HMS Active ( 1869 ) HMS " Active " was a built for the Royal Navy in the late 1860s . Launched in 1869 , she entered service in 1873 , and was the Commodore ' s ship on the Cape of Good Hope and West Africa Station . Her crew served ashore in both the Third Anglo - Ashanti and Zulu Wars . From 1885 to 1898 , the ship was the flagship of the Training Squadron . " Active " was sold for scrap in 1906 . Description . " Active " was long between perpendiculars and had a beam of . Forward the ship had a draught of , but aft she drew . " Active " displaced and had a burthen of 2 , 322 tons . Her iron hull was covered by a layer of oak that was sheathed with copper from the waterline down to prevent biofouling . Watertight transverse bulkheads subdivided the hull . Her crew consisted of 340 officers and enlisted men . The ship had one 2 - cylinder horizontal return connecting rod - steam engine made by Humphreys and Tennant driving a single propeller . Five rectangular boilers provided steam to the engine at a working pressure of . The engine produced a total of which gave " Active " a maximum speed of . The ship carried of coal , enough to steam at . " Active " was ship rigged and had a sail area of . The lower masts were made of iron , but the other masts were wood . The ship ' s best speed under sail alone was . Her funnel was semi - retractable to reduce wind resistance and her propeller could be hoisted up into the stern of the ship to reduce drag while under sail . The ship was initially armed with a mix of 7 - inch and 64 - pounder 64 cwt rifled muzzle - loading guns . The six guns and two of the four 64 - pounders were mounted on the broadside while the other two were mounted on the forecastle and poop deck as chase gun s . In 1879 , ten BL 6 - inch 80 - pounder breech - loading guns replaced all the broadside weapons . Two carriages for torpedoes were added as well . Service . HMS " Active " was laid down in 1867 and launched on 13 March 1869 . The ship was completed in March 1871 at a total cost of £126 , 156 . Of this , £85 , 795 was spent on her hull and £40 , 361 on her machinery . Unlike her sister ship , " Active " was placed in reserve after completion until 1873 when she was commissioned to serve as the flagship of the Commander - in - Chief , Cape of Good Hope and West Coast of Africa Station , Commodore William Hewett . The ship participated in naval operations during the Third Anglo - Ashanti War of 1874 and some of her crew were landed to reinforce the forces ashore . Commodore Francis Sullivan replaced Hewett in 1876 and he retained command until 1879 when the ship returned home to refit . Zulu War . Between 19 November 1878 and 21 July 1879 , during the Anglo - Zulu War , 173 men of " Active " ( along with men from , and ) served ashore as part of a 858 - man Naval Brigade . The group from " Active " comprised 10 officers , 100 seamen , 5 idlers , 42 Marines , 14 Kroomen , and 2 medical attendants . In addition to small arms , they were equipped with two 12 - pounder breech - loading guns , 24 - pounder rockets , and a Gatling gun . The 12 - pounders were exchanged for two of the Army ' s 7 - pounder mountain guns before entering Zululand . Attached to the No . 1 Column commanded by Colonel Charles Pearson , they crossed the Tugela River from Natal into Zululand on 12 January 1879 . On 22 January they saw action in the Battle of Inyezane , driving off an attacking force of Zulus with rockets , Martini - Henry rifle s and the Gatling gun . The same day the British main force was defeated at the Battle of Isandlwana , and so Pearson ' s column advanced to Eshowe , were it was besieged for two months , until relieved on 3 April . During the campaign , " Active " s crew suffered only one man killed , and nine wounded in action against the enemy , while nine died of disease during the siege , and one man drowned while crossing the Tugela . In 1881 the South Africa Medal was awarded to those members of " Active " s crew that had served there . Training Squadron . " Active " was rearmed and refitted in 1879 and placed in reserve until she was selected in 1885 to be the commodore ' s flagship in the newly formed Training Squadron . " Active " was the last square - rigged naval ship to leave Portsmouth Harbour under sail . She was paid off in 1898 and was sold for scrap on 10 July 1906 . A memorial to the men of " Active " who lost their lives during the African campaigns can be found in Victoria Park , Portsmouth .