HMS Rodney (1833)

HMS Rodney was a two-deck 90-gun second-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. Launched in 1833, she was broken up in 1884.

Bombardment Of Sebastopol by HMS Rodney, showing HMS Spiteful – a 6-gun steam sloop on her starboard side[1] (17 October 1854, Crimean War)
History
UK
Name: HMS Rodney
Builder: Pembroke Dockyard
Laid down: July 1827
Launched: 18 June 1833
Commissioned: 29 August 1835
Fate: Broken up, February 1884
General characteristics [2]
Class and type: Rodney-class ship of the line
Tons burthen: 2598 bm
Length: 205 ft 6 in (62.64 m) (gundeck)
Beam: 54 ft 5 in (16.59 m)
Depth of hold: 23 ft 2 in (7.06 m)
Propulsion: Sails (and steam, after 1860)
Sail plan: Full rigged ship
Complement: 850 men
Armament:
  • As second rate, 90 guns:
    • Gundeck: 30 × 32 pdrs, 2 × 68 pdr carronades
    • Upper gundeck: 34 × 32 pdrs
    • Quarterdeck: 26 × 32 pdrs
Rodney leaving Barcelona 1837, by Nicolas S. Cammillieri

History

Rodney was launched on 18 June 1833 at Pembroke Dockyard.[2]

The majority of her commissions saw active service in the Mediterranean Sea, but she also served in the Black Sea during the Crimean War (1853–1856), and after being converted to a steam and screw propelled vessel, served in China as the flagship of Vice-Admiral Henry Keppel, commanded by captain Algernon Heneage from 21 January 1867.

Rodney was the ship where William Hall, later to become the first Black man and one of the first Canadians to win the Victoria Cross, began his naval career in 1852.[3] On 29 October 1853, she ran aground in the Dardanelles. She was refloated with assistance from HMS Firebrand.[4]

Rodney was fitted with screw propulsion in 1860, completed on 11 January, and was the last unarmoured wooden battleship in full commission. She was broken up in 1882.[2]

Captains who commanded Rodney

Over the decades after Rodney's launch, eight captains commanded her:

List of Captains
CaptainFromUntil
Captain Hyde Parker 29 August 1835 12 May 1840
Captain Robert Maunsell 13 May 1840 16 October 1843
Captain Edward Collier 4 February 1845 8 March 1849
Captain Charles Graham 6 August 1851 22 November 1854
Captain George St Vincent King 22 November 1854 21 July 1855
Captain Henry Keppel 21 July 1855 24 January 1856
Captain George Knyvett Wilson 24 January 1856 20 August 1856
Captain Algernon Charles Fieschi Heneage 21 January 1867 27 April 1870
The midship section and disposition of Rodney's guns. Notice the amount of tumble-home which the top-sides of the hull possess.

Notes

  1. http://www.pbenyon.plus.com/Hurrah/Chap_03.htm Benyon
  2. Lavery, Ships of the Line vol.1, p190.
  3. David W. States, "William Hall VC of