1775 TO 1947
HMS SULTAN I AND II
The first HMS Sultan, launched on 23rd December 1775, was a third rate seventy four gun ship of the line, displacing 1614 tons. During the American war of Independence, much of the action was centered in and around the West Indies and it was there that Sultan first saw action against the French who had signed a treaty with the United States.
Following a short refit, HMS Sultan was re-commissioned in May 1781, for service in the East Indies. There, in the space of fifteen months, Sultan was involved in four of the five hard fought but indecisive actions against the French, earning battle honours in 1782 off Providien, at Negapatam and in the third action, off Trincomalee. On the 31st May 1785 she paid off at Portsmouth, the days of her active employment at sea at an end.
The Second HMS SULTAN, like her forebear a seventy four gun third rate, displacing 1751 tons, was launched at Deptford on the 19th September 1807 and was commissioned on the 14th October of that year. On completion of fitting out, the new Sultan was dispatched to the Mediterranean to join Lord Collingwood's fleet blockading Toulon.
Sultan returned home towards the end of 1812 and, after refitting, joined the Channel Fleet. She saw no further action, and on the 18th March 1815 paid off into reserve at Portsmouth. Here she lay `in ordinary', her armament and stores landed and her masts taken out, for another forty three years until 1858 when she was declared 'non-effective' and reclassed as a receiving hulk. HMS Sultan served in this last menial role for some five years until she was sold for breaking up in January 1864, having been included in the Navy list for fifty seven years of which only seven had been spent in active employment at sea!
HMS SULTAN III
The third HMS Sultan was an ironclad Battleship of 9,290 tons, with a length of 325 feet and a beam of 59 feet, she could produce 7,720 horse power, obtaining a speed of 14.13 knots. She was launched on 31st May 1870 and commissioned in 1871. She was to be named HMS Triumph, at almost the last minute the name was changed to "Sultan", in honour of the Sultan AZIZI of Turkey, who was on a state visit to Britain at the time. The new Sultan was fitted out with her armament comprising eight, eighteen ton 10 inch muzzle loading rifles (MLRs), four, twelve and a half ton 9 inch MLRs and seven 20 pounder breech loading guns, with armour iron of 9 inch, 8 inch, and 6 inch.
Sultan was in action during Russo-Turkish war when England was standing by to keep the Straits of Dardanelle open. Sultan returned to Portsmouth to "pay off" on the 14th June 1878 and after a lengthy refitting, was re-commissioned on the 20th April 1882, Sultan returned to the Mediterranean and, on the 11th July was present at the bombardment of Alexandria where she gained further battle honours. Here she damaged her sheet anchor, another casualty resulting from the Egyptian gunfire. This anchor now lies inside Caledonia Gate in the present HMS Sultan.
In 1893, however, the unexpected decision was taken and, over the next three years, £200,000 was spent in `modernising' the ageing Sultan. Little could be done to update the central battery muzzle-loading main armament, but her anti-torpedo boat defence was improved by installing 4.7 inch quick-firing guns together with thirty two smaller quick-firing machine guns. At the same time the heavy sailing rig was replaced by a pair of military masts, two tall oval sectioned funnels and numerous cowl vents completed the modern illusion.
Reclassified as a third-class battleship, Sultan commissioned for the annual manoeuvres of 1896 but thereafter she paid off and was laid up in reserve in the Portsmouth Steam Basin (now number three basin). Thus it appeared that the thirty four year old SULTAN along with some thirteen other outdated battleships was destined at last for the ship-breaker’s yard.
HMS SULTAN IV
The fourth HMS Sultan was a tunnel-stern river steamer, commissioned on the River Niger in 1876. She was in fact built for the Anglo-Egyptian expedition under Kitchener which took part in the "River War" which ended at Omdurman and Fashoda. She was not therefore a Royal Naval vessel, though manned by a Royal Naval crew and flew the Egyptian flag. She was built by Yarrow's, her armament consisted of two, twelve pounder guns mounted on an elevated battery deck, together with two, six maxim guns, and a 3.7 inch howitzer mounted on the bow. She was returned to the Egyptians after less than one month's service and reported to be lost by gunfire in 1877.
HMS SULTAN V
Although the third Sultan reverted to her former name early in 1932 and retained it hereafter until she was sold for breaking up in 1946, she was not in fact re-commissioned an HM Ship. Thus when HMS Sultan (number five) re-appeared in the Navy List early in 1940 it had been given to a new naval base then being built alongside the dockyard on Singapore island. Lost to the Japanese in February 1942, the Singapore base was re-commissioned under the same name in 1945 following the British re-occupation of the island. It was decided that in March 1947 the name would be changed to HMS Terror and as such the base remained in commission until the final run down of the British presence in Singapore in 1971. The base then was used as an ANZUK base.