HMS Meda (1880)

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History
Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg
Name: HMS Meda
Builder: William Westacott Ship Building Company, Barnstaple
Laid down: 1879
Launched: 1880
Acquired: 1880
Fate: Sold in 1887 to Colony of Western Australia.
Flag of Western Australia.svg
Name:Meda
Acquired: 1887
Fate: Sold in 1896 to Wesleyan Board of Missions.
Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg
Name:Meda
Acquired: 1896
Fate: Wrecked on reef near East Cape, New Guinea.
General characteristics
Type: schooner

HMS Meda was a schooner of the Royal Navy, built by William Westacott Ship Building Company, Barnstaple and purchased by the Royal Navy in 1880. [1]

Schooner Sailing vessel

A schooner is a type of sailing ship, as defined by its rig configuration. Typically it has two or more masts, the foremast being slightly shorter than the mainmast.

Royal Navy Maritime warfare branch of the United Kingdoms military

The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by the English kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against the Kingdom of France. The modern Royal Navy traces its origins to the early 16th century; the oldest of the UK's armed services, it is known as the Senior Service.

Barnstaple town in Devon, England

Barnstaple is the main town of North Devon, England and possibly the oldest borough in the United Kingdom. It is a former river port, located at the lowest crossing point of the River Taw, flowing into the Bristol Channel.

Contents

She commenced service on the Australia Station in 1880 as a survey vessel for hydrographic surveys. [1] She undertook survey work along North West Australia. [1] The Meda River and Meda Passage are named after her. She was sold in 1887 to the Colony of Western Australia.

Australia Station British-and later Australian-naval command responsible for the waters around the Australia.

The Australia Station was the British, and later Australian, naval command responsible for the waters around the Australian continent. Australia Station was under the command of the Commander-in-Chief, Australia Station, whose rank varied over time.

Hydrographic survey

Hydrographic survey is the science of measurement and description of features which affect maritime navigation, marine construction, dredging, offshore oil exploration/offshore oil drilling and related activities. Strong emphasis is placed on soundings, shorelines, tides, currents, seabed and submerged obstructions that relate to the previously mentioned activities. The term hydrography is used synonymously to describe maritime cartography, which in the final stages of the hydrographic process uses the raw data collected through hydrographic survey into information usable by the end user.

The Meda River is a river in the Kimberley of Western Australia.

Fate

She was sold to the Wesleyan Board of Missions in 1896. Meda was wrecked on a reef near East Cape, New Guinea on 14 June 1897. [2]

Wesleyan Methodist Church of Australia Methodist denomination in Australia

The Wesleyan Methodist Church of Australia is a Christian denomination with its origins in Wesleyan Methodism. It is the organisational name for contemporary The Wesleyan Church in Australia.

New Guinea Island in the Pacific Ocean

New Guinea is a large island separated by a shallow sea from the rest of the Australian continent. It is the world's second-largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 785,753 km2 (303,381 sq mi), and the largest wholly or partly within the Southern Hemisphere and Oceania.

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 Bastock, p. 79.
  2. ↑ "The Sydney Morning Herald, Thursday 8 July 1897, p. 5" . Retrieved 23 October 2010.

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References

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