Niobe in Kiel | |
History | |
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United Kingdom | |
Name | HMS Niobe |
Namesake | Niobe |
Ordered | 28 March 1846 |
Builder | Devonport dockyard |
Cost | £22,574 |
Laid down | May 1847 |
Launched | 18 September 1849 |
Completed | 5 October 1849 |
Fate | Sold to the Prussian Navy on 9 July 1862 |
Prussia | |
Name | SMS Niobe |
Acquired | 9 July 1862 |
Out of service | 1890 |
Stricken | 18 November 1890 |
Fate | Broken up, 1919 |
General characteristics (as built) | |
Class and type | Diamond-class 28-gun sixth-rate frigate |
Tons burthen | 1051 1⁄94 bm |
Length | 140 ft (42.7 m) |
Beam | 42 ft (12.8 m) |
Draught | 17.7 ft (5.39 m) aft |
Depth of hold | 11 ft 1 in (3.4 m) |
Sail plan | Ship rig |
Complement | 240 |
Armament |
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SMS Niobe was a Diamond-class 28-gun sixth-rate sailing frigate built for the Royal Navy in the 1840s. She was never commissioned into the Royal Navy, which was converting to steam power, and was sold to Prussia in 1862. She was named after Niobe, a figure from Greek mythology. She served with the Prussian Navy, the North German Federal Navy and the Imperial German Navy as a training ship until stricken and hulked in 1890. Niobe was eventually broken up in 1919.
Niobe was a three-masted, ship-rigged frigate that had a sail area of 1,650 square metres (17,800 sq ft). Her maximum speed was 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph). The ship was considered to be a very good sea boat and very manoeuvrable, although she did suffer from severe pitching. [1] Niobe was designed for a crew of 240 officers and enlisted men, [2] but her crew numbered 34 officers and 316 enlisted men in Prussian service. [3]
Measured at the gundeck, Niobe had a length of 140 feet (42.7 m), a beam of 42 feet (12.8 m) and a depth of hold of 11 ft 1 in (3.4 m). She was 1051 1⁄94 tons burthen in size [2] and displaced 1,590 long tons (1,620 t). Forward, the ship had a draught of 16.6 ft (5.05 m) and 17.7 ft (5.39 m) aft. [3]
In British service, Niobe was intended to be armed with twenty 32-pounder (45 cwt) smoothbore on the upper deck. The ship was also fitted with one 68-pounder (56 cwt) smoothbore shell gun and ten short 32-pounder guns on her quarterdeck and another 68-pounder and four more short 32-pounders on her forecastle. All of these 32-pounders were of the lighter 25 cwt model. [2] The Prussians rearmed her with sixteen 68-pounder guns and four 30-pounder smoothbore guns. Niobe was later rearmed with six 22-calibre 15-centimetre (5.9 in) rifled guns. These were later replaced by six 23-calibre 12-centimetre (4.7 in) rifled guns. [3]
Niobe was laid down in May 1847 at the Devonport Dockyard and launched on 18 September 1849. Completed on 5 October, the ship was never commissioned in the Royal Navy. [2] She was sold to Prussia on 9 July 1862 [4] for the price of £15,892 [2] and used as a training ship for naval cadets from 12 October. [3] In 1865, Niobe was commanded by the future admiral, Carl Ferdinand Batsch and among its cadets were seven future admirals, Alfred von Tirpitz, Wilhelm Büchsel, Oscar Klausa, Iwan Oldekop, Otto von Diederichs, Richard Geissler, and Oscar Boeters. Accompanied by the brig SMS Rover, the ship visited Plymouth, Madeira, the Cape Verde Islands, Cadiz, and Lisbon from 30 September 1865 to 15 May 1866. [5] After serving in the successive navies of the emerging German state, Niobe was stricken from the navy list on 18 November 1890 and hulked at Kiel, eventually being broken up in 1919. The ship's figurehead survives and is located at the Naval Academy at Mürwik. [3]
HMS Gorgon was a wooden steam paddle sloop of 6 guns, launched in 1837. In 1840 she took part in the bombardment of Acre, and in 1843 was part of the Royal Navy squadron stationed in the River Plate during the Uruguayan Civil War. She was converted to a troopship and in 1858 assisted Agamemnon in the laying of the first transatlantic telegraph cable. She was sold for breaking in 1864.
HMS Resistance was the second of two Defence-class ironclads built for the Royal Navy in the 1860s. She was the first capital ship in the Royal Navy to be fitted with a ram and was given the nickname of Old Rammo. Resistance was initially assigned to the Channel Fleet upon commissioning, but was transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet in 1864, the first ironclad to be assigned to that fleet. She was rearmed in 1867 and became a guardship when recommissioned in 1869. The ship was reassigned to the Channel Fleet in 1873 before reverting to her former duties in 1877. Resistance was decommissioned in 1880 and was used for gunnery and torpedo trials beginning in 1885. The ship was sold for scrap in 1898 and foundered in 1899 en route to the breaker's yard. She was salvaged and later scrapped.
