HMS Canada (1881)

Last updated

HMS Canada in dry-dock, Halifax Graving Yards, Halifax, Nova Scotia.png
HMS Canada in dry-dock, Halifax Graving Yards, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 1889 [1]
History
Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svgUnited Kingdom
NameCanada
Builder Portsmouth Dockyard
Laid down1879
Launched26 August 1881
Completed1881
FateSold 1897
General characteristics [2]
Class and type Comus-class corvette
Displacement2,380 long tons (2,420 t)
Length225 ft (69 m)
Beam44 ft 6 in (13.56 m)
Draught19 ft 3 in (5.87 m)
Installed power2,430  ihp (1,810 kW)
Propulsion
Sail plan Barque-rigged
Speed13.0 knots (24.1 km/h; 15.0 mph)
Armament
Armour Deck: 1.5 in (38 mm) over engines

HMS Canada was a Comus-class screw corvette of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1881 and sold for scrap in 1897. [3] Her bow badge was removed prior to being sold for scrap and is displayed in the Maritime Museum of British Columbia. [4]

Contents

Construction

Canada was laid down at Portsmouth Dockyard in 1879, one of nine ships of the Comus class. She was launched on 26 August 1881 and completed later that year. [5]

Design

Planning for six metal-hulled corvettes began in 1876; [6] these became the Comus-class corvettes and [7] were designed for long voyages away from coaling stations. [6] Given a metal hull, [7] its frame was composed of iron or steel. [8] Its hull had copper sheathing over timber beneath the waterline, but that timber simply served to separate the iron hull from the copper sheathing so as to prevent electrolytic corrosion. [9] The timber extended to the upper deck; it was in two layers from the keel to 3 ft (.9 m) above the water line, and one layer above. [10]

It was fitted with 3-cylinder compound engines with one high-pressure cylinder of 46 inches (1,200 mm) diameter being flanked by two low-pressure cylinders of 64 inches (1,600 mm) diameter. The bow above the waterline was nearly straight, in contrast to that of wooden sailing ships. It had stern galleries, similar to older frigates, but the ports were false, and there were no quarter galleries. [11] Boats were carried both amidships and at the stern. [12] Canada flew a barque or ship rig of sail on three masts, including studding sails on fore and mainmasts. [13]

Between its two complete decks was the open quarterdeck, on which the battery was located. Under the lower deck were spaces for water, provisions, coal, and magazines for shell and powder. Amidships were the engine and boiler rooms. These were covered by an armoured deck, 1.5 inches (38 mm) thick and approximately 100 ft (30 m) long. This armour was about 3 ft (90 cm) below the lower deck, and the space between could be used for additional coal bunkerage. The machinery spaces were flanked by coal bunkers, affording the machinery and magazines some protection from the sides. The lower deck was used for berthing of the ship's company; officers aft, warrant and petty officers forward, and ratings amidships, as was traditional. The tops of the coal bunkers, which projected above deck level, were used for seating at the mess tables. The living spaces were well-ventilated and an improvement over prior vessels. [14]

Service

Monument to the three crew that died on HMS Canada at Halifax, Royal Navy Burying Ground (Halifax, Nova Scotia) HMS Canada, Royal Naval Burying Ground, Halifax, Nova Scotia.jpg
Monument to the three crew that died on HMS Canada at Halifax, Royal Navy Burying Ground (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

Canada served on the North America and West Indies Station based at the Royal Naval Dockyard at Bermuda between 1881 and 1886, during which period the future King George V served aboard her as a Royal Navy lieutenant. [15] In 1892, she was refitted at Portsmouth, returning to the North America and West Indies Station between 1893 and 1896. She was paid off into reserve in December 1896. [16]

She was sold in 1897. [5]

