HMS Charybdis (1859)

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

HMS Charybdis at under refit at Esquimalt, 1870
History
Royal Navy EnsignUnited Kingdom
NameHMS Charybdis
Ordered3 April 1854
BuilderChatham Dockyard
Laid down29 March 1856
Launched1 June 1859
CompletedBy 19 November 1860
Decommissioned1880
FateSold at Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1884
General characteristics
Class and typePearl-class corvette
Displacement2,231 long tons (2,267 t)[1]
Tons burthen1462 bm[1]
Length
  • 225 ft 3 in (68.66 m) oa
  • 200 ft (61 m) (gundeck)
Beam40 ft 4 in (12.29 m)
Draught
  • 17 ft 4 in (5.28 m) (forward)
  • 19 ft 10 in (6.05 m) (aft)
Depth of hold23 ft 11 in (7.29 m)
Installed power
Propulsion
  • 2-cyl. horizontal single expansion[1]
  • Single screw
Sail planFull-rigged ship
Speed11.2 knots (20.7 km/h) (under steam)
Armament
  • 20 × 8-inch (42cwt) muzzle-loading smoothbore cannons on broadside trucks
  • 1 × 10-inch/68pdr (95cwt) muzzle-loading smoothbore cannons pivot-mounted at bow

HMS Charybdis was a 21-gun Royal Navy Pearl-class corvette launched on 1 July 1859 at Chatham Dockyard.[2]

She served on the East Indies Station and the China Station between 1860 and 1861. She sailed to Vancouver in early 1862 joining the Pacific Station. She served at the Pacific Station until 1867, when she was assigned to the Australia Station arriving in March 1867.[2] She left the Australia Station in November 1868 and returned to the Pacific Station in early 1869.[citation needed] On 30 March, she was driven ashore. Repairs cost £843.[3]

As part of the Royal Navy's 1869 Flying Squadron, she visited a number of ports in South America, Australia and Japan before returning to Vancouver.[4] On 23 February 1870, Charybdis ran aground between Blunden Islet and (South) Pender Island, Colony of British Columbia. Repairs cost £227. Nobody was found to be to blame for the grounding.[3] In 1870 she sailed to Plymouth for refit. In 1873 she was assigned to the China Station and conducted anti-piracy patrols in the Straits of Malacca.[2] During the Southern Malayan state disputes in 1874, she in conjunction with HMS Hart kept the peace.[citation needed] In February 1875, she ran aground on the Meander Shoal, off Singapore, Straits Settlements. She was refloated with the assistance of a number of tugs.[5]

In October 1880, she was lent to the Canadian government as a training ship, until returned by Canada in 1882. She was sold at Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1884 for breaking up.[2]

  1. ^ a b c d Winfield (2004) p.209
  2. ^ a b c d Bastock, pp.48-49.
  3. ^ a b "Naval Disasters Since 1860". Hampshire Telegraph. No. 4250. Portsmouth. 10 May 1873.
  4. ^ Mid-Victorian RN vessels
  5. ^ "Shipping Disasters". Liverpool Mercury. No. 8451. Liverpool. 18 February 1875.