HMS Wasp (1850)

HMS Wasp in 1860
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Wasp
Ordered	25 April 1847
Builder	Deptford dockyard
Cost	£33,521
Laid down	October 1847
Launched	28 May 1850
Commissioned	5 October 1850
Honours and awards	Black Sea 1854 = 55
Fate	Broken up 2 December 1869
General characteristics
Type	Screw sloop
Displacement	1,337 tons
Tons burthen	97040/94 bm
Length	186 ft 4 in (56.8 m) gundeck 162 ft 6+1⁄4 in (49.5 m) keel reported for tonnage
Beam	33 ft 10 in (10.3 m) maximum, 33 ft 6 in (10.2 m) reported for tonnage
Draught	14 ft 3⁄4 in (4.3 m) mean
Depth of hold	19 ft 0 in (5.8 m)
Installed power	100 nhp, 280 ihp (210 kW)
Propulsion	2-cylinder vertical oscillating single-expansion steam engine Single screw
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Complement	170
Armament	2 × 68-pounder (87 cwt) guns 10 × 32-pounder (42cwt) guns

HMS Wasp was an Archer type sloop ordered on 25 April 1847 from Deptford Dockyard. Two references stipulate that Parthian, ordered with Archer the year prior was renamed Wasp when ordered as a sloop. However, Parthian remained on the books at Deptford, as a Rifleman type gunvessel until cancelled in June 1849. Therefore Wasp was a new build. She served on many different stations during her career, including West Coast of Africa, in the Mediterranean and Black Sea during the Russian War of 1854 - 55, on the South East Coast of America, Cape of Good Hope where she went aground twice and the East Indies before being sold for breaking in December 1869.

Wasp was the seventh named vessel since it was introduced for a 8-gun sloop launched by Portsmouth Dockyard on 4 July 1749, and sold on 4 January 1781.^[1]

Parthian was the second named vessel since it was introduced for a 16=gun brig sloop of the Cherokee class, launched by Bernard of Deptford on 13 February 1808 and wrecked off the coast of Egypt on 15 May 1828.^[2]