Notes

  1. ↑ Image of HMS Canada entering dry dock, Halifax Ship Yard
  2. ↑ Chesneau and Kolesnik 1979, pp. 52–53.
  3. ↑ RMG
  4. ↑ McFarlane, John (2012). "The Bow Badge of HMS Canada".
  5. 1 2 Chesneau and Kolesnik 1979, p. 52
  6. 1 2 Osbon (1963), p. 194.
  7. 1 2 Archibald (1971), p. 43.
  8. ↑ Osbon (1963), pp. 195, 196.
  9. ↑ Lyon (1980), pp. 35–36.
  10. ↑ Osbon (1963), p. 196.
  11. ↑ Osbon (1963), p. 195.
  12. ↑ Archibald (1971), p. 49 (drawing).
  13. ↑ Harland, John H. (1985), Seamanship in the Age of Sail, p. 172. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis. ISBN   0-87021-955-3.
  14. ↑ Osbon (1963), pp. 195–98.
  15. ↑ Our London Letter. The Gloucester Journal, 21 July 1928. Page 13.
  16. ↑ "NMM, vessel ID 381774" (PDF). Warship Histories, vol v. National Maritime Museum. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 29 March 2015.

Related Research Articles

HMS <i>Dreadnought</i> (1875) 1875 ironclad turret ship of the Royal Navy

HMS Dreadnought was an ironclad turret ship built for the Royal Navy during the 1870s. Construction was halted less than a year after it began and she was redesigned to improve her stability and buoyancy. Upon completion in 1879, the ship was placed in reserve until she was commissioned in 1884 for service with the Mediterranean Fleet. Upon her return 10 years later, she became a coast guard ship in Ireland for two years. The ship then became a depot ship in 1897 before she was reclassified as a second-class battleship in 1900. Dreadnought participated in the annual fleet manoeuvres for the next two years before she became a training ship in 1902. The ship was taken out of service three years later and sold for scrap in 1908.

HMS <i>Galatea</i> (1887) Cruiser of the Royal Navy

HMS Galatea was one of seven Orlando-class armoured cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the mid-1880s. She was sold for scrap on 5 April 1905.

HMS <i>Shannon</i> (1875) Cruiser of the Royal Navy

The eighth HMS Shannon was the first British armoured cruiser. She was the last Royal Navy ironclad to be built which had a propeller that could be hoisted out of the water to reduce drag when she was under sail, and the first to have an armoured deck.

HMS <i>Audacious</i> (1869) British lead ship of Audacious-class

HMS Audacious was the lead ship of the Audacious-class ironclads built for the Royal Navy in the late 1860s. They were designed as second-class ironclads suitable for use on foreign stations and the ship spent the bulk of her career on the China Station. She was decommissioned in 1894 and hulked in 1902 for use as a training ship. The ship was towed to Scapa Flow after the beginning of the First World War to be used as a receiving ship and then to Rosyth after the war ended. Audacious was sold for scrap in 1929.

The Hector-class ironclads were a pair of armoured frigates built for the Royal Navy (RN) in the 1860s. Hector was completed in 1864 and assigned to the Channel Fleet until she began a refit in 1867. Valiant's builder went bankrupt and delayed her launching by a year. The ship then had to wait almost another five years to receive her guns and be commissioned. Both ships were assigned to the Reserve Fleet from 1868 until they were paid off in 1885–1886. They were mobilized during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878, but saw no action. They were hulked in the late 1890s and assigned to shore establishments. Hector was scrapped in 1905, but Valiant was converted into a floating oil tank in 1926; she was sold for scrap thirty years later.

HMS <i>Northumberland</i> (1866) 1866 ship

HMS Northumberland was the last of the three Minotaur-class armoured frigates built for the Royal Navy during the 1860s. She had a different armour scheme and heavier armament than her sister ships, and was generally regarded as a half-sister to the other ships of the class. The ship spent her career with the Channel Squadron and occasionally served as a flagship. Northumberland was placed in reserve in 1890 and became a training ship in 1898. She was converted into a coal hulk in 1909 and sold in 1927, although the ship was not scrapped until 1935.

HMS <i>Zealous</i> (1864) British Bulwark-class armoured frigates

HMSZealous was one of the three ships forming the second group of wooden steam battleships selected in 1860 for conversion to ironclads. This was done in response to the perceived threat to Britain offered by the large French ironclad building programme. The ship was ordered to the West Coast of Canada after she was completed to represent British interests in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. Zealous became the flagship for the Pacific Station for six years until she was relieved in 1872. She was refitted upon her arrival and subsequently became the guard ship at Southampton until she was paid off in 1875. The ship was in reserve until she was sold for scrap in 1886.

