[1] Royal Oak had a low centre of gravity which meant that she rolled a lot and was an unsteady gun platform.

[4] She carried a maximum of 550 long tons (560 t) of coal, enough to steam 2,200 nautical miles (4,100 km; 2,500 mi) at 5 knots (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph).

[2] Her propeller was designed to be disconnected and hoisted up into the stern of the ship to reduce drag while under sail, but this was rarely done because there was no bulkhead surrounding the hoisting holes which could have flooded the ship if their covers had been removed in even a moderate sea.

The 16-calibre seven-inch gun weighed 6.5 long tons (6.6 t) and fired a 112-pound (50.8 kg) shell that was able penetrate 7.7-inch (196 mm) of armour.

[9] Royal Oak, named for the English oak tree within which King Charles II hid to escape after his defeat at Battle of Worcester in 1651,[10] was laid down on 1 May 1860 at Chatham Dockyard as a 90-gun Bulwark-class ship of the line.

She was accidentally rammed by HMS Warrior in heavy weather at night on 14 August 1868; the impact sheared off the main and mizzen chainplates as well as all the boats on the starboard side.

Three months later the ship returned to the Mediterranean,[12] and was present at the opening of the Suez Canal on 15 November 1869,[13] where she grounded on an uncharted sandbank outside Port Said, Egypt, without sustaining any damage.

Royal Oak remained in fourth-class reserve for 14 years until she was no longer worth repairing and was sold for breaking up on 30 September 1885.