HMS Amphion (1846)

HMS Amphion was a 36-gun wooden hulled screw frigate of the Royal Navy. She was initially ordered as a sail powered ship, but later reordered as a prototype screw frigate conversion.

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

Amphion in 1848
History
United Kingdom
Name: HMS Amphion
Ordered:
  • 13 May 1828 (as sail frigate)
  • 18 June 1844 (as screw frigate)
Builder:
Laid down: 15 April 1840
Launched: 14 January 1846
Commissioned: 13 May 1847
Renamed: Ordered as HMS Ambuscade, renamed HMS Amphion on 31 March 1831
Fate: Sold for breaking up on 12 October 1863
General characteristics as built
Class and type: 36-gun frigate
Tons burthen: 1474 bm
Length: 177 ft (53.9 m) (gundeck)
Beam: 43 ft 2 in (13.2 m)
Draught: 19 ft 2 in (5.8 m)
Propulsion:
  • 2-cylinder (48in diam., 48in stroke) horizontal single expansion, direct acting engine
  • Single screw
  • 300 nhp (592 ihp)
Sail plan: Full rigged ship
Speed: 6.75 knots (12.5 km/h)
Complement: 320
Armament:
  • 36 guns
  • Middle deck: 6 × 8in (65cwt) shell guns + 14 × 32-pounder (56cwt)
  • Upper deck: 2 × 68-pounder 95 cwt + 14 × 32-pounder (42cwt)

Design and construction

Amphion was initially planned and ordered from Woolwich Dockyard as HMS Ambuscade on 13 May 1828, but was renamed on 31 March 1831. She was laid down on 15 April 1840, but on 18 June 1844 she was reordered as a screw propelled frigate, to a design by White. She was duly launched on 14 January 1846, and commissioned on 13 May 1847. Her engines and machinery were provided by Miller, Ravenhill & Co, to a design by John Ericsson. Amphion had cost £36,115 for her hull, with a further £16,673 spent on buying and fitting the machinery, which was installed at the East India Docks. A further £22,794 was spent on fitting her for sea, which was carried out at Sheerness. The space taken up by the machinery was found to considerably restrict the amount available to store provisions and munitions.

Career

She was reduced to 30 guns in 1848, but had been restored to 36 guns in 1856.

During the Crimean War, she served in the Baltic Sea. In June 1855, she ran aground at Vipuri, Grand Duchy of Finland and was fired on by Russian artillery. One of her crew was killed and two were injured.[1] She was sold to Williams on 12 October 1863 to be broken up.

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See also

References
  1. "The War". Sheffield and Rotherham Independent (1864). Sheffield. 7 July 1855. p. 5.
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