HMS Goliath (1842)

The Duchess of Buccleuch launches the Goliath
History
Royal Navy EnsignUnited Kingdom
NameHMS Goliath
Ordered7 October 1833
BuilderChatham Dockyard
Laid downFebruary 1834
Launched25 July 1842
FateBurnt, 22 December 1875
General characteristics [1]
Class & typeVanguard-class ship of the line
Tons burthen2596 bm
Length190 ft (58 m) (gundeck)
Beam56 ft 9 in (17.30 m)
Depth of hold22 ft 6 in (6.86 m)
PropulsionSails
Sail planFull-rigged ship
Armament
  • 78 guns:
  • Gundeck: 26 × 32 pdrs, 2 × 68 pdr carronades
  • Upper gundeck: 26 × 32 pdrs, 2 × 68 pdr carronades
  • Quarterdeck: 14 × 32 pdrs
  • Forecastle: 2 × 32 pdrs, 2 × 32 pdr carronades
  • Poop deck: 4 × 18 pdr carronades
Launch of the Goliath (far right) and the Virago at Chatham Dockyard

HMS Goliath was an 80-gun two-deck second rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 25 July 1842 at Chatham Dockyard.[1]

Goliath was fitted with screw propulsion in 1857.[1] In 1870, she was converted into a pauper training ship for workhouse boys.

Burning of the Training-Ship Goliath, The Illustrated London News, 1876

Goliath was destroyed by fire on 22 December 1875 while at anchor in the River Thames near Grays.[2] Of the approximately 500 on board, 23 boys were killed.

The burning. The Graphic 1876

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Lavery, Ships of the Line, vol. 1, p. 191.
  2. ↑ The Times (London), Thursday, 23 December 1875, p.5

References

  • Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben & Bush, Steve (2020). Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy from the 15th Century to the Present (5th revised and updated ed.). Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-5267-9327-0.
  • Hepper, David (2006). British Warship Losses in the Ironclad Era, 1860–1919. Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-861762-73-3.
  • Lavery, Brian (1984). The Ship of the Line. Vol. 1: The Development of the Battlefleet 1650–1850. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-85177-252-8.
  • Winfield, Rif (2014). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1817–1863: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-169-4.
  • Wikimedia Commons logo Media related to HMS Goliath (ship, 1842) at Wikimedia Commons