HMS Undaunted (1886)

HMS Undaunted was one of seven Orlando-class cruiser armoured cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the mid-1880s.

Design and description
Undaunted had a length between perpendiculars of 300 ft, a beam of 56 ft and a draught of 24 ft. Designed to displace 5040 LT, all of the Orlando-class ships proved to be overweight and displaced approximately 5535 LT. The ship was powered by a pair of three-cylinder triple-expansion steam engines, each driving one shaft, which were designed to produce a total of 8500 ihp and a maximum speed of 18 kn using steam provided by four boilers with forced draught. During her sea trials, Undaunted reached 19.4 kn. The ship carried a maximum of 900 LT of coal which was designed to give her a range of 8000 nmi at a speed of 10 kn. The ship's complement was 484 officers and ratings.

Undaunted's main armament consisted of two breech-loading (BL) 9.2 in Mk V guns, one gun fore and aft of the superstructure on pivot mounts. Her secondary armament was ten BL 6 in guns, five on each broadside. Protection against torpedo boats was provided by six quick-firing (QF) 6-pounder Hotchkiss guns and ten QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss guns, most of which were mounted on the main deck in broadside positions. The ship was also armed with six 18-inch (457 mm) torpedo tubes: four on the broadside above water and one each in the bow and stern below water.

The ship was protected by a waterline compound armour belt 10 in thick. It covered the middle 200 ft of the ship and was 5 ft high. Because the ship was overweight, the top of the armour belt was 2 ft below the waterline when she was fully loaded. The ends of the armour belt were closed off by transverse bulkheads 16 in. The lower deck was 2 - 3 in thick over the full length of the hull. The conning tower was protected by 12 in of armour.

Construction and service
Undaunted was laid down on 23 April 1885 by Palmers at their shipyard in Jarrow. The ship was launched on 25 November 1886, and completed on 18 September 1890. It was under the command of Captain Lord Charles Bereford, his first command. She served with the Mediterranean fleet under overall command of Sir George Tryon.

On 21 March 1893, Undaunted, under the command of the then Rear Admiral Lord Charles Beresford struck rocks on leaving Alexandria harbour, owing to an error by the ship's navigation officer, who gave the order to turn to Port instead of Starboard. The ship received minor underwater damage in the impact.

She served two commissions on the China Station. On 25 April 1901, she was paid off at Devonport and placed in the Fleet Reserve, where she stayed for a year, until she was prepared to be commissioned as tender to HMS Cambridge, gunnery school ship at the dockyard. Captain Frederick Alexander Warden was appointed in command on her commission as tender on 26 August 1902. She was sold for scrapping on 9 April 1907 to Harris of Bristol.