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HMS ''Royal Alfred'' was a broadside ironclad frigate of the Victorian era, serving with the Royal Navy. She was half-sister to and . ==Background and design== In 1861, in response to the French warship building programme initiated by Emperor Napoleon III, the British Board of Admiralty selected seven wooden two-decked second-rate warships currently under construction for conversion to armoured warships. The first four, who were converted with all possible speed, were completed as and the ships, , and . The last three were intentionally delayed until assessment could be made of the first four, and as a result of this assessment ''Royal Alfred'', ''Zealous'' and ''Repulse'' were completed on different lines to the earlier ships, and, indeed to each other. In the 1860s rapid changes were taking place in the technology of armament production, and calibres were increasing by about an inch per year. It was therefore distinctly possible that a ship designed to carry a specific armament fit would be already outclassed on completion by other ships already on the stocks, at home or abroad, designed for the next generation of gun. As a battleship normally took not less than three years to progress from laying-down to launch, and as at that time warship gun designs were being upgraded approximately annually, this was a real and serious problem. With this in mind, completion of ''Royal Alfred'' was delayed until a suitable heavy gun became available. Her armament was placed amidships in a "box battery", an enclosure armoured on all four sides, with the guns places as close together as possible while allowing for their efficient working. Lighter guns were placed outside the box, near the bow and the stern, to provide fore and aft fire. Unlike many Victorian warships, she carried the same ordnance throughout her active career. She was the last wooden-hulled battleship to be built at Portsmouth. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「HMS Royal Alfred (1864)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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