HMS Caledonia (1862)

HMS Caledonia was a broadside ironclad of the. Originally laid down as a two-decker steam ship of the line of the Bulwark class, Caledonia was converted on the building stocks into an armoured frigate.

Service history
HMS Caledonia was not completed until July 1865 due to a delay in the delivery of her main armament. Once this was installed, she was commissioned as Second-in-Command of the Mediterranean Fleet, becoming the first ever armoured flagship of the Royal Navy.

She was temporarily withdrawn from service in 1866 for reconstruction which involved the addition of a poop deck. Following this, she was flagship of the Channel Fleet until 1867, when she was paid off for re-armament.

HMS Caledonia was flagship of the Mediterranean Fleet until 1869 (relieving HMS Victoria (1859), the last three-deck Royal Navy flagship) until 1872. She was a guardship in the Firth of Forth from 1872 until 1875. She was paid off at Plymouth, and was laid up there until she was sold on 30 September 1886.