HMS Investigator (1811)

Last updated

History
Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom
NameHMS Investigator
Ordered26 May 1810
BuilderDeptford Dockyard
Laid downJanuary 1811
Launched23 April 1811
ReclassifiedPolice ship in March 1837
FateBroken up in October 1857
General characteristics [1]
Class and type survey brig
Tons burthen121 (bm)
Length
  • Overall:75 ft 0+38 in (22.9 m)
  • Keel:72 ft 10+78 in (22.2 m)
Beam19 ft (5.8 m)
Depth of hold10 ft 10+58 in (3.318 m)
PropulsionSails
Sail plan brig
Armament6 × 12-pounder carronades

HMS Investigator was a survey brig of the Royal Navy. She performed surveying duties until she was paid off in 1835. She then became a police ship moored on the Thames River. she was broken up in 1857.

Contents

Career

Investigator was built at Deptford Dockyard to a design by Henry Peake. She was commissioned under Mr. George Thomas, for the North Sea and stationed at Hosely Bay. [1] She then was re-assigned to the River Thames. In 1813 George Trickey (or Trickly), master, sailed her surveying Irish waters.

By 1814 George Thomas had returned to command for the North Sea. He would remain her master until she was paid-off in 1835. He was the first naval hydrographic surveyor continuously employed in the 19th century. His tenure was due to the high regard of the three Admiralty hydrographers whom he served until 1846.

Investigator underwent fitting for sea at Deptford in 1819. Thomas recommissioned Investigator in 1819 and February 1825. On 1 November 1825 Investigator was surveying the coast when North Sea gales stove in her bulwarks and washed away her boats. It was feared that her tender had foundered with all hands. However, Amity, Robinson, master, had with difficulty rescued the eight crew members of the tender, the cutter Star. Star was in a waterlogged state and her crew abandoned their vessel. [2]

Thomas recommissioned Investigator in March 1831, and February 1834. Investigator was paid off at Woolwich in 1835.

She was converted to a police ship in March 1837 and was moored in the River Thames at Somerset House, London, the forerunner of Waterloo Police Pier. [1]

On 19 April 1842, she sprang a leak and sank. The seven police officers on board were rescued. [3]

Fate

She was subsequently broken up at Deptford on 17 October 1857.

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 Winfield 2008, p. 399.
  2. Lloyd's List № 6064.
  3. "Sinking of the Thames Police Ship". The Standard. No. 5548. London. 20 April 1842.

Related Research Articles

HMS <i>Hecla</i> (1815) 19th-century British Royal Navy bomb vessel

HMS Hecla was a Royal Navy Hecla-class bomb vessel launched in 1815. Like many other bomb vessels, she was named for a volcano, in this case Hekla in southern Iceland. She served at the Bombardment of Algiers in 1816. Subsequently, she took part in three expeditions to the Arctic. She then served as a survey vessel on the coast of West Africa until she was sold in 1831. She became a merchantman and in 1834 a Greenland whaler. She was wrecked in 1840.

HMS <i>Pelorus</i> (1808) Brig-sloop of the Royal Navy

HMS Pelorus was an 18-gun Cruizer-class brig-sloop of the British Royal Navy. She was built in Itchenor, England and launched on 25 June 1808. She saw action in the Napoleonic Wars and in the War of 1812. On anti-slavery patrol off West Africa, she captured four slavers and freed some 1350 slaves. She charted parts of Australia and New Zealand and participated in the First Opium War (1839–1842) before becoming a merchantman and wrecking in 1844 while transporting opium to China.

HMS <i>Griper</i> (1813) 19th-century British Royal Navy ship

HMS Griper was a Bold-class gun-brig of the British Royal Navy, built in 1813 by Mark Williams and John Davidson at Hythe. She participated in the 1819 expedition to the Arctic led by William Parry, made a voyage to Greenland and Norway in 1823, and took part in Parry's third expedition in 1824 as a support ship. Her crew in 1819, 1823, or 1824, qualified for the "Arctic Medal", which the Admiralty issued in 1857. She was eventually broken up in 1868.

HMS <i>Impregnable</i> (1786) Ship of the line of the Royal Navy

HMS Impregnable was a Royal Navy 98-gun second rate ship of the line launched on 15 April 1786 at Deptford Dockyard. She was wrecked in 1799 off Spithead.

HMS Highflyer was a 21-gun wooden screw frigate of the Royal Navy. She was built on the River Thames by C J Mare and launched on 13 August 1851. She spent twenty years in service, including action in the Crimean War and the Second Opium War, before being broken up at Portsmouth in May 1871.

HMY <i>Royal Caroline</i> (1750) Amazing

HMY Royal Caroline was a ship-rigged royal yacht. She was ordered in 1749 to replace HMY Carolina as Britain's principal royal yacht. She was built at Deptford Dockyard under the supervision of Master Shipwright John Hollond to a design by Surveyor of the Navy Joseph Allin. She was launched on 29 January 1750 and was broken up 70 years later, in 1820.