<i>Swiftsure</i>-class ironclad

The Swiftsure class battleships of the late Victorian era were broadside ironclads designed and built specifically for service as Flagships on the Pacific station.

HMS <i>Collingwood</i> (1882) Admiral-class battleship

HMS Collingwood was the lead ship of her class of ironclad battleships built for the Royal Navy during the 1880s. The ship's essential design became the standard for most of the following British battleships. Completed in 1887, she spent the next two years in reserve before she was assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet for the next eight years. After returning home in 1897, the ship spent the next six years as a guardship in Ireland. Collingwood was not significantly damaged during an accidental collision in 1899 and was paid off four years later. The ship was sold for scrap in 1909 and subsequently broken up.

HMS <i>Narcissus</i> (1886) Cruiser of the Royal Navy

HMS Narcissus was one of seven Orlando-class armoured cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the mid-1880s. Future Admiral Ernest Gaunt served aboard her in 1896 as First Lieutenant. She was sold for scrapping on 11 September 1906.

HMS <i>Immortalité</i> (1887) Cruiser of the Royal Navy

HMS Immortalité was one of seven Orlando-class armoured cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the mid-1880s. She was sold for scrap on 11 January 1907.

HMS <i>Calliope</i> (1884) Calypso-class corvette

HMS Calliope was a Calypso-class corvette of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom which served from 1887 until 1951. Exemplifying the transitional nature of the late Victorian navy, Calliope was a sailing corvette—the last such ship built for the Royal Navy—but supplemented the full sail rig with a powerful engine. Steel was used for the hull, and like the earlier iron-hulled corvettes, Calliope was cased with timber and coppered below the waterline, in the same manner as wooden ships.

HMS <i>Calypso</i> (1883) Cruiser of the Royal Navy

HMS Calypso was a corvette of the Royal Navy and the lead ship of its namesake class. Built for distant cruising in the heyday of the British Empire, the vessel served as a warship and training vessel until 1922, when it was sold.

<i>Calypso</i>-class corvette Type of Royal Navy ship

The Calypso class comprised two steam corvettes of the Royal Navy. Built for distant cruising in the heyday of the British Empire, they served with the fleet until the early twentieth century, when they became training ships. Remnants of both survive, after a fashion; HMS Calliope in the name of the naval reserve unit the ship once served, and HMS Calypso both in the name of a civilian charity and the more corporeal form of the hull, now awash in a cove off Newfoundland.

<i>Comus</i>-class corvette

The Comus class was a class of Royal Navy steam corvettes, re-classified as third-class cruisers in 1888. All were built between 1878 and 1881. The class exemplifies the transitional nature of the late Victorian navy. In design, materials, armament, and propulsion the class members resemble their wooden sailing antecedents, but blended with characteristics of the all-metal mastless steam cruisers which followed.

HMS <i>Comus</i> (1878)

HMS Comus was a corvette of the Royal Navy. She was the name ship of her class. Launched in April 1878, the vessel was built by Messrs. J. Elder & Co of Glasgow at a cost of £123,000.

HMS <i>Cordelia</i> (1881)

HMS Cordelia was a Comus-class corvette of the Royal Navy, built at the Portsmouth Dockyard and launched on 25 October 1881.

<i>Volage</i>-class corvette Royal Navy screw corvettes

The Volage class was a group of two screw corvettes built for the Royal Navy in the late 1860s. Both ships spent the bulk of their active service abroad. Volage spent most of her first commission assigned to the Detached or Flying Squadron circumnavigating the world and then carried a party of astronomers to the Kerguelen Islands to observe the Transit of Venus in 1874. The ship was then assigned as the senior officer's ship in South American waters until she was transferred to the Training Squadron during the 1880s.

HMS <i>Champion</i> (1878)

HMS Champion was one of nine Comus-class corvettes of the Royal Navy, built in the late 1870s and early 1880s to a design by Nathaniel Barnaby. Champion was one of three in the class built by J. Elder & Co., Govan, Scotland and was launched on 1 July 1878. She was the third vessel under this name in the Royal Navy.

HMS <i>Cleopatra</i> (1878)

HMS Cleopatra was a Royal Navy Comus-class screw corvette built in 1878.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.