Pluto (1839 ship)

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HEICS Pluto 1839.jpg
HEICS Pluto on her voyage to China 1842
History
Flag of the British East India Company (1801).svg
Name
  • HEICS Pluto (1839-1863)
  • HM Straits Steamer Pluto (1863-1868)
Namesake Pluto
Owner
BuilderFairbairn & Co., Thames
LaunchedSeptember 1839
Commissioned28 October 1841
FateBroken up in 1868 - Hull sold off
General characteristics
Class & type Paddle frigate
Tons burthen450 bm
Propulsion100 hp (75 kW) oscillating engines by Maudslay, Sons & Field
Armament
  • (1839–1852) - 1 × 32-pounder gun + 2 × 12-pounder carronades
  • (1852–1863) - 4 x 24-pounder brass carronades + 2 x brass long 6-pounder chaser guns,
  • (1863–1868) - 4 x 24 pounder brass cannons + 2 × 6 pounder chaser guns, supplemented by Congreve rockets
NotesCost £40,315 [1]

HEICS Pluto was the first of the six British iron warships ordered by the East India Company 'Secret Committee' to complete its construction in 1839, but due to defects in its construction, the ship did not sail to the East until 28 October 1841. The vessel's sister ships were Nemesis, Phlegethon, Proserpine, Ariadne, and Medusa. Pluto and Proserpine were built by Messrs Fairbairn & Company on the Thames at Millwall, while Nemesis and Phlegethon were built by John Laird's yard at Birkenhead. [2] All four of these ships sailed under their own power to India, while the other two ships the Ariadne and Medusa were shipped in parts.

Contents

China

Pluto participated in the later stages of the First Opium War, commanded by Lieutenant Tudor, and was present at the attacks on Woosung and Shanghai, and in the advance up the Yangtze Kiang to Chinkiangfoo. [3] In 1846 she went ashore on the south China coast, and it was thought that she was a total loss, but the vessel was eventually recovered and taken back to Hong Kong. [4]

Later career

After the First Opium War, Pluto operated in China, Borneo, and as a packet in India and was eventually transferred to the Bengal Marine in April 1852. [5] When the Straits Settlements needed to replace the Hooghly Steamship, the crew of that steamer were transferred to Pluto while the ship was under repair at Calcutta [6] and she began her service in the Straits Settlements in March 1863 [7] and from then on was known as the HM Straits Steamer Pluto.

Fate

Pluto was retired from service in 1868 and its hull was sold off for $1,100 at Singapore. [8]

References

  1. ↑ Marshall, Adrian G. (23 October 2015). Nemesis: The First Iron Warship and Her World. NUS Press. p. 32. ISBN   9789971698225 – via Google Books.
  2. ↑ Marshall, Adrian G. (23 October 2015). Nemesis: The First Iron Warship and Her World. NUS Press. pp. 12–13. ISBN   9789971698225 – via Google Books.
  3. ↑ Lubbock, Basil (1933). The Opium Clippers (New ed.). Glasgow: Brown, Son & Ferguson. pp. 231–233.
  4. ↑ Parker, Harry; Bowen, Frank C. (1928). Mail and Passenger Steamships of the Nineteenth Century: The Macpherson Collection with Historical and Iconographical Notes. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Co. p. 235. OCLC   2514838.
  5. ↑ Marshall, Adrian G. (23 October 2015). Nemesis: The First Iron Warship and Her World. NUS Press. p. 279. ISBN   9789971698225 – via Google Books.
  6. ↑ "Untitled". The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser . National Library Board. 20 November 1862. p. 3. Retrieved 28 December 2025.
  7. ↑ "Untitled". The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser . National Library Board. 5 March 1863. p. 2. Retrieved 28 December 2025.
  8. ↑ Correspondence, Original - Secretary of State. Despatches: 1870 Mar.-Apr. CO 273: Straits Settlements Original Correspondence. Vol. CO 273/37. Kew, United Kingdom: The National Archives. 1870. p. 53. GALE|STEPPW542724633. Retrieved 28 December 2025– via Gale Primary Sources: State Papers Online Colonial.
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