Conqueror-class ship of the line

The Conqueror-class ships of the line were a class of two 101-gun first rate screw propelled ships designed by the Surveyor’s Department for the Royal Navy.

Design
The Conqueror class ships were designed in 1852 as two-decker 101-gun first rates in a period when many under-construction sail ships of the line were being redesigned to use screw propulsion in addition to sail. Two ships were subsequently completed, HMS Conqueror (1855) and HMS Donegal (1858).

Careers
Both ships saw service in the Channel Squadron, and later in the Crimean War. Both were used to transport troops to Mexico in support of the French intervention there in 1861. HMS Conqueror was wrecked on Rum Cay whilst carrying this out, but without losses, and most of her machinery, guns and stores were subsequently salvaged. The advent of armoured ironclads, such as HMS Warrior (1860) in the 1860s made the traditional ships of the line largely obsolete. HMS Donegal continued in service as a guard ship, in which role she took the last surrender of the American Civil War. She was hulked in 1886, and became part of the torpedo training school HMS Vernon (shore establishment). She served until the establishment moved on shore in 1923, and was broken up in 1925.

Ships

 * HMS Conqueror (1855)
 * Builder: Devonport Dockyard
 * Ordered: 16 November 1852
 * Laid down: 25 July 1853
 * Launched: 2 May 1855
 * Completed: 9 April 1856
 * Fate: Wrecked at Rum Cay on 13 December 1861


 * HMS Donegal (1858)
 * Builder: Devonport Dockyard
 * Ordered: 27 December 1854
 * Laid down: 27 September 1855
 * Launched: 23 September 1858
 * Completed: 27 August 1859
 * Fate: Renamed HMS Vernon (shore establishment) on 14 January 1886. Sold for breaking up on 18 May 1925