Scale 1:48. A contemporary full hull model of HMS ‘Inflexible’ (1876), an armoured twin turret battleship. Constructed in the builder’s style, the model is decked, rigged and equipped including a full set of boats rigged to davits over the stern quarters. Built in answer to the Italian battleship ‘Duilio’, in which a heavily armoured central citadel enclosed two turrets placed diagonally, the ‘Inflexible’ was a ship of extremes. Its main armament was two pairs of 16-inch 80-ton muzzle loading guns, which were the heaviest in the Navy. Added to this, the 24-inch thick iron citadel armour, backed by 17 inches of teak along the waterline, was the thickest ever put afloat.

Other groundbreaking innovations included the first ship in the navy to be lit by electric lighting, she was also fitted with submerged torpedo tubes and probably the most notable feature was the underwater amour deck running from the ram bow to the stern.

Under the command of Admiral Sir John Fisher, the ‘Inflexible’ took part in the bombardment of Alexandria, an action that was to last for over ten hours and firing over eighty-eight 16-inch shells. It had a further spell of duty in the Mediterranean before returning to Portsmouth as guard ship. It was eventually placed in reserve in 1897 and withdrawn in 1903 and scrapped.