In the mid-19th century, as the world teetered between the age of sail and the dawn of steam engine, the Royal Navy launched one of its most ambitious and symbolic ships: HMS Marlborough. She was a sight to behold — with 131 guns bristling from three wooden decks and propelled by both sail and a state-of-the-art screw propeller. Interestingly, HMS Marlborough was never used in combat, and instead, she sailed through history as a symbol of ambition, adaptation, and the fading grandeur of wooden warships.
Laid down at Portsmouth Dockyard in 1850, Marlborough began life as a traditional sailing ship of the line, modelled after HMS Queen. Around this period, the Royal Navy was also undergoing a seismic shift. Steam engines, once dismissed as noisy novelties, were proving their worth. In 1852, halfway through her construction, the Admiralty made a bold decision: HMS Marlborough would be converted to steam.
This wasn’t a simple retrofit. Her hull was lengthened in three places—23 feet (approx 7 metres) amidships, 8 feet (approx 2.5 metres) at the stern, and 5 feet (approx 1.5 metres) at the bow—to accommodate a massive 800 nominal horsepower steam engine from Maudslay, Sons and Field. The engine drove a single screw propeller that could be hoisted out of the water when the ship sailed under wind power. It was an innovative hybrid design, blending centuries of sailing tradition with the emerging demands of the machine age.
When Marlborough finally slid off the stocks on 31 July 1855, albeit with some difficulty—the launch took a week due to her immense weight. Overall, she soon embodied the pinnacle of wooden warship design: measuring over 245 feet long (approx 75 metres) and displacing more than 6,000 tonnes, she was one of the largest and most formidable ships afloat. During trials in 1856, she reached nearly 12 knots (22.224 km/h) under steam—a remarkable feat for a wooden hull.
Yet, for all her might, HMS Marlborough arrived too late. While she did serve with distinction as flagship of the Mediterranean Fleet from 1858 to 1864, her role was largely diplomatic and ceremonial. By the time HMS Warrior—the Royal Navy’s first iron-hulled warship—entered service in 1861, it was clear that ships like HMS Marlborough were already obsolete.
However, HMS Marlborough eventually found a second life. In 1877, she was repurposed as an engineering training ship. Later, she joined HMS Vernon, the Royal Navy’s torpedo school, and was renamed Vernon II. For nearly half a century, young sailors climbed her decks, learning the evolving art of naval warfare in an era of unprecedented change.
All that being said, her demise came quietly and undramatically. When HMS Vernon moved ashore in 1923, the plan was to sell HMS Marlborough for scrap. But fate intervened. On 28 November 1924, while under tow in the English Channel, she capsized and sank—denying the breakers their prize and disappearing beneath the waves with her dignity intact.
A detailed model of HMS Marlborough still resides at the National Maritime Museum, preserving the memory of this hybrid titan. In doing so, she serves as a time capsule from a moment when naval power stood at a crossroads, when oak met iron, and steam met sail.
Though she never fought a battle, HMS Marlborough fought for relevance in a rapidly changing world. And in doing so, she earned her place in history; while not the greatest warship, she remained the last great wooden one.
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