HMS Hercules was a central-battery ironclad of the Royal Navy in the Victorian era, and was the first warship to mount a main armament of calibre guns. Design She was designed by Sir Edward Reed, and was in all significant factors an enlarged version of his earlier creation with thicker armour and heavier guns. She had a pointed ram where previous ships had sported a rounded one; she was built with a forecastle, but had no poop until fitted with one as preparation for her role as Flagship, Mediterranean Fleet. She carried a balanced rudder, which reduced the physical effort of turning the wheel. Steam-powered steering was installed in 1874. The arrangement of the guns precluded the usual arrangement where the anchor cable led into the main deck; in Hercules these cables led into the upper deck; she was the first battleship to be so fitted. Armament She was the first warship to carry the new muzzle-loading rifle, which were ranged four on either side in a box battery. The foremost and aftermost guns could be traversed to fire to within a few degrees of the line of the keel through recessed embrasures in the battery walls. These guns, each of which weighed 18 tons, fired a shell weighing 400 pounds with a muzzle velocity of . A well-trained crew could fire one shot every 70 seconds. A gun was placed on the mid-line on the main at stem and stern to provide end-on fire, and the guns were mounted either side fore and aft on the upper deck, with firing embrasures cut to allow either end-on or broadside fire. She carried two torpedo carriages for Whitehead torpedoes on the main deck from 1878. Service history She was commissioned at Chatham, and served in the Channel Fleet until 1874. In 1870 five of her 10-inch guns were damaged when shells burst before leaving the guns' barrels. In 1872 it was reported that three of the 10 inch guns were damaged. In July 1871 she successfully towed off Pearl Rock (Gibraltar). She was anchored at Funchal, Madeira, on Christmas Day 1872, when a storm parted the anchor chain of and the ship drifted onto the ram bow of the Hercules. Northumberland was seriously damaged below the waterline, with one compartment flooded, though she was able to steam to Malta for repairs. Hercules, on the other hand sustained damage to bottom and