The new Turkish Iron-clad frigate Abdul Aziz, built at Glasgow. [Click on image to enlarge it.]
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The Turkish Government, having resolved upon the formation of an iron-clad navy, ordered from Messrs. Robert Napier and Sons, of Glasgow, three large vessels—the Osman Ghazy, the Abdul Aziz, and the Orkhan; and subsequently, from the Thames Iron Shipbuilding Company, the Mahmoud — all these being of equal size and power. The first of them arrived at Constantinople some months ago; the Abdul Aziz and the Mahmoud have since been sent out, and the Orkhan is being finished at Glasgow. The Abdul Aziz, which is the counterpart of the other two ordered from Messrs. Napier, has been built according to the designs of that run, and, for a vessel of her class, presents an unusually light and graceful appearance on the water. She was commenced in May, 1863, and launched in December, 1864. Being intended for a ram, she is furnished with a projecting beak, which is stiffened internally with angle iron, and is also furnished with longitudinal bulkheads intersected by transverse ones, to prevent influx of water. Over the internal iron skin she is lined with teak 9 in. thick, and over this are the armour plates. These extend 6 ft. below the water-line at the middle, and taper up to 4 1/2 ft. at bow and stern; their thickness at midsection for 2 1/2 ft. above the load-line is 5 1/2 in., above this point to the gunwale 5 in., gradually lessening towards the stem and counter. A portion of the bulwarks at the bows are also plated, behind which a couple of guns can be worked. Her dimensions are: — Length, 300 ft.; breadth, 56 ft.; depth, 37 ft.; tonnage, about 4200 tons o.m.; load draught, nearly 25 ft. She is furnished by her builders with horizontal, direct-acting engines of 900 (nominal) horse power, supplied with steam from six boilers, three on each side of the ship. She is pierced for twenty guns on each side; but her present armament will consist of sixteen 150-pounder Armstrong guns, with one or two heavier ones on the upper deck. She will carry 600 men. Her trial-trip was made during very unfavourable weather, notwithstanding which she attained a speed of over thirteen knots an hour. This contrasts favourably with the speed of the Mahmoud, which, at her trial on the Thames, was rather more than twelve knots.
Bibliography
“The Turkish Frigate Abdul Aziz.” Illustrated London News 48 (26 May 1866): 53-54. Hathi Trust Digital Library version of a copy in the University of Michigan Library. Web. 16 January 2016.]
Last modified 16 January 2016