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HMS Galatea (1859)

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For other ships with the same name, see HMS Galatea.

HMS Galatea pictured c.1868.
History
Royal Navy EnsignUnited Kingdom
NameHMS Galatea
Ordered9 April 1856
Builder
Laid down2 February 1857
Launched14 September 1859
CompletedBy February 1862
FateBroken up in June 1883
General characteristics
Class and typeJason-class corvette
Displacement4,686 tons
Tons burthen3,227 bm
Length
  • 280 ft (85.3 m) (overall)
  • 245 ft 8 in (74.9 m) (keel)
Beam50 ft (15.2 m)
Depth of hold19 ft 4 in (5.89 m)
Propulsion
  • Sails
  • 2-cyl. horizontal single expansion
  • Rectangular boilers
  • Single screw
  • 800 nhp
  • 3,061 ihp = 11.796 kn
Sail planFull-rigged ship
Complement450
Armament
  • Middle deck: 24 × 10 in (85 cwt) MLSB shell guns (broadside)
  • Upper deck: 2 × 68-pdr (65 cwt) MLSB (pivot-mounted)
  • Later replaced by slide-mounted 110-pdr Armstrong BLs

HMS Galatea was a Jason-class[1] 26-gun, sixth-rate, wooden screw frigate in the Royal Navy, launched in 1859 and broken up 1883.

Service

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She was first assigned to the Channel Squadron in 1862 under Captain Rochfort Maguire. From there she served both in the Baltic and the Mediterranean.[2] Then from 1863 to 1865 to the North America and West Indies Station based in Bermuda and Halifax.

On 9 November 1865 the Galatea and HMS Lily participated in a reprisal raid on Cap-Haïtien, bombarding the forts defending the harbour and landing government troops. The raid was provoked by rebel forces having attacked the British Consulate on 23 October 1865 and the loss of HMS Bulldog (1845) that same day in the fighting that followed.

In 1866, after a refit, she went on a world cruise, under the command of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh.

On 2 November 1868, she ran aground in Plymouth Sound and was damaged. It was estimated that it would take several days to repair her.[3] While in Sydney, Galatea was placed in the Fitzroy Dock at Cockatoo Island Dockyard in 1870.[4]

On 18 May 1882 she conveyed the Duke of Edinburgh to the official opening of the new Eddystone Light.

The Opening of the New Eddystone Lighthouse by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, 18 May 1882, by Henry A. Luscombe

Paintings

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While in Halifax, Galatea inspired a trio of dramatic paintings by ship portrait artist John O'Brien.[5] In 1866, after a refit, she went on a world cruise, under the command of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh.

Notes

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  1. ^ Winfield, Rif (30 April 2014). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1817-1863: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. ISBN 9781473849624.
  2. ^ The visit of the Duke of Edinborough, Daily Southern Cross, New Zealand, 10 May 1869, Page 5
  3. ^ "Multiple News Items". Sheffield Independent. No. 4780. Sheffield. 3 November 1868.
  4. ^ Gillett, p. 14.
  5. ^ "O'Brien, John Daniel O'Connell" entry in Dictionary of Canadian Biography

References

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  • Prince Alfred on the Galatea
    Prince Alfred on the Galatea
  • HMS Galatea in Farm Cove; Government House to the left, c. 1870, [attributed Charles Pickering]
    HMS Galatea in Farm Cove; Government House to the left, c. 1870, [attributed Charles Pickering]
  • HMS Galatea in Port Jackson, Sydney, c. 1870, [attributed Charles Pickering]
    HMS Galatea in Port Jackson, Sydney, c. 1870, [attributed Charles Pickering]
  • Photograph of Galatea, and HMS Challenger
    Photograph of Galatea, and HMS Challenger
  • Painting by John O'Brien, circa 1888
    Painting by John O'Brien, circa 1888
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