HMS Megaera (1837)

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

History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Megaera
Ordered	19 November 1834
Builder	Royal Dockyard, Sheerness
Cost	£27,778
Laid down	August 1836
Launched	17 August 1837
Completed	30 March 1838
Commissioned	13 December 1837
Fate	Wrecked Jamaica 4 March 1843
General characteristics
Type	Paddle sloop
Displacement	1,006 tons
Tons burthen	715 43/94 bm
Length	150 ft 0 in (45.7 m) gundeck 128 ft 0 in (39.0 m) keel for tonnage
Beam	32 ft 9 in (10.0 m) maximum 32 ft 5 in (9.9 m) for tonnage
Draught	11 ft 6 in (3.5 m) (forward) 12 ft 0 in (3.7 m) (aft)
Depth of hold	17 ft 0 in (5.2 m)
Installed power	140 nominal horsepower
Propulsion	2-cylinder side lever steam engine Paddles
Sail plan	3-masted barque rigged
Complement	135
Armament	As built: 2 × 9-pounder (13 1⁄2 cwt) brass guns From 1842: 1 × 8-inch (52 cwt) pivot gun 2 × 32-pounder (17 cwt) carronades

HMS Megaera was a Hermes-class wooden paddle sloop of the Royal Navy. She was built at Sheerness Dockyard. She was launched in 1837 and served two commissions before being wrecked at Jamaica in 1843.

Megaera was the second named vessel since it was used for a 14-gun Fireship, launched by Teague of Ipswich in May 1783 and sold to J. Darkin on 3 April 1817.

Construction

She was ordered on 19 November 1834 to be built at Sheerness Dockyard. She was laid down in August 1836 and launched on 17 August 1837. She was towed to Limehouse for the fitting of her machinery starting in 6 October 1837 and completing on 13 February 1838 then towed back to Sheerness. She was completed for sea at Sheerness on 30 March 1838 at a cost of £27,778 including £15,161 for the hull and £8,983 for the machinery.

Commissioned service

First commission

She was commissioned on 13 December 1837 under the command of Lieutenant Hugh Coville Goldsmith, RN for service as a packet vessel in the Mediterranean. She returned to Home waters. paying off in October 1841. Lieutenant Goldsmith died on 8 October 1841. At this point she underwent a refit starting at Limehouse, then continuing at Woolwich and finally completing at Deptford from March to December 1842. During the refit she had her boilers replaced, a smoke consuming apparatus was fitted and her armament was probably changed.

Second commission

On 10 November 1842 she was commissioned under the command of Lieutenant George Oldmixon, RN for service on the North America and West Indies Station.

Loss

On 4 March 1843 she was wrecked on Bare Bush Key (off Port Royal), Jamaica.

References

• Lyon Winfield, The Sail & Steam Navy List, All the Ships of the Royal Navy 1815 to 1889, by David Lyon & Rif Winfield, published by Chatham Publishing, London © 2004, ISBN 1-86176-032-9
• Winfield, British Warships in the Age of Sail (1817–1863), by Rif Winfield, published by Seaforth Publishing, England © 2014, eISBN 9781473837430, Chapter 11 Steam Paddle Vessels, Vessels acquired since November 1830, Hermes Class
• Colledge, Ships of the Royal Navy, by J.J. Colledge, revised and updated by Lt Cdr Ben Warlow and Steve Bush, published by Seaforth Publishing, Barnsley, Great Britain, © 2020, e ISBN 978-1-5267-9328-7 (EPUB), Section H (Hermes)