Scorpion - class ironclad The two Scorpion class ironclad s , and , were ordered by the Confederate States Navy in 1862 and seized in 1863 by the British to prevent their delivery . This would have violated the Foreign Enlistment Act , which forbade British subjects to build or arm any ships for governments at war with governments friendly to Great Britain . The " Scorpion " - class were masted turret ship s , each with two gun turret s that were designed to mount a pair of heavy muzzle - loading guns . They were purchased for service in the Royal Navy in 1864 and served briefly with the Channel Fleet before they became guard ship s at Bermuda and Hong Kong . " Scorpion " was sold in 1903 and sank under tow to be scrapped , while " Wivern " was sold for scrap in 1922 . Design and description . In March 1862 , a contract was placed with Laird & Son Co . by Captain James D . Bulloch , a naval agent for the Confederate States of America , for two double - turreted warships designed for ramming attacks at a cost of £93 , 750 each , exclusive of armament and ammunition . They were intended , together with other warships , to break the Federal blockade of Confederate coastal cities and to hold some Northern cities for ransom . The ships had an length between perpendiculars of , a beam of , and a draught of at deep load . They displaced . The hull was divided by 12 watertight bulkheads and the ships had a double bottom beneath the engine and boiler room s . Their crew consisted of 152 officers and men . The gun turret s , designed by Captain Coles of the Royal Navy , sat on circular turntables that were built on an iron radial platform with arms that rested on beveled wheels in diameter . Each turret required a crew of 18 men to rotate them via a system of rack and pinion gears ; one minute was required for a full 360° rotation . They could be rotated from inside the turret as well from outside . In emergencies the turret could be turned by a block and tackle as well as use of handspike s . A leather flap extended around the bottom of the turret and over the gap between the turret and the deck to reduce any water leakage through the gap . Like most contemporary ironclads they were fitted with a forged iron ram . The ships had of freeboard that could be increased by hinged bulwarks abreast the turrets . In service the ships proved to be buoyant and seaworthy although they rolled heavily which meant that their decks were often awash . Their flat bottom and small rudder , however , caused steering problems before the wind . Because of their seaworthiness and powerful guns they have been judged superior to any monitor built by the United States Navy . Propulsion . The " Scorpion " - class ships had two horizontal direct acting steam engines , built by Lairds , driving a single three - bladed , propeller . Their engines were powered by four tubular boilers at a working pressure of . The engines produced a total of which gave the ships a maximum speed of . " Wivern " reached a maximum speed just over during her sea trials on 4 October 1865 . The ships carried of coal , enough to steam at . The ships were barque - rigged with three masts . " Scorpion " had conventional shroud s to anchor the masts in place , but " Wivern " was the first ship to have tripod masts to reduce interference with the firing arcs of the gun turret s . The funnel was made semi - retractable to reduce wind resistance while under sail . Armament . No ordnance had been ordered by the Confederates before the ships were seized in 1863 , but in British service they mounted a pair of 9 - inch rifled muzzle - loading guns in each turret . The shell of the gun weighed while the gun itself weighed . The gun fired its shell at a muzzle velocity of and was credited with the ability to penetrate a nominal of wrought iron armour at . The guns could fire both solid shot and explosive shells . According to Parkes , going from full depression to full elevation supposedly took one hour in smooth water and with an even keel ! Armour . The " Scorpion " - class ships had a complete waterline belt of wrought iron that was thick amidships and thinned to at the bow and at the stern . It completely covered the hull from the upper deck to below the waterline . The armour protection of the polygonal turrets was quite elaborate . The inside of the turret was lined with of iron boiler plate to which T - shaped beams were bolted . The space between the beams was filled with of teak . This was covered by an iron lattice thick that was covered in turn by of teak . The iron plates were bolted to the outside using bolts that ran through to the interior iron " skin " . The area around the gun ports was reinforced by 4 . 5 - inch plates to give a total thickness of 10 inches . The turret roof consisted of T - shaped beams covered by iron plates . Holes in the roof were provided for ventilation and for the gun captain to use to aim the turret . Construction . In his letter of 29 October 1862 , Navy Secretary Stephen Mallory named yard number 294 as " North Carolina " and number 295 as " Mississippi " . In January 1863 the Foreign Secretary , Lord Russell , notified Bulloch , who had purchased the ships in his own name , that the ships would be prevented from sailing if they were doing so to form part of the fleet of a nation currently at war . Bulloch therefore transferred ownership to some French bankers in June 1863 , nominally on behalf of the Egyptian government , with the intention of transferring them to the Confederate flag once they were at sea . The Khedive was attempting to acquire warships , so this was superficially plausible . " North Carolina " , later HMS " Scorpion " , was given the cover name of " El Toussan " and " Mississippi " , later HMS " Wivern " , received the name of " El Monnassir " . Lord Russel , prompted by the protests of the U . S . Ambassador , Charles F . Adams queried the Egyptian government directly and confirmed that this was merely a subterfuge to disguise the true ownership of the vessels . The Admiralty was prompted to send a guard ship , , to watch over the newly launched " El Toussan " after Lairds had made a request to begin sea trials in September . The Liverpool Collector of Customs was instructed not to let the ship leave her graving dock under any circumstances and the Surveyor of Customs finally seized the ships on 9 October . The legality of this seizure was seriously disputed , but the British government had already been somewhat embarrassed by the activities of the " Alabama " , a ship also built by Laird Son & Co and operated as a commerce raider by the Confederate Navy . In order to overshadow discussions as to the legality of their action , the British government purchased the ships on 8 August 1864 for £25 , 000 in excess of the contract price . Service . Both ships were assigned to the Channel Fleet upon commissioning in 1865 . " Scorpion " was refitted in 1867 with a flying bridge that connected the forecastle to the poop , above the tops of the turrets , and her sailing rig was reduced to a fore - and - aft rig . The ship recommissioned in 1868 for another tour with the Channel Fleet . She arrived in Bermuda in November 1869 where she became the local guard ship . In 1873 a proposal was made to remove her poop and forecastle , masts and deck fitting to convert her to a harbour defence monitor with all - around fire , but this was deemed too expensive and the project was abandoned in 1878 . At some point during her service in Bermuda her rigging was removed and she was reduced to simple pole masts . The ship was fitted with searchlights and quick - firing gun s in 1890 . " Scorpion " was sunk as a target in 1901 ; she was raised in 1902 and sold in February 1903 for £736 . She sank while under tow to Boston , Massachusetts . " Wivern " burst one of her 9 - inch guns in 1867 , but none of the 13 people in the turret was injured . She was given the same sort of refit as her sister ship in Devonport beginning in August 1868 . The ship became the guard ship at Hull from January through October 1870 and was then placed in reserve from 1870 until 1880 . That year she was sent to Hong Kong where she became the harbour defence ship . " Wivern " became a distilling ship in 1898 and was sold in May 1922 for scrap .