In this magazine was 31 May 1862 the next news item published (http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1862/may/british-iron-clads.htm)
"BRITISH IRON-CLAD VESSELS. The exploits of the Monitor and the Merrimac have roused the British to the necessity of bringing up their navy to the modern standard, and accordingly we find that iron-clad vessels are being rapidly constructed at all the British dock-yards. We give, on page 342, several illustrations of the new iron-clad ships which are being constructed. The ship which the English seem to consider the most formidable of their new fleet is the Defence an iron-clad steam ram, carrying guns. We condense the following account of the Defence from the British papers:
She was built for the Government by Messrs. Palmer, of Jarrow, on the Tyne, and is of the following dimensions: Length between perpendiculars, 280 feet; breadth, 54 feet; depth of hold, 18 feet 3 inches; burden in tons, 3668; with engines of 600-horse power. The Defence recently returned to Spithead after a trial-trip of nineteen days; a week of that time she lay in Plymouth Sound, so that but twelve days were spent in ascertaining her qualities at sea. Thanks to the proverbially changeable nature of the weather at this season of the year, the time, brief as it was, afforded many good opportunities of testing her. The wind, though never violent, was at times sufficiently strong to designate it a gale, and to cause a rather heavy sea. Her conduct under these circumstances was excellent evidence as to her capability to encounter worse or even the worst of weather. It is stated that her good qualities as a ship of war exceeded the expectations of all who had to do with her. Her steering qualities, without being so bad as has been represented, are doubtless inferior; her symptoms are precisely those of a ship too much immersed, being sluggish in answering her helm, and apt to take broad shears when her head once makes a start. The quantity of canvas she spreads is very small in proportion to her tonnage; nevertheless she is perfectly manageable under sail, and attains a speed of about two-thirds the usual rate of sailing of an ordinary frigate. Under steam her greatest speed is about eleven knots. She is described as being remarkably easy in a seaway. No wooden ship would have the smallest chance against the Defence if the latter could use her guns or her prow. The projectiles thrown by the Defence would speedily fire a timber-built ship, and her formidable stem would certainly crush in the side of any such vessel."
Designed by Isaac Watts in 1859 and formed with her sister ship Resistance the Defence-class. Ordered 14 December 1859, laid down at Palmer Brothers, Jarrow as building no. 91 14 December 1859, launched 24 April 1861 and commissioned 12 February 1862. 23 Years later she was laid up to become a floating workshop in 1890. As a training ship she was renamed Indus I in June 1898, hulked 1922 and in August 1935 broken up at Plymouth. The building costs amounted £ 252.422. Dimensions according to Lyon were 302'0" (over all)-280'0" (between perpendiculars) x 54'2"x 24'6" (fore)-26'0" (aft) and a builders measurement of 3,720 tons and a displacement of 6,150 tons.
Sources
J.J. Colledge/Ben Warlow. Ships of the Royal navy. The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy from the 15th Century to the Present. London, 2006.
Harpers's Weekly, 31 May 1863, p. 342-343.
David Lyon&Rif Winfield. The Sail&Steam Navy List. All the ships of the Royal Navy 1815-1889. London, 2004.
