View source for HMS Seahorse (1880)

{{Other ships|HMS Seahorse}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin |infobox caption=}} <!-- warships except submarines --><!-- caption: yes, nodab, or <caption text> -->
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|Ship image=HMS Howe being towed into Emsenanda de la Malata by HMS Seahorse with salvage steamers alongside RMG BHC3410 02.jpg
|Ship image size=
|Ship caption=HMS ''Seahorse''
}}
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|Ship country=[[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]]
|Ship flag=[[File:Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg|60px|Royal Navy Ensign]]
|Ship name=HMS ''Seahorse'' (pennant W.72 from 1918)<ref name="navalhistory" />
|Ship owner=
|Ship namesake=[[seahorse]]
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=[[Laird Brothers]]<ref name="navalhistory" /><ref name="Winfield" />
|Ship yard number=471<ref name="Miramar" />
|Ship laid down=
|Ship launched=7 July 1880<ref name="navalhistory"/><ref name="Miramar" />
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned= 20 January 1881<ref name="pbenyon">{{cite web | url = http://www.pbenyon.plus.com/18-1900/S/04187.html | title= Seahorse, 1881 | work = P. Benyon Naval Database | accessdate=30 May 2015|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170810152640/http://www.pbenyon.plus.com/18-1900/S/04187.html |archivedate=10 August 2017 }}</ref>
|Ship decommissioned=
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|Ship fate=Sold 1 May 1920 to Crichton Thompson<ref name="navalhistory"/><ref name="Winfield" />
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}}
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|Ship country=[[Spain]]
|Ship flag={{Shipboxflag|Spain|civil-1785}}  {{Shipboxflag|Spain|civil}}  [[File:Flag of the Second Spanish Republic (plain).svg|60px|]]
|Ship name=''Chita''
|Ship namesake=[[cheetah]]
|Ship owner=*1921-1925: Arsenio Sanjurjo Igual, Santander
*1925-1928: Luis Liaño, Santander
*1928-1933: Nicolas Pardo y Pardo, Santander
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|Ship fate=Broken up in 1933
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|Ship displacement=670 tons<ref name="navalhistory" />
|Ship length= 160 ft pp, 168 feet overall<ref name="navalhistory"/>
|Ship beam=26 ft<ref name="navalhistory" />
|Ship draught=10 ft<ref name="navalhistory">{{cite web|url=http://www.naval-history.net/WW1NavyBritishShips-Dittmar5Support.htm| title=Support and harbour vessels | work=Naval History .net |accessdate=30 May 2015}}</ref>
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|Ship speed=12.5 knots<ref name="navalhistory"/><ref name="Winfield" />
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|Ship complement=84<ref name="Greetham">{{cite web|url=http://www.nhcra-online.org/19c/greetham1.html |title=Eng. Capt. Charles T. D. Greetham |work=Naval Historical Collectors & Research Association |accessdate=30 May 2015 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150531015021/http://www.nhcra-online.org/19c/greetham1.html |archivedate=31 May 2015 }}</ref>
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|Ship armament=One [[12 pounder]]<ref name="Winfield" /><ref name="Greetham"/> or two [[six pounder]]<ref name="navalhistory"/><ref name="Winfield" /><ref name="pbenyon"/>
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'''HMS ''Seahorse''''' was a [[Royal Navy]] [[Admiralty tug|fleet tug]], tender and survey ship built in 1880. She served until the end of the [[First World War]] and was subsequently sold for commercial service in Spain.

