HMS Blanche (1867)

Blanche aground (probably off New Hanover Island, Papua New Guinea in April 1870) by William Frederick Mitchell, 1874
History
Royal Navy EnsignUnited Kingdom
NameHMS Blanche
BuilderChatham Dockyard
Laid down1865
Launched17 August 1867
CompletedNovember 1867
Decommissioned1881
FateSold for scrap, September 1886
General characteristics (as built)
Class and typeEclipse-class wooden screw sloop (later corvette)
Displacement1,760 long tons (1,790 t)
Tons burthen1,268 bm
Length212 ft (64.6 m) (p/p)
Beam36 ft (11.0 m)
Draught16 ft 6 in (5.0 m)
Depth21 ft 6 in (6.6 m)
Installed power2,158 ihp (1,609 kW)
Propulsion
Sail planBarque rig
Speed12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement180
Armament

HMS Blanche was a 1760-ton, 6-gun Eclipse-class wooden screw sloop built for the Royal Navy in the mid-1860s by Chatham Dockyard.[1]

She was sent to the Australia Station in January 1868, arriving in April 1868. She undertook a punitive action against Solomon Island natives in September 1869. During 1870, she joined in the search for the schooner Daphne, which was unsuccessful. Under the command of Captain Cortland Simpson, she undertook a survey of Rabaul's Harbour in 1872. Blanche Bay is named after HMS Blanche.[2] She finished service on the Australia Station in 1875. While sailing to England she was almost lost rounding Cape Horn in bad weather.

HMS Blanche

After being refitted and rearmed, she was sent to the North America and West Indies Station, where she remained until 1881.

  1. ^ Bastock, p. 50
  2. ^ Rottman, p. 172