Summary
HMS Constance was a 50-gun fourth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy launched on 12 May 1846. She had a tonnage of 2,132 and was designed with a V-shaped hull by Sir William Symonds.[1][2] She was also one of the last class of frigates designed by him.[3] On her shakedown voyage from England to Valparaiso she rounded Cape Horn in good trim, her captain for this voyage being Sir Baldwin Wake Walker, who commented "I think her a good sea boat, and a fine man of war". On the voyage she encountered a hurricane at 62° south. Walker wrote that "nothing could have exceeded the way she went over it, not even straining a rope yarn".[4] In August 1848, her captain George William Courtenay, for whom the town of Courtenay was named,[5] led 250 sailors and marines from Fort Victoria to try to intimidate the Indians.[6]
 Constance off Rame Head heading into Plymouth, by Richard Brydges Beechey
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | HMS Constance |
| Ordered | 31 March 1843 |
| Builder | Pembroke Dockyard |
| Laid down | October 1843 |
| Launched | 12 May 1846 |
| Completed | 28 June 1846 |
| Reclassified | Converted to screw frigate between 1860-62 at Devonport Dockyard |
| Refit | 1862 |
| Fate | Sold for breaking up on 23 January 1875 |
| General characteristics As ordered | |
| Class and type | 50-gun Constance-class fourth-rate frigate |
| Tons burthen | 2,125 75/94 bm |
| Length |
|
| Beam | 52 ft 8 in (16.1 m) |
| Depth of hold | 16 ft 3 in (4.95 m) |
| Propulsion | Sails |
| Sail plan | Full-rigged ship |
| Complement | 500 |
| Armament |
|
| General characteristics After 1860-62 refit | |
| Class and type | 50-gun fourth-rate frigate |
| Displacement | 3,786 tons |
| Tons burthen | 3,212 bm |
| Length |
|
| Beam | 53 ft (16.2 m) |
| Draught |
|
| Depth of hold | 17 ft 1 in (5.21 m) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Sail plan | Full-rigged ship |
In 1848, she became the first Royal Naval vessel to use Esquimalt as her base.[7]
In 1859, she was involved in the bombardment of Dwarka in the state of Gujarat in north western India.
In 1862, she was converted to screw propulsion using a compound steam engine[8] designed by Randolph & Elder.[9] She was the first Royal Naval ship to be fitted with this class of engine, and won a race against two frigates from Plymouth to Madeira in 1865.[10]
Her crew and officers were quarantined aboard whilst berthed at Port Royal on 26 October 1867 during an outbreak of Yellow Fever[11]
References edit
- ^ Mariner's pp 64–68
- ^ Reports from Committees: Eighteen volumes. -(15. part II.)- Navy, Army and Ordnance Estimates: Part II (Report). London: House of Commons. 1848. p. 859.
- ^ Brock p26
- ^ Sharp p698
- ^ Akrigg p54
- ^ Gough p46
- ^ Akrigg p52
- ^ Rankine p445
- ^ Gardiner p174
- ^ The Race p90
- ^ times and gazette p467
Bibliography edit
- Brock, P. W. & Greenhill, Basil Steam and sail: in Britain and North America: 80 photographs mainly from the National Maritime Museum depicting British and North American naval, merchant, and special purpose vessels of the period of transition from sail to steam Pyne Press, 1973
- Sharp, James A. Memoirs of the life and services of Rear-Admiral Sir William Symonds Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans & Roberts 1858
- Rankine, William John Macquorn Miscellaneous Scientific Papers: From the Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal and Other Scientific and Philosophical Societies Adamant. 4 June 2001. ISBN 978-1-4021-7192-5
- Gardiner, Robert Steam, steel & shellfire: the steam warship, 1815-1905 Conway Maritime Press. 20 June 2001. ISBN 978-0-85177-564-7
- Akrigg, G. P. V. Akrigg, Helen B. British Columbia place names University of British Columbia Press; 3rd edition. 31 December 1997. ISBN 978-0-7748-0637-4
- Gough, Barry M. Gunboat Frontier: British Maritime Authority and Northwest Coast Indians, 1846-1890 University of British Columbia Press. 1st edition. 1 January 1984. ISBN 0-7748-0175-1
- Mariner's mirror The Mariner's mirror, Volume 73 Society for Nautical Research., 1987
- The medical times and gazette John Churchill & Sons. 1867
- The Race The annual of the Royal School of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering Henry Sotheran & Co. 1871.
- Jones, Colin (1996). "Entente Cordiale, 1865". In McLean, David & Preston, Antony (eds.). Warship 1996. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-685-X.
External links edit
Media related to HMS Constance (ship, 1846) at Wikimedia Commons