<i>Cruizer</i>-class sloop Royal Navy ship class in service (1852–1912)

The Cruizer class was a class of six 17-gun wooden screw sloops built for the Royal Navy between 1852 and 1856.

HMS Eurydice was a 24-gun Porcupine-class post ship of the Royal Navy built in 1781 and broken up in 1834. During her long career she saw service in the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. She captured a number of enemy privateers and served in the East and West Indies, the Mediterranean and British and American waters.

HMS <i>Blossom</i> (1806) 19th-century British Royal Navy ship

HMS Blossom was an 18-gun Cormorant-class sloop-of-war. She was built in 1806 and is best known for the 1825–1828 expedition under Captain Beechey to the Pacific Ocean. She explored as far north as Point Barrow, Alaska, the furthest point into the Arctic any non-Inuit had been at the time. She was finally broken up in 1848.

HMS <i>Phoenix</i> (1832) Sloop of the Royal Navy

HMS Phoenix was a 6-gun steam paddle vessel of the Royal Navy, built in a dry dock at Chatham in 1832. She was reclassified as a second-class paddle sloop before being rebuilt as a 10-gun screw sloop in 1844–45. She was fitted as an Arctic storeship in 1851 and sold for breaking in 1864.

HMS <i>Herald</i> (1824) Atholl-class corvette launched in 1822

HMS Herald was an Atholl-class 28-gun sixth-rate corvette of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1822 as HMS Termagant, commissioned in 1824 as HMS Herald and converted to a survey ship in 1845. After serving as a chapel ship from 1861, she was sold for breaking in 1862.

HMS <i>Trial</i> (1744) Sloop of the Royal Navy

HMS Trial or Tryall was a 10-gun two-masted Hind-class sloop of the Royal Navy, designed by Joseph Allin and built by him at Deptford Dockyard on the Thames River, England. She was launched on 17 July 1744. She and her sister ship, Jamaica, were the only sloops to be built in the Royal Dockyards between 1733 and 1748.

HMS Camel was launched in 1812 at Calcutta as Severn. She sailed to England where the navy purchased her for use as a troopship and transport. She had an uneventful naval career and the navy sold her in 1831. Her new owner returned her to her name of Severn. She made one voyage to Bengal and back for the British East India Company (EIC). She continued to trade with India but disappeared circa 1841.

HMS <i>Dover</i> (1811)

HMS Dover was a 38-gun troopship, previously the French corvette Bellona, launched at Venice in 1808. She was captured at Lissa in 1811. She served as a troopship and transport until circa 1819. She then became the flagship for the Admiral commanding the Leith station. She was used for harbour service from 1825, and was sold in 1836.

HMS Vesuvius was initially a Steam Vessel second class designed by Sir William Symonds, Surveyor of the Navy, and built at Sheerness. She was commissioned and participated in the bombardment of Acre in 1840, during the Russian War she was in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov in 1855. Her last overseas posting was in the West Indies. She was sold for breaking in June 1865.

HMS Nightingale was a development of the standardize 20-gun sixth rates and were built at the beginning of the 18th Century. After she was captured by French privateer galleys in 1707 then recaptured four months later. She was renamed HMS Fox and continued service until she was rebuilt at Deptford. Her breaking was completed in January 1738.

HMS Squirrel was designed by Richard Stacey, Master Shipwright of Woolwich. Her design was based on the standardize 20-gun sixth rates. After commissioning she was assigned to Home Waters then the Mediterranean. She took a privateer in 1710. She was dismantled at Deptford with her timbers sent to Woolwich Dockyard for rebuilding as a 374-ton (bm). She was finally broken in 1749.

HMS Gibraltar was the name ship of the Gibraltar Group of 24-gun sixth rates. After commissioning she spent her career in Home waters and North America on trade protection duties. She was rebuilt at Deptford between 1725 and 1727. After her rebuild, she served in Home Waters, North America, the West Indies, and the Mediterranean on trade protection. She was sold in 1749.

HMS Seahorse was a member of the Gibraltar Group of 24-gun sixth rates. After commissioning she spent her career in Home waters and North America on trade protection duties. She was rebuilt at Deptford between 1725 and 1727. After her rebuild she served in Home Waters, North America, West Indies and the Mediterranean on trade protection. She was sold in 1749.

<i>Perseverance</i>-class frigate Frigate class of the Royal Navy

The Perseverance-class frigate was a 36-gun, later 42-gun, 18-pounder fifth-rate frigate class of twelve ships of the Royal Navy, constructed in two batches. Designed by Surveyor of the Navy Sir Edward Hunt the first iteration, consisting of four ships, was constructed as a rival to the similar Flora-class frigate. Strongly built ships, the Perseverance class provided favourable gunnery characteristics and was highly manoeuvrable, but bought these traits with a loss of speed. The name ship of the class, Perseverance, was ordered in 1779 and participated in the American Revolutionary War, but her three sister ships were constructed too late to take part. The class continued in service after the war, but soon became outdated.

References