==Description==
HMS ''Seahorse'' was designed and built by [[Laird Brothers]] at [[Birkenhead]]{{refn|group=note|Some sources erroneously state that she was built at [[Paisley, Renfrewshire|Paisley]], Scotland<ref name=LR1933>{{cite book|title=Lloyd's Register of Ships|date=1933|publisher=Lloyd's Register of Shipping|page=[141]|url=https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/33/33a0141.pdf|accessdate=14 January 2020}}</ref>}} for the Royal Navy as a fast deep-sea tug, suitable for handling their new classes of [[ironclad warship]].  In addition she was equipped for deployment as a fleet tender and [[Despatch boat|despatch vessel]].<ref name="Times 30111880">{{cite news|title=Naval and Military Intelligence|work=The Times|issue=30044|date=20 November 1880|location=London|page=5}}</ref> Steel was used in both the engines and shafts and, in the form of [[Siemens-Martin]] steel from the [[Landore#Industrial heritage|Landore Steel Company]], for the hull and upperworks.<ref name="Times 30111880" /><ref>{{cite journal|title=Visits to Works|journal=Journal of [[Iron and Steel Institute|The Iron and Steel Institute]]|date=1879|url=http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/1879_Iron_and_Steel_Institute:_Visits_to_Works|accessdate=2 March 2016}}</ref>{{refn|group=note|Some sources state the hull to have been of iron<ref name="LR1933" /><ref name="Winfield">{{cite book|last1=Winfield|first1=David Lyon & Rif|title=The sail & steam Navy list : all the ships of the Royal Navy 1815 - 1889|url=https://archive.org/details/sailsteamnavylis00lyon|url-access=limited|date=2004|publisher=Chatham|location=London|isbn=1-86176-032-9|page=[https://archive.org/details/sailsteamnavylis00lyon/page/n285 284]}}</ref>}} ''Seahorse'''s [[Displacement (ship)|displacement]] was 670 tons, and dimensions {{convert|160|ft|m|1|abbr=on}} [[length between perpendiculars]], {{convert|168|ft|m|1|abbr=on}} [[length overall]], {{convert|26|ft|m|1|abbr=on}} [[Beam (nautical)|beam]] and with {{convert|10|ft|m|1|abbr=on}} [[Draft (hull)|draught]].<ref name="navalhistory"/> She was powered by a pair of [[compound steam engine]]s totalling 1100 [[Indicated horsepower|ihp]] driving twin screws.<ref name="navalhistory" /><ref name="Times 30111880" />
[[File:HMS Howe being towed into Emsenanda de la Malata by HMS Seahorse with salvage steamers alongside RMG BHC3410 01.jpg|thumb|[[HMS Howe (1885)|HMS ''Howe'']] being towed into [[Ferrol, Galicia]] by ''Seahorse'' with salvage steamers alongside, April 1893, by Alfonso Sanz]]

==Service history==
Based at Portsmouth, as well as a fleet tug, ''Seahorse'' served in a variety of roles, including survey ship,<ref>{{cite news|title=Naval and Military Intelligence|work=The Times|issue=34718|date=26 October 1895|location=London|page=11}}</ref> and was often described as a gunboat or "special service vessel".<ref>{{cite news|title=Naval and Military Intelligence|work=The Times|issue=30366|date=1 December 1881|location=London|page=6}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Naval and Military Intelligence|work=The Times|issue=30945|date=8 October 1883|location=London|page=7}}</ref> During the [[Anglo-Egyptian War]] of 1882 ''Seahorse'' was additionally equipped with [[gatling gun]]s and stationed at [[Port Said]] for towing and patrol duties in the [[Suez Canal]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Naval and Military Intelligence|work=The Times|issue=30605|date=6 September 1882|location=London|page=3}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Naval and Military Intelligence|work=The Times|issue=30611|date=13 September 1882|location=London|page=3}}</ref> Amongst her salvage jobs was the battleship [[HMS Howe (1885)|HMS ''Howe'']], which stranded on a shoal off [[Ferrol, Spain]] in November 1892 and could be refloated only five months later.<ref>{{cite news|title=The Howe|work=The Times|issue=33913|date=31 March 1893|location=London|page=7}}</ref> During the First World War she continued to be based at Portsmouth where she was used as a fleet tug, and later a rescue tug.<ref name="navalhistory"/>

==Commercial service==
On 1 May 1920 ''Seahorse'' was disposed of by the Admiralty to Crichton Thompson & Co Ltd, and resold to Arsenio Sanjurjo Igual of [[Santander, Spain]], where she was renamed ''Chita''.  She changed hands twice at Santander, first to Luis Liaño in 1925 and then to Nicolas Pardo y Pardo in 1928. She was finally broken up at Santander in 1933.<ref name="Miramar">{{cite web|title=Seahorse|url=https://www.miramarshipindex.nz/ship/6102154|website=Miramar Ship Index (subscription required)|publisher=R B Haworth|accessdate=14 January 2020|location=Wellington NZ}}</ref><ref name="LR1933" />

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
[https://web.archive.org/web/20160303120658/http://vidamaritima.com/2015/11/el-chita-de-luis-liano/ The history of tug ''Chita''] (in Spanish)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seahorse (1880)}}
[[Category:1880 ships]]
[[Category:Victorian-era auxiliary ships of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:World War I auxiliary ships of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Steamships of Spain]]


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