HMS Rhadamanthus (1832)

History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Rhadamanthus
Ordered	12 January 1831
Builder	Plymouth Dockyard
Cost	£31,919
Laid down	September 1831
Launched	16 April 1832
Completed	2 November 1832
Commissioned	4 October 1832
Fate	Breaking completed at Sheerness 8 February 1864
General characteristics
Type	Paddle sloop
Displacement	1,086 tons
Tons burthen	813 bm
Length	164 ft 7 in (50.2 m) gundeck 143 ft 2 in (43.6 m) keel for tonnage
Beam	32 ft 10 in (10.0 m) maximum 32 ft 8 in (10.0 m) for tonnage
Draught	11 ft 0 in (3.4 m) (forward) 13 ft 0 in (4.0 m) (aft)
Depth of hold	17 ft 10 in (5.44 m)
Propulsion	220 nominal horsepower 385 ihp (287 kW) 2-cylinder side lever steam engine Paddles
Sail plan	Schooner rig, later changed to barquentine
Speed	10 knots (19 km/h) (under steam)
Complement	135
Armament	1 × 10-inch (84 cwt) pivot gun 2 (later 3) × 32-pounder (25 cwt) guns 2 × 6-pounder (6 cwt) brass guns

HMS Rhadamanthus was one of the initial steam powered vessels built for the Royal Navy. On 10 January 1831 the First Sea Lord gave orders that four paddle vessels be built to competitive designs. The vessels were to be powered by Maudslay, Son & Field steam engines, carry a schooner rig and mount one or two 10-inch shell guns.^[1] Initially classed simply as a steam vessel (SV), she was re-classed as a second-class steam sloop in 1846. Designed by Thomas Roberts, the Master Shipwright of Plymouth. She was launched and completed in 1832, She was converted into a transport in 1841 then in 1851 she was a troopship and by the 1860s she was a transport again. Her breaking was completed in February 1864.

Rhadamanthus was the only named vessel in the Royal Navy.^[2]