HMS Arethusa (1849)

History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Arethusa
Ordered	19 February 1844
Builder	Pembroke Dockyard
Laid down	30 March 1846
Launched	20 June 1849
Completed	20 March 1850
Reclassified	Training ship in 1874
Fate	Sold on 2 August 1933; Broken up in 1934;
General characteristics as sailing frigate
Class and type	Constance-class frigate
Tons burthen	2,125 75⁄94 bm
Length	180 ft (55 m) (gundeck); 146 ft 10.25 in (44.76 m) (keel);
Beam	52 ft 8 in (16.05 m)
Depth of hold	16 ft 3 in (4.95 m)
Sail plan	Full rigged ship
Crew	500
Armament	Upper deck: 28 × 32-pounders (10 × 32-pounders later replaced by 10 × 8in/68-pounder shell guns); Quarterdeck: 14 × 32-pounders; Forecastle: 8 × 32-pounders;
General characteristics as screw frigate
Displacement	3,708 tons
Tons burthen	3,142 33⁄94 bm
Length	252 ft 4 in (76.91 m) (gundeck); 217 ft 1 in (66.17 m) (keel);
Beam	52 ft 8 in (16.05 m)
Draught	20 ft 8 in (6.30 m) (forward); 23 ft 6 in (7.16 m) (aft);
Depth of hold	17 ft 1 in (5.21 m)
Installed power	3,165 ihp (2,360 kW)
Propulsion	Trunked engine, with surface condensers; Cylinders 80in diam.; 42in stroke;
Sail plan	Full rigged ship
Speed	11.704 knots (21.68 km/h; 13.47 mph)
Crew	525
Armament	Middle deck: 30 × 8in shell; Upper deck: 20 × 32-pounders + 1 × 68-pounder on pivot;

HMS Arethusa was a 50-gun fourth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy launched in 1849. She was fitted with screw propulsion in 1861 and became a training ship in 1874 and finally scrapped in 1933 at Woolwich. Arethusa was an all-wooden construction, and the last major ship of the Royal Navy to enter an engagement under sail power only (1854, during the Crimean War).^[1]

The ship's figurehead, originally carved by the Hellyer family, has been preserved and remains on exhibit at Upnor.^[2]

Service

Arethusa saw service during the Crimean War, with battles at Odessa and Sevastopol. At the time of the battle in 1854, was Capt. William Robert Mends.^[3]

Arethusa Venture Centre

Once decommissioned, the ship was passed from the Royal Navy to a charity called 'Shaftesbury Homes'. Who provide refuge and teach children who had been sleeping rough on the streets of London. It trained those young boys for a career in the Royal Navy or Merchant Navy. After the ship was broken up and onshore base was built as the Arethuse Venture Centre, which provides residential school trips and educational visits for young people throughout the UK. It also offers outdoor challenges and adventures, to aid confidence and self-esteem in young people.^[4]

References

^ The Oxford Illustrated History of the Royal Navy, p. 174, Oxford University Press, 2002
^ "Commissions". Maritima Woodcarving.
^ "William Loney RN - Background". Retrieved 8 April 2014.
^ Hughes, Rebecca (29 May 2013). "Figurehead of the war ship Arethusa in Lower Upnor has been restored after a wasp attack". kentonline.co.uk. Retrieved 8 April 2014.

External links

[1] The Oxford Illustrated History of the Royal Navy, p. 174, Oxford University Press, 2002

[2] "Commissions". Maritima Woodcarving.

[3] "William Loney RN - Background". Retrieved 8 April 2014.

[4] Hughes, Rebecca (29 May 2013). "Figurehead of the war ship Arethusa in Lower Upnor has been restored after a wasp attack". kentonline.co.uk. Retrieved 8 April 2014.

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