The
Hector-class ironclads, like their immediate predecessors, the , were designed as smaller and cheaper versions of the armoured frigates. They were modified versions of the
Defence-class ships with additional armour and more powerful engines. HMS
Hector was
long between perpendiculars. She had a
beam of and a
draft of . The ship was overweight and displaced . The ships were designed with a very low centre of gravity and had a
metacentric height of . While handy in manoeuvering, they rolled quite badly.
Propulsion Hector had one 2-cylinder
horizontal return connecting rod steam engine made by
Robert Napier and Sons driving a single propeller. Six
boilers provided steam to the engine at a working pressure of . The engine produced a total of . During
sea trials on 23 February 1864,
Hector had a maximum speed of . The ship carried of coal, enough to steam at full speed.
Hector was the first British ironclad to have her machinery made by her builders. The ship was
barque-rigged and had a sail area of . Her funnel was semi-retractable to reduce wind resistance while under sail alone. She was designed to allow the ship's propeller to be hoisted up into the stern of the ship to reduce drag while under sail, but the hoisting gear was never fitted.
Armament The armament of the
Hector-class ships was intended to be 32
smoothbore, muzzle-loading 68-pounder guns, 15 on each side on the main deck and one each fore and aft as
chase guns on the upper deck. This was modified during construction to four rifled
110-pounder breech-loading guns and twenty-four 68-pounders. The breech-loading guns were a new design from
Armstrong and much was hoped for them. To partially alleviate their overweight condition, the ships were not fully armed and only received four 110-pounders on the upper deck and twenty 68-pounders on the main deck behind armour. Firing tests carried out in September 1861 against an armoured target, however, proved that the 110-pounder was inferior to the 68-pounder smoothbore gun in armour penetration and repeated incidents of breech explosions during the
Battles for Shimonoseki and the
Bombardment of Kagoshima in 1863–1864 caused the navy to withdraw the gun from service shortly afterwards. The
solid shot of the 68-pounder gun weighed approximately while the gun itself weighed . The gun had a
muzzle velocity of and had a range of at an elevation of 12°. The shell of the 110-pounder Armstrong breech-loader weighed . It had a muzzle velocity of and, at an elevation of 11.25°, a maximum range of . The 110-pounder gun weighed . All of the guns could fire both
solid shot and
explosive shells.
Hector was rearmed during her 1867–1868 refit with sixteen 7-inch and two
rifled muzzle-loading guns. The two 8-inch guns were mounted on the quarterdeck where they could be fought in all weathers and four 7-inch guns were also fitted on the upper deck. The remaining twelve 7-inch guns were carried on the main deck. The shell of the 15-
calibre 8-inch gun weighed while the gun itself weighed . It had a muzzle velocity of and was credited with the ability to penetrate a nominal of
wrought iron armour at the
muzzle. The 16-calibre
7-inch gun weighed and fired a shell. It was credited with the nominal ability to penetrate armour.
Armour The
Hector-class ships had a wrought-iron
waterline armour
belt, thick, that covered amidships and left the bow and stern unprotected. To protect against
raking fire the belt was closed off by 4.5-inch transverse bulkheads at each end at lower deck level. The armour extended to below the waterline. The main deck was protected by a
strake of armour that ran the full length of the ship.
Amidships, it was 4.5-inch thick for a length of 216 feet and tapered to a thickness of to the ends of the ship. ==Service==