HMS Enterprise ( 1864 ) The seventh HMS " Enterprise " of the Royal Navy was an armoured sloop launched in 1864 at Deptford Dockyard . Originally laid down as a wooden screw sloop of the " Camelion " class , she was redesigned by Edward Reed and completed as a central battery ironclad . The ship spent the bulk of her career assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet before returning to England in 1871 where she was paid off . " Enterprise " was sold for scrap in 1885 . Design and description . The ship had a length between perpendiculars of , a beam of , and a draught of at deep load . She displaced . Her crew consisted of 130 officers and men . " Enterprise " s wooden hull was remodeled shortly after she was laid down ; she was given a plough - shaped ram bow and a semi - circular stern . The ship had only two decks : the main deck , very close to the ship ' s waterline , and the upper deck which carried her armament , about above the waterline . She was the first ship of composite construction in the Royal Navy , with iron upperworks . Propulsion . " Enterprise " had a Ravenhill , Salkeld & Co . direct - acting horizontal single - expansion 2 - cylinder direct acting steam engine driving a single propeller . Steam was provided by a pair of tubular boilers . The engine produced which gave the ship a maximum speed around . " Enterprise " carried of coal . As built , her funnel was mounted in the middle of the battery for protection , which impaired the working of her guns until it was relocated forward of the battery in November 1864 . She was barque - rigged with three masts and had a sail area of . Her best speed under sail and steam was . Armament . " Enterprise " was armed with two 100 - pounder smoothbore , muzzle - loading Somerset cannon and two rifled 110 - pounder breech - loading guns . The breech - loading guns were of a new design from Armstrong and much was hoped for them . Firing tests carried out in September 1861 against an armoured target , however , proved that the 110 - pounder was inferior to the 68 - pounder smoothbore gun in armour penetration , and repeated incidents of breech explosions during the Battles for Shimonoseki and the Bombardment of Kagoshima in 1863 – 64 caused the navy to withdraw the guns from service shortly afterwards . In an attempt to provide axial fire the sides of the hull at the upper deck level were cut away in front and behind the battery and covered by a bulwark . The bulwark hinged inwards and covered a gun port though which a gun could traverse and fire . While providing better coverage than the traditional broadside layout this still left a 120° arc forward and another aft on which no gun could bear . The solid shot of the Somerset gun weighed approximately while the gun itself weighed . The gun had a velocity of at and had a range of . The shell of the 110 - pounder Armstrong breech - loader weighed . It had a muzzle velocity of and , at an elevation of 11 . 25° , a maximum range of . The 110 - pounder gun weighed . All of the guns could fire both solid shot and explosive shells . Both guns were mounted on wooden gun carriage s with slides " which were difficult to traverse even on an even keel ; in a seaway few captains would have run the risk of casting them loose . " " Enterprise " was rearmed during her 1868 refit with four rifled muzzle - loading guns . The 16 - calibre 7 - inch gun weighed and fired a shell . It was credited with the ability to penetrate armour . Armour . " Enterprise " had a complete waterline belt of wrought iron that was thick . It protected only the main deck and was shallow , reaching just below the waterline . The guns were protected by a section of 4 . 5 - inch armour , long , and by 4 . 5 - inch transverse bulkheads . The armour was backed by of teak wood . The total weight of her armour was . Service . The ship was laid down on 5 May 1862 at the Royal Dockyard in Deptford , England , as the 17 - gun sloop " Circassian " . She was renamed " Enterprise " in July 1862 and reclassified as an armoured corvette . Construction had barely begun before she was redesigned with an iron upper hull as well as armoured sides and battery . The ship was launched on 9 February 1864 , commissioned on 5 May 1864 and completed on 3 June 1864 . She cost £62 , 474 to build . " Enterprise " initially served with the Channel Fleet , but was transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet where she remained until 1871 when she returned to England . She was refitted and rearmed at Malta in 1868 . Upon her return the ship was paid off into 4th Class Reserve in August 1871 at Sheerness . " Enterprise " was sold for scrap in 1885 for £2 , 072 .