Lord Clyde ironclad warship Mersey Liverpool 1870s #360

Welcome to the Keasbury-Gordon Photographic Archive, an extensive collection of photographs and maps, most of which date from the 1840s to the 1920s. You'll enjoy a visit to our Ebay shop if you're interested in the history of railways; trams, aircraft; ships; canals; rural life; seaside; war; sport; industry ........ and cities, towns and villages in Great Britain.

About this image: The following information has been supplied by Dr. Howard J. Fuller of University of Wolverhampton and we're most grateful to him. The words in quotation marks are taken from British Battleships by Oscar Parkes. The Lord Clyde (and her sister ship the Lord Warden) had the distinction of being "the last capital ships to have a ‘broadside’ instead of ‘central battery’". They were also built from the keel up as wooden-hulled ironclads; using up reserve supplies of timber which were now no longer necessary in an age of iron. That gave them over 30-inches of solid oak backing behind 5.5 inches of iron armour plating, protecting the 24 muzzle-loading 7-inch Armstrong guns of Lord Clyde along her midsection ...... very formidable indeed. Lord Clyde was also "the largest ship of any class or kind ever to enter Spithead or Plymouth Sound under sail alone". "It was as if she realized her hull belonged to the old order which was quickly passing away ...... eager to respond to the elemental forces from which the motive power of her long line of ancestors had been derived, but antagonistic to the boiling and straining of the upstart engines which she resented and refused to tolerate." Apparently Lord Clyde was the ‘diseased and unfortunate’ of the two sisters. Much of the wood used in her construction at Pembroke was not fully seasoned, and her hull began to rot so that she was decommissioned in 1872 and finally sold off in 1875—less than ten years after her completion in June 1866. Apparently Lord Clyde was the ‘diseased and unfortunate’ of the two sisters. Much of the wood used in her construction at Pembroke was not fully seasoned, and her hull began to rot so that she was decommissioned in 1872 and finally sold off in 1875—less than ten years after her completion in June 1866.

Interestingly enough, however, Lord Clyde was immortalized in Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1870) as one of the first vessels under the command of a fictional Commodore Fitz-James to spot the mysterious ‘Runaway Reef’ (the submarine Nautilus) in Chapter 1. The image on the screen shows the “content” of the photograph but it is very low resolution, so does not adequately portray its quality. Your photograph will be "richer" and sharper. The reference number for this image is 360.

Date of original photograph: Possibly early 1870s.

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Size of the photograph: 10 by 8 inches.

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About Us: This privately owned collection of historical photographs and maps started with the purchase of a few Victorian magic lantern slides at an auction thirty years ago. It now comprises over 15,000 images of cities, towns and villages and themes such as railways, trams, ships, rural life, children, industry, mining, war and sport. The original photographs are in various formats ……… daguerreotypes; albumen and silver prints; magic lantern projection slides; stereoviews; early postcards; glass negative plates etc. We regularly list new photographs in our Ebay shop, so please visit us again and use the search box on the home page to look for particular subjects.

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