Neptune, 1874
Type: Battle Ship, 1st Class, Armoured ; late Turret ship. Iron, Armour-plated ; Armament 6 x 12.5 "
Launched : 1874 ; Displacement: 9310 tons
Propulsion: Screw Complement: 485
Machinery notes: 8000 hpi ; Speed ; 14.2 knots ;
Notes:

1879 Portsmouth. Officers borne in Asia.

Apr 1886 Ordered to Portsmouth

8 May 1886 Serving in Greek Waters. See Temeraire for more detail.

19 June 1886 Malta. Left for Portsmouth today.

21 May 1887 Commissioned at Portsmouth, with crew turned over from "Hotspur".

1890 Ship of First Reserve. Coast Guard Service, Holyhead.

1890 Tender: "Foxhound" ; Coast Guard Cruiser: "Margaret"

Jul 1890 Petty Officer 1st Class J. B. Boyd, of the Neptune, awarded LS & GC Medal.

13 May 1900. The announcement that the Admiralty have determines to spend �26,000 on the old battleships Neptune and Inflexible to adapt them for "home service" has caused much comment in naval circles. What will be the use of them when they are supposed to be ready for sea? Both rank nominally as second class battleships, and both are armed with muzzle-loading guns. Certainly those of the Inflexible are the 81 ton guns about which so much fuss has been made ever since their introduction into the service. It is not without its significance, however, that no other vessel in the Navy is armed with them. Four 6-pounder and two 3-pounder guns represent the quick-firing armament of the Inflexible; that of the Neptune consists of six 6-pounders and eight 3-pounders. The nominal speed of the Inflexible 12.8 knots, and this the Neptune is supposed to be able to exceed by about three-quarters of a knot. The armour of the Inflexible is certainly thick, but it covers the redoubt alone - that is about one-third of the length of the ship. The Neptune's armour is not so thick ; but there is a water line belt, extending the whole length of the ship. She has, however, only a single screw ; and it is difficult to imagine the circumstances under which it would be justifiable in these days to send either ship into action. In every dockyard work on new construction is delay by the scarcity of mechanics, and several of the ships that were laid down on the eve of the present financial year are to be advanced by slow stages, not because there is a death of material, but because there is a shortage of hands. Ti divert men from new ships that they may waste their time on such vessels as the Inflexible and Neptune is not suggestive of profound wisdom, for while we shall inevitably want the new battleships and cruisers, se shall never want the decayed fossils that ought to have been placed on the sale list years ago.