HMS Constance (1846)
HMS Constance was a 50-gun fourth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy launched in 1846. She had a tonnage of 2,132 and was designed with a V-shaped hull by Sir William Symonds.[1] She was also one of the last class of frigates designed by him.[2] On her shakedown voyage from England to Valparaiso she rounded Cape Horn in good trim, her captain for this voyage being Sir Baldwin Wake Walker, who commented "I think her a good sea boat, and a fine man of war". On the voyage she encountered a Hurricane at 62o south. Walker wrote that "nothing could have exceeded the way she went over it, not even straining a rope yarn".[3] In August 1848 her captain George William Courtenay, for whom the town of Courtenay was named,[4] led 250 sailors and marines from Fort Victoria to try to intimidate the Indians.[5] Her crew and officers were quarantined aboard whilst berthed at Port Royal on 26 October 1867 during an outbreak of Yellow Fever[6] In 1848 she became the first Royal Naval vessel to use Esquimalt as her base.[7]
.png) John Turnstall Haverfield's painting of Constance in Esquimalt Harbour 1848 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Name: | HMS Constance |
| Ordered: | 31 March 1843 |
| Builder: | Pembroke Dockyard |
| Laid down: | October 1843 |
| Launched: | 12 March 1846 |
| Completed: | 28 June 1846 |
| Reclassified: | Converted to screw frigate between 1860-62 at Devonport Dockyard |
| Refit: | 1862 |
| Fate: | Sold for breaking up on 23 January 1875 |
| General characteristics As ordered | |
| Class and type: | 50-gun Constance-class fourth-rate frigate |
| Tons burthen: | 2,125 75/94 bm |
| Length: |
|
| Beam: | 52 ft 8 in (16.1 m) |
| Depth of hold: | 16 ft 3 in (4.95 m) |
| Propulsion: | Sails |
| Sail plan: | Full rigged ship |
| Complement: | 500 |
| Armament: |
|
| General characteristics After 1860-62 refit | |
| Class and type: | 50-gun fourth-rate frigate |
| Displacement: | 3,786 tons |
| Tons burthen: | 3,212 bm |
| Length: |
|
| Beam: | 53 ft (16.2 m) |
| Draught: |
|
| Depth of hold: | 17 ft 1 in (5.21 m) |
| Propulsion: |
|
| Sail plan: | Full rigged ship |
In 1862 she was converted to screw propulsion using a compound steam engine[8] designed by Randolph & Elder.[9] She was the first Royal Naval ship to be fitted with this class of engine, and won a race against two frigates from Plymouth to Madeira in 1865.[10]
References
- Mariner's pp 64–68
- Brock p26
- Sharp p698
- Akrigg p54
- Gough p46
- times and gazette p467
- Akrigg p52
- Rankine p445
- Gardiner p174
- The Race p90
Bibliography
- Brock, P. W. & Greenhill, Basil Steam and sail: in Britain and North America: 80 photographs mainly from the National Maritime Museum depicting British and North American naval, merchant, and special purpose vessels of the period of transition from sail to steam Pyne Press, 1973
- Sharp, James A. Memoirs of the life and services of Rear-Admiral Sir William Symonds Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans & Roberts 1858
- Rankine, William John Macquorn Miscellaneous Scientific Papers: From the Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal and Other Scientific and Philosophical Societies Adamant. 4 June 2001. ISBN 978-1-4021-7192-5
- Gardiner, Robert Steam, steel & shellfire: the steam warship, 1815-1905 Conway Maritime Press. 20 June 2001. ISBN 978-0-85177-564-7
- Akrigg, G. P. V. Akrigg, Helen B. British Columbia place names University of British Columbia Press; 3rd edition. 31 December 1997. ISBN 978-0-7748-0637-4
- Gough, Barry M. Gunboat Frontier: British Maritime Authority and Northwest Coast Indians, 1846-1890 University of British Columbia Press. 1st edition. 1 January 1984. ISBN 0-7748-0175-1
- Mariner's mirror The Mariner's mirror, Volume 73 Society for Nautical Research., 1987
- The medical times and gazette John Churchill & Sons. 1867
- The Race The annual of the Royal School of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering Henry Sotheran & Co. 1871.
- Jones, Colin (1996). "Entente Cordiale, 1865". In McLean, David & Preston, Antony (eds.). Warship 1996. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-685-X.