NAVYPEDIA

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Vulcan  

Ships

Name	No	Yard No	Builder	Laid down	Launched	Comp	Fate
Vulcan	N70, N4A		Portsmouth DYd	18.6.1888	13.6.1889	7/1891	submarine depot ship 1914

Technical data

Displacement normal, t	6620
Displacement full, t
Length, m	113.7 oa 106.7 pp
Breadth, m	17.7
Draught, m	6.71
No of shafts	2
Machinery	2 VTE, 4 double-ended + 1 auxiliary single-ended boiler
Power, h. p.	natural draught: 8167, forced draught: 12000
Max speed, kts	natural draught: 18, forced draught: 20
Fuel, t	coal 1000
Endurance, nm(kts)	12000(10)
Armour, mm	steel?; deck: 127 amidships and 51 at the ends, CT: 152, engine hatches: 127
Armament	8 x 1 - 120/40 QF Mk I/II/III/IV, 12 x 1 - 47/40 3pdr Hotchkiss Mk I, 12 x 1 - 11.4/94, 6 TT (1 fwd aw, 2 beam aw, 1 aft aw, 2 beam sub,), 9 2nd class torpedo boats
Complement	432

Graphics

Project history Vulcan was purpose-built, but both Vulcan and Hecla played a very similar role in the development of the British torpedo force. Each carried a number of

 Vulcan was purpose-built, but both Vulcan and Hecla played a very similar role in the development of the British torpedo force. Each carried a number of Second Class TBs, and were fitted to service other TBs and to see to the torpedo and mining needs of a fleet. Both served, one after the other, with the Mediterranean Fleet, and both were commanded by a succession of distinguished officers who were amongst the leading torpedo specialists. Many of the most important experiments in torpedo tactics were carried out under their control. Had war come no doubt the two ships would have proved useful launching strikes with their small TBs against enemy bases.     Vulcan was a most unusual vessel, built with the general appearance, lines and speed of a cruiser, and a respectable armament of her own. Her main purpose in wartime would have been to launch her TBs against the enemy, though she also had the full equipment of a depot ship. Her appearance was much as that of contemporary cruisers, except for the distinguishing feature of her two large 'goose neck' cranes, used for embarking and disembarking her boats. Like the cruisers of the time she had a protective deck.     Her trials were delayed because of trouble both with other vessels with similar boilers and with her own boilers, and she became one of the victims in the 'battle of the boilers' which raged over the type of boilers to adopt in the early 1890s. In 1902 she was reboilered completely. She suffered from other teething troubles, as some of the hull structure proved somewhat weak and had to be strengthened before completion. However her relatively wide beam in proportion to her length produced a reasonable performance. Modernizations: 1902: re-boilered

Naval service

In 1914 Vulcan was converted to submarine depot ship. In 1931 she became a training hulk and was renamed Defiance III, BU in December 1955.