HMS Medea (1833)

History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Medea
Ordered	12 January 1831
Builder	Woolwich Dockyard
Cost	£35,961
Laid down	April 1831
Launched	2 September 1833
Completed	3 April 1834
Commissioned	30 January 1834
Honours and awards	Syrian Coast 1840
Fate	Broken up at Portsmouth in January 1867
General characteristics
Type	Paddle sloop
Displacement	1,142 tons
Tons burthen	835 bm
Length	179 ft 4.5 in (54.7 m) gundeck 157 ft 4.875 in (48.0 m) keel for tonnage
Beam	31 ft 11 in (9.7 m) maximum 31 ft 7 in (9.6 m) for tonnage
Draught	13 ft 10 in (4.2 m) (forward) 14 ft 6 in (4.4 m) (aft)
Depth of hold	20 ft (6.1 m)
Propulsion	350 nominal horsepower 2-cylinder VSE side lever steam engine re-engined 1846 4-cylinder Siamese steam engine 900 ihp (670 kW) Paddles
Sail plan	Schooner rig, later changed to barquentine
Speed	10.6 knots (19.6 km/h) (under steam)
Complement	135
Armament	2 × 10-inch (84 cwt) pivot guns 2 (later 4) × 32-pounder (25 cwt) guns 1862 1 x 110 pounder

HMS Medea was one of the initial steam-powered vessels built for the Royal Navy. On 10 January 1831 the new First Lord Sir James Graham, 2nd Baronet 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 when that categorization was introduced on 31 May 1844. Designed by Oliver Lang, the master shipwright of Woolwich. She was launched and completed in 1834, took part in the Syrian Coast Campaign and was broken up in 1867.

Medea was the fifth named vessel (spelt Medea or Medee) since it was introduced for a 26-gun, sixth rate (Medee) captured from the French on 4 April 1744 by HMS Dreadnought, sold in March 1745 to become the privateer Boscawen.^[2]