Jump to content

HMS Hyacinth (1829)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hyacinth and Volage engage Chinese war junks, 3 November 1839
History
Royal Navy EnsignUnited Kingdom
NameHMS Hyacinth
Ordered10 June 1823
BuilderPlymouth Dockyard
Cost£17,361 including fitting[Note 1][1]
Laid downMarch 1826
Launched6 May 1829
Commissioned12 January 1830
Fate
  • Coal hulk at Portland, November 1860
  • Breaking completed in November 1871
General characteristics [1]
Class and typeFavorite-class ship sloop
Tons burthen429 40/94 bm
Length
  • 109 ft 6 in (33.4 m) (gundeck)
  • 86 ft 9+12 in (26.5 m) (keel)
Beam30 ft 9 in (9.4 m) oa
Depth of hold12 ft 9 in (3.9 m)
Sail planFull-rigged ship
Complement125
Armament
External image
image icon A contemporary 1:60 full hull model of Hyacinth at the National Maritime Museum

HMS Hyacinth was an 18-gun Royal Navy ship sloop. She was launched in 1829 and surveyed the north-eastern coast of Australia under Francis Price Blackwood during the mid-1830s. She took part in the First Opium War, destroying, with HMS Volage, 29 Chinese junks. She became a coal hulk at Portland in 1860 and was broken up in 1871.

Design and construction

[edit]

Hyacinth was the second of four Favorite-class ship sloops, which were a ship-rigged and lengthened version of the 1796 Cruizer-class brig-sloop. All four ships of the class were ordered on 10 June 1823 and Hyacinth was laid down at Plymouth Dockyard in March 1826. She was launched on 6 May 1829 and commissioned for the West Indies Station on 12 January 1830.[1]

Dimensions

[edit]

Hyacinth measured 109 ft 6 in (33.4 m) along the gun deck by 30 ft 9 in (9.4 m) in the beam, and had a tonnage of 429 40/94 bm.[1] She was flush-decked with a small forecastle and quarterdeck.

Armament

[edit]

She was armed with sixteen 32-pounder carronades and two 9-pounder bow chaser guns.[1]

Service

[edit]

During her 42-year career, she was stationed in the West and East Indies from 1829–41, took part in the First Opium War from 1841–42, and from 1843-46 was stationed off the west coast of Africa in the suppression of the slave trade. After being reduced to 14 guns in 1848,[1] she later became a coal hulk at Portsmouth.[1] On 2 October 1871, Hyacinth drove ashore and sank in the Clarence Creek.[2] She was subsequently broken up.[1]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ A total cost accounting for inflation of approximately £1,929,700 in today's money.

Citations

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Winfield (2004) p.118
  2. ^ "Naval and Military News". Hampshire Telegraph. No. 4083. Portsmouth. 4 October 1871.

References

[edit]
  • Winfield, R.; Lyon, D. (2004). The Sail and Steam Navy List: All the Ships of the Royal Navy 1815–1889. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-032-6. OCLC 52620555.
[edit]