HMS Miranda was a 14-gun wooden screw sloop of the Royal Navy. As part of the 1847 Program, she was designed by John Fincham, Master Shipwright of Portsmouth, and is considered an improved Rattler, with the design approved on 3 November 1847. She was ordered on 25 April 1847 with the name Grinder from Royal Dockyard, Sheerness. On 3 November 1847, she was reordered as Miranda from Sheerness Dockyard. Launched in 1851, she was completed to see action in the Crimean War. In 1854 she was in the White Sea and participated in the bombardment of the Port of Kola. She then served in the Sea of Azov during 1855. Two of her crew were awarded the Victoria Cross for their bravery. Towards the end of her career she transported troops during the New Zealand Wars. She was reclassified as a corvette by 1862. She was sold for breaking in December 1869.
HMS Valorous was one of two 16-gun, steam-powered Magicienne-class second-class paddle frigates built for the Royal Navy in the 1850s. Commissioned in 1853 she played a small role in the Crimean War of 1854–1855 and was sold for scrap in 1891.
HMS Exeter was a 70-gun third rate ship of the line of the Kingdom of England, built by contract Sir Henry Johnson at Blackwall under the 1677 Construction Programme. She was at the Battle of Beachy Head in 1690. She was accidentally burnt at Plymouth in 1691. Her remains were hulked at Portsmouth until she was broken in 1717.
HMS Thetis was a 36-gun fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. After nearly a decade of service with the British, she was transferred to Prussia in exchange for two steam gunboats. She served with the Prussian Navy, the North German Federal Navy and the Imperial German Navy as a training ship until being stricken in 1871. Thetis was subsequently converted into a coal hulk and broken up in 1894–95.
HMS Wasp was a Banterer-class composite screw gunboat of the Royal Navy, built in 1880 by Barrow Iron Shipbuilding and wrecked off Tory Island in 1884.
HMS Rover was an 18-gun iron screw corvette built for the Royal Navy in the 1870s, the sole ship of her class. The ship was initially assigned to the North America and West Indies Station until she returned home in 1879. She was transferred to the Training Squadron when it formed in 1885. Rover was not really suitable for such a role and she was placed in reserve four years later and then sold for scrap in 1893.
HMS Niger was originally slated to be built as a Sampson designed sloop; however, she was ordered as a First-Class sloop with screw propulsion on 20 February 1845 to be built at Woolwich Dockyard, along the design developed by Oliver Lang and with a hull like the Basilisk designed paddle sloops. Her armament and engine were to be like the Encounter Design building at Pembroke. A second vessel (Florentia) was ordered on 26 March 1846 but after her keel was laid at Pembroke Dockyard, her construction was suspended on 6 October 1846 then cancelled three years later, on 22 May 1849. Niger She conducted important propulsion trials, finally proving the superiority of screw propulsion and served in West Africa, the Crimea, China, the East Indies and Australia. She took part in the New Zealand wars in 1860 and was sold for breaking in 1869.
HMS Brisk was a 14-gun wooden-hulled screw sloop designed by the Committee of Reference as part of the 1847 program. She is considered an enlarged Rattler with the design approved in 1847. She was ordered on 25 April 1847 from Woolwich Dockyard as a 10-gun sloop, but the guns were later increased due to the Russian War, to 14 guns by increasing the number of 32-pounder guns. She was launched on 2 June 1851 from Woolwich Dockyard. She served in the Russian War of 1854- 55 and as part of the Southern African anti-slavery patrol, with a final commission on the Australian Station. She was sold in 1870 for use in a pioneer, but unsuccessful, telegraph service.
HMS Chatham was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She had been planned as Royal-Hollandais for the French Navy, but was captured while under construction during the Walcheren Campaign.
The Beacon-class gunvessels were a class of composite gunboats built for the Royal Navy in the late 1860s. They were the first warships of the Royal Navy expressly designed to use the engines of an older class of ships with a different hull shape. They were generally deployed overseas to the China, East Indies, West Africa, Pacific, North America and West Indies Stations. In addition to showing the flag, the ships fought pirates and suppressed the slave trade in East and West Africa. As their engines wore out in the mid-1880s, they were mostly retired and scrapped by the end of the decade. A few survived into the early 1900s as they were modified for harbour service before being sold or scrapped.
HMS Magicienne was the lead ship of her class of two 16-gun, steam-powered second-class paddle frigates built for the Royal Navy in the 1850s. Commissioned in 1853 she played a small role in the Crimean War of 1854–1855 and was sold for scrap in 1866.
The Banterer-class gunboat was a class of eleven gunboats mounting two 6-inch and two 4-inch guns, built for the Royal Navy between 1880 and 1892.
The Albacore-class gunboat, also known as "Crimean gunboat", was a class of 98 gunboats built for the Royal Navy in 1855 and 1856 for use in the 1853-1856 Crimean War. The design of the class, by W. H. Walker, was approved on 18 April 1855. The first vessels were ordered the same day, and 48 were on order by July; a second batch, which included Surly, were ordered in early October.
HMS Encounter was ordered as a First-Class Sloop with screw propulsion on 5 February 1845 to be built at Pembroke, in accordance with the design developed by John Fincham, Master Shipwright at Portsmouth. Her armament was to consist of 8 guns. She was to have a more powerful steam engine rated at 360 nominal horsepower. In 1848 she would be altered abaft and lengthened at Deptford prior to completion. A second vessel (Harrier) was ordered on 26 March 1846 but after her keel was laid at Pembroke Dockyard, her construction was suspended on 9 September 1846 then cancelled five years later, on 4 April 1851. Encounter had her armament radically altered in 1850 and she was broken up at Devonport in 1866.
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