HMS Growler (1841)

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

Sister-ship, HMS Driver
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Growler
Builder	Chatham Dockyard [1]
Cost	£39,461 [1]
Laid down	January 1841 [1]
Launched	20 July 1841 [1]
Commissioned	9 March 1842 [1]
Fate	Broken up at Portsmouth by January 1854 [1]
General characteristics [1]
Class & type	Driver-class wooden paddle sloop
Displacement	1,590 tons
Tons burthen	1,05562⁄94 bm
Length	180 ft (54.9 m) (gundeck)
Beam	36 ft (11.0 m)
Depth of hold	21 ft (6.4 m)
Installed power	280 nhp
Propulsion	Seaward & Capel 2-cylinder direct-acting steam engine Paddles
Sail plan	Brig-rigged
Complement	149 (later 160)
Armament	As built: 2 × 10-inch/42-pounder (84 cwt) pivot guns 2 × 68-pounder guns (64 cwt) 2 × 42-pounder (22 cwt) guns After 1856: 1 × 110 pdr Armstrong gun 1 × 68-pounder (95 cwt) gun 4 × 32-pounder (42 cwt) guns

HMS Growler was a paddle-driven Driver-class sloop, built in 1841 and broken up in 1854. In 1847 she carried liberated Africans to Sierra Leone for resettlement.

Construction and commissioning

Growler was ordered under PW1840 along with other Driver-class paddle sloops, ^[2] laid down at Chatham Dockyard and launched on 20 July 1841. ^[1] She was completed at Chatham and commissioned on 9 March 1842. ^{[1] [3]}

Service history

On 31 March 1842, Growler was assigned to the South East Coast of America Station to combat the slave trade. ^[4] She was reassigned to the West Africa Squadron in September 1844. ^[3]

On 21 July 1844 Growler captured the Spanish brigantine Veterano. Then on 23 September 1844 Growler captured the Spanish slave schooner Concepcion. ^{[Note 1]}

In February 1845 she took part in Commodore William Jones's destruction of several barracoons at Dombocorro and elsewhere. ^[6]

The ship was involved in a scheme to relocate liberated Africans from Sierra Leone to the Caribbean, arriving in Trinidad in December 1847. ^[7] One hundred and fifty men, 37 women and 254 children former captives survived the journey, although 45 Africans died on the journey. ^[8]

Fate

Growler was broken up at Portsmouth, which was completed by 17 January 1854. ^[1]

Notes

1. A first class share of the bounty money for Veterano was worth £59 1s 0½d; a sixth-class share was worth £3 18s 8½d. For Concepcion a first-class share was worth £6 17s 11d; a sixth-class share was worth 9s 2d. ^[5]

Citations

1. Winfield (2004), p.160
2. Friedman, Norman (2012). British Cruisers of the Victorian Era. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN   9781473853126 . Retrieved 9 November 2018.
3. "HMS Growler". www.pbenyon.plus.com. pbenyon.plus.com. Archived from the original on 10 August 2017. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
4. "HMS Growler at the William Loney R.N. website" . Retrieved 26 December 2020.
5. "No. 20505". The London Gazette . 5 September 1845. p. 2740.
6. "Commodore Jones' destruction of the barracoons at Dombocorro and elsewhere in February 1845 (3: Jones' report of a subsequent conference with the Chiefs) at the Loney R.N. website" . Retrieved 26 December 2020.
7. Adderley, Rosanne Marion (2006). "New Negroes from Africa": Slave Trade Abolition and Free African Settlement in the Nineteenth-century Caribbean. Indiana University Press. ISBN   0253347033 . Retrieved 9 November 2018.
8. Charles Day, Williams (1852). Five Years' Residence in the West Indies Vol. 1. Colburn and co. Retrieved 9 November 2018.

References

• Lyon, David & Winfield, Rif (2004). The Sail and Steam Navy List: All the Ships of the Royal Navy 1815–1889. Chatham Publishing. ISBN   978-1-86176-032-6. OCLC   52620555.