HMS Shannon (1855)

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

HMS Shannon
HMS Shannon
History
United Kingdom
NameShannon
Ordered4 April 1851
Builder
Laid downJanuary 1854
Launched24 November 1855
CompletedBy 29 December 1856
FateSold on 31 May 1871
General characteristics
Class and typeLiffey-class steam frigate
Displacement3,915 tons
Tons burthen
  • 2,651 bm
  • 2,667 bm as completed
Length
  • 285 ft (87 m) (length overall)
  • 235 ft 1 in (71.65 m) (gundeck)
  • 203 ft 10 in (62.13 m) (keel)
Beam50 ft 1.5 in (15.278 m)
Depth of hold18 ft 4.5 in (5.601 m)
Installed power
Propulsion
  • 2-cyl. trunked single expansion
  • Single screw
Sail planFull-rigged ship
Speed11.5 kn (21.3 km/h) under steam
Complement560
Armament

HMS Shannon was a Liffey-class steam frigate of the Royal Navy.

HMS Shannon

She was originally ordered as a sail driven Leander-class frigate,. but was re-ordered as screw frigate on 4 April 1851. She was built at Portsmouth Dockyard and launched on 24 November 1855. She was completed by 29 December 1856 with her hull having cost £62,759, her machinery £37,325, and a further £27,079 spent on fitting out.

Under the command of Sir William Peel, Shannon played an important role in the Indian Mutiny landing a naval brigade which fought at the Siege of Lucknow, including the Storming of the Sikandar Bagh. Five Victoria Crosses were won by the following crew of HMS Shannon: Lieutenant Thomas Young, Lieutenant Nowell Salmon, Leading Seaman John Harrison, Able Seaman Edward Robinson and Able Seaman William Hall, the first Black person and the first Canadian sailor to be awarded a Victoria Cross.[1] Peel was wounded in the leg during the second relief of Lucknow, and was brought to Cawnpore, where he died of smallpox, having commanded Shannon's naval brigade during the campaign.

Captain George Alexander Waters took temporary command while Peel led the naval brigade, before taking permanent command until 1861.[2]

Shannon enforcing International Law between the Union gunboat Tuscarora and the Confederate blockade-runner Thomas L. Wragg in Southampton Water, 1862

Shannon was sold to Castle on 31 May 1871 to be broken up.

  1. ^ http://www.memorials.inportsmouth.co.uk/southsea/shannon.htm Archived 20 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine "Memorials in Southsea - HMS Shannon -", Memorials and Monuments in Portsmouth
  2. ^ "Waters, George Alexander, Captain, 1820-1903". Royal Museums Greenwich. Retrieved 6 July 2015.