HMS Lord Warden was the second and last ship of the wooden-hulled of armoured frigates built for the Royal Navy (RN) during the 1860s. She and her sister ship, , were the heaviest wooden ships ever built and were also the fastest steaming wooden ships. They were also the slowest-sailing ironclads in the RN. After a brief deployment with the Channel Squadron upon commissioning in 1867, Lord Warden was transferred to the Mediterranean Squadron later that year. She became the squadron flagship in 1869 and retained that duty until 1875 when she returned home for a refit. Upon recommissioning the following year, the ship became the guardship of the First Reserve in the Firth of Forth. Lord Warden was mobilised in 1878 when war with Russia seemed imminent during the Russo-Turkish War. She was paid off in 1885 and broken up in 1889. Design and description Lord Warden was long between perpendiculars and had a beam of . The ship had a draught of forward and aft. She displaced and had a tonnage of 4,080 tons burthen. Lord Warden had a low centre of gravity which meant that she rolled very badly; she was said to be second only to her sister as the worst roller in the Victorian fleet. This characteristic was so dramatic that when the rolling propensities of ships were compared, it was usual to say "as bad a roller as the ", the Lord Clydes being beyond compare. In sea trials in 1867 with , Lord Warden was taking water through her gun ports, while Bellerophon could have fought her main armament in safety. She was, however, very handy and sailed well in all weathers under sail or steam. Her crew consisted of 605 officers and ratings. Propulsion The ship had a single three-cylinder horizontal-return, connecting-rod steam engine, made by Maudslay, Sons and Field, that drove a single propeller using steam provided by nine rectangular boilers. The engine produced during sea trials on 13 September 1867 which gave Lord Warden a speed of under steam. The engine proved to be the most powerful and the most reliable ever placed in a wooden hull for the Royal Navy. She carried a maximum of of coal. Lord Warden was ship-rigged with three masts and had a sail area of . To reduce drag, the funnels were telescopic and could be lowered. Her best speed under sail alone was