LAUNCH OF THE RESISTANCE

11th April 1861

The Illustrated London News vol.38, 1861

On Thursday week, as stated in our last Number, the iron-cased frigate Resistance was launched from the yard of Messrs. Westwood, Baillie and Co., by whom she has been built. It was quite a gala day in the Isle of Dogs. The whole population seemed to have turned out to do honour to the launch, and with the large additions of visitors every point of view on both shores was crowded with spectators. There were three bands of music — viz. those of the 1st Life Guards, the Marine Society, and the 6th Tower Hamlets Rifles. A triumphal arch of evergreens, with flags waving above it, and an inscription in honour of the Lady Mayoress, was erected at the principal entrance-gate. At two o’clock the Lady Mayoress, who stood on a platform at the vessel’s bow, surrounded by a great number of City dignitaries, dashed the bottle against the beak, wishing at the same time” Success to the Resistance”. The dogshores were knocked away instantly, and without any aid from the hydraulic rams, which had been put ready for use, the ship started slowly on her downward journey to the water. With chisel and mallet the Lady Mayoress cut the last rope which connected the Resistance with the shore, and amidst resounding cheers and the strains of “Rule Britannia” she plunged into the water, swaying gracefully from side to side at first, but speedily regaining her upright position. The extraordinary punctuality of the ceremony took a great many people by surprise, and, for some time after the Resistance was calmly lying at her moorings, ticket-holders were crowding at the yard gates to “see the launch”.

The extreme length of the Resistance is 292 feet, her breadth 54 feet, her depth from spar-deck a little over 38 feet. She will draw 25 feet when down to the water-line. She is built entirely of iron, with the exception of two layers of teak, which are placed, one vertically and the other horizontally, between the skin of the ship and the armour plates, the one layer being of a thickness of 9 inches and the other 10 inches. The armour plates do not extend the whole length of the vessel, but terminate at the “armour bulkheads”, which are watertight compartments at each end, and reach in depth from the bulwarks to the water-line. It is expected that the ship will be more buoyant thus constructed than if she had been encased in these plates from stem to stern. The plates are made of the best rolled iron, in lengths of 17 feet, and of a thickness of 4 1/2 (four and a half) inches, each plate being bolted by fourteen 1 1/2 (one and a half) inch bolts, and each plate is tongued and grooved — forming, in fact, a massive wall of iron. The whole vessel is constructed as to present in every point of view immense strength and solidity.

Historical Note:

HMS Resistance, pictured here in 1870, was eventually used for target practice in the 1880s, sold in 1898 but sank in Holyhead Bay. She was raised and sold for scrap.