bulwarks with a double layer of 3-inch timber. Raleigh was copper bottomed. All three had a great range and were designed for use in far seas. The ship was intended as a successor to the wooden steam-frigates such as Immortalite and Ariadne. Inconstant and Shah had been considered by some too large and too expensive, so Raleigh was designed slightly smaller. The design was a compromise between steam power and a desire to retain good sailing properties. The propeller was damaged during steam trials, breaking one blade and cracking the other, but she proceeded to sailing trials around Ireland before repairs were made. George Tryon, appointed her first captain, made a number of minor alterations to her design details as she was completing building. Raleigh had a normal crew of 530 men. In 1884, she was partially rearmed, retaining eight 7-inch MLR guns on broadside, but gaining eight more modern 6-inch breech-loading rifled guns and eight 5-inch BLR guns. Four modern light guns were added as well as 12 machine guns and two torpedo carriages.
The Detached Squadron travelled to Gibraltar - Madeira - Saint Vincent - Montevideo - Falkland Islands - Cape of Good Hope - Saint Helena - Ascension - Saint Vincent - Gibraltar - Cape of Good Hope - Bombay - Colombo - Trincomalee - Calcutta - Bombay, where Raleigh left the squadron. The squadron returned to Plymouth on 11 May 1877. Meanwhile Raleigh served in the Mediterranean. Speed trials between the ships demonstrated that Raleigh was the fastest steaming, but was also the second fastest under sail, after Immortalité. At Montevideo a number of sailors deserted from all the ships of the squadron, but a number were recaptured after searching British merchant ships. Raleigh had already lost 30 men to desertion before leaving England. On the second journey to the Cape of Good Hope a man fell overboard in a high sea. Tryon took the risk of launching a boat to rescue him, which was risky because the high sea might swamp the boat and lose the rescue crew too. However, all went well and Tryon commissioned a painting of the event, with photos of the painting given to every officer.
1877-79 Commission
On 11 May 1877 Captain Charles Trelawney Jago took command. Raleigh continued to serve as part of the Mediterranean Fleet, and participated in Hornby's forcing of the Dardanelles to discourage Russian occupation of Constantinople, and the subsequent occupation of Cyprus, acquired from Turkey.
1885-? Commission
From 6 March 1885 to 1886 Raleigh was commanded by Captain Arthur Knyvet Wilson, and was flagship of Rear-Admiral Walter James Hunt-Grubbe, on the Cape of Good Hope and West Africa Station. Raleigh continued as flagship of Rear-Admiral Hunt-Grubbe until 29 March 1888. Roger Keyes served aboard her as a young midshipman from 1887 to 1890. In March 1888 the Raleigh became the flagship of Rear-Admiral Richard Wells, on the same station, and in May 1888 Captain Wilmot Fawkes took command; the ship was recommissioned at Simonstown Dockyard near Cape Town in June 1888.
1890-93 Commission
From September 1890 Raleigh was commanded by Captain Arthur Barrow, as flagship of Rear-Admiral Henry Frederick Nicholson, again on the Cape of Good Hope and West Africa station from 1890 to 1893. She was the first posting of midshipman William Fisher. Raleigh is described in his biography as follows: Raleigh was a happy ship; "though hard work was demanded from both officers and men, the leadership was of a high order". In a letter home Midshipman Fisher wrote:
Fate
When Sir John Fisher was Controller in the late 1890s he appropriated money that was meant for making good defects in Raleigh and used it for "making his own patent improvements in Renown, such as laying a dancing deck." In September 1902 it was announced she would not yet be sold, but be kept available for the training service. Raleigh was sold on 11 July 1905 to Messrs Thos W Ward of Morecambe to be broken up.
