HMS Hecate was the last ship completed of the four breastwork monitors built for the Royal Navy during the 1870s.
Design and description The Cyclops-class ships were modified versions of the Cerberus class.Parkes, p. 212 The ships had a length between perpendiculars of , a beam of , and a draught of at deep load. They displaced . Their crew consisted of 156 officers and men.Parkes, p. 213 Hydra had two 4-cylinder inverted compound steam engines, each driving a single propeller shaft. The engines produced a total of during the ship's sea trials which gave her a maximum speed of . The ships carried of coal,Ballard, pp. 246–49 enough to steam at .Silverstone, p. 169
The ships mounted four 10-inch rifled muzzle-loading guns in twin-gun turrets fore and aft of the superstructure. The guns could fire both solid shot and explosive shells.Roberts, p. 6 They were mounted on carriages that used hydraulic jacks to elevate and depress the guns.
The Cyclops class had a complete waterline belt of wrought iron that was thick amidships and thinned to at the ends. The superstructure and conning tower was fully armoured, the reason it was called a breastwork, with of wrought iron. The gun turrets had 10 inches on their faces and 9 inches on the sides and rear. All of the vertical armour was backed by of teak. The decks were thick.Parkes, pp. 213–14
Construction Together with her sister ships, and , she was placed on the non-effective list of ships in January 1902, and sold for scrap the following year.
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