steam engines, each driving one shaft and developing a total of 7,697 hp (5,661 kW), with which she reached a top speed of 14.65 knots (16.86 mph).

The armament consisted of four 11-inch muzzle-loading guns, one each on the forecastle and stern, and one each at the forward corners of the central battery to port and starboard.

The loading and lifting process, as well as the rotation of the mount, were operated by a disguised stand with four control levers.

When the gun was extended and aimed at the target, it was adjusted to elevation graduated in degrees by a rod linkage on each side of the breech.

She was laid down at Chatham on 18 August 1873, launched on 9 May, and commissioned in 1877 for service in the Mediterranean fleet under Captain Michael Culme-Seymour.

She remained near Istanbul (then Constantinople) until 1879 to represent a strong British position during the protracted international negotiations that led to the Congress of Berlin.

At the outbreak of the Anglo-Egyptian War in 1882, she was recommissioned and took part in the attack on the defensive positions on the coast of Alexandria.

She then returned home, but the growing threat from the French fleet at Toulon made it necessary to increase British forces in the Mediterranean as well.

When the flagship's signal sounded, the Orion's watch officer kept his engines running, leaving little room to avoid a collision at full speed.

Fortunately, the officer on watch of the Temraire had recognized the impending danger and immediately gave the order to head for Orion instead of turning away from it.

After wintering in Thessaloniki, Temeraire was ordered to return home in the spring of 1891, where she was paid off in Plymouth and assigned to the reserve.