HMS Inconstant ( 1868 ) HMS " Inconstant " was an iron screw frigate of the Royal Navy . She was launched on 12 November 1868 and became a training ship in 1906 , renamed " Impregnable II " . She became the Navy ' s torpedo school ship in January 1922 and was renamed " Defiance IV " , and " Defiance II " in December 1930 , before being finally scrapped in 1956 . She was the first of three steam - assisted but fully masted frigates with iron hulls , sheathed with a double layer of wood , that were built for the Royal Navy . The " Inconstant " was designed by Sir Edward Reed ; she had a displacement of 5 , 782 tons , a length of 337 ft 4 in ( between perpendiculars ) , a beam of , and a draught of On her trials , her 2 - cylinder horizontal single expansion trunk engine produced , producing a speed of . She carried a complement of 600 officers and men . Building Programme . The following table gives the build details and purchase cost of the " Inconstant " and the other two iron frigates of the Royal Navy : " Raleigh " and " Shah " . Standard British practice at that time was for these costs to exclude armament and stores . ( Note that costs quoted by J . W . King were in US dollars . ) < nowiki > * < / nowiki > Date first commissioned . Career . The following information on " Inconstant ' s " career is fragmentary . " Inconstant " was first commissioned at Portsmouth on 12 August 1869 by Captain Elphinstone D ' Oyly D ' Auvergne Aplin , who commanded her until September 1870 . During this time " Inconstant " served in the Channel Squadron . " Inconstant ' s " next captain was Charles Waddilove . She served in the 1871 " Detached Squadron " , commanded by Rear Admiral Frederick Beauchamp Paget Seymour , which she joined at Gibraltar and then travelled to Portland ( 13 Aug ) - Copenhagen ( 23 - 27 Aug ) - Carlscrone ( 1 - 4 Sep ) - Christiania ( 9 - 14 Sep ) - Trontheim - Bergen ( 25 - 27 Sep ) - Kirkwall - Firth of Forth ( 4 - 7 Oct ) , finally arriving at Spithead on 11 October 1871 . The vessels in the squadron were as follows : From 5 February to 11 March 1880 , " Inconstant " was commanded by Captain Lord Walter Talbot Kerr , and served as the flagship of Vice - Admiral Frederick Beauchamp Paget Seymour , in the Mediterranean Fleet . From August 1880 to 1882 " Inconstant " was again in the " Detached Squadron " , this time as flagship first of Rear Admiral Richard James , 4th Earl of Clanwilliam until he was invalided out at Hong Hong , and then from 6 December 1881 to 17 October 1882 of Rear Admiral Sir Francis Sullivan . " Inconstant ' s " captain at this time was Charles Cooper Penrose Fitzgerald . The " Detached Squadron " left Spithead on 17 October 1880 travelling to : Vigo ( 24 - 31 Oct ) - Madeira ( 6 - 10 Nov ) - St Vincent ( 20 Nov ) - Montevideo ( 22 Dec - 9 Jan 1881 ) - Falkland Islands ( 24 - 25 Jan ) - Cape of Good Hope ( 16 Feb - 9 Apr ; 1st Boer war ) - Melbourne ( 22 May ) - Adelaide ( 9 Jul ) - Sydney ( 14 Jul - 9 Aug ) - Brisbane ( 16 - 20 Aug ) - Fiji ( 3 - 10 Sep ) - Yokohama ( 21 Oct - 1 Nov ) - Kobe ( 4 - 12 Nov ) - Shimonoseki ( 14 - 16 Nov ) - Shanghai ( 23 Nov ) - Amoy ( 15 Dec ) - Hong Kong ( 20 Dec - 11 Feb 1882 ) - Singapore ( 2 Mar ) - Anjer , Java ( 6 - 8 Mar ) - Cape Town ( 16 May ) - St Vincent ( 20 – 22 June ) - Spithead ( 10 Oct 1882 ) . It is claimed that on 11 July 1881 , Prince George of Wales ( later King George V of England ) sighted a phantom ship whilst travelling on the " Inconstant " between Melbourne and Sydney . Two other ships , travelling with the " Inconstant " , HMS " Tourmaline " and HMS " Cleopatra " , also reported seeing the phantom ship . The " Detached Squadron " consisted of : In 1898 " Inconstant " was reduced to harbour service . She was renamed " Impregnable III " in 1907 , then " Defiance IV " in 1922 , and " Defiance II " in 1930 . She was scrapped in 1956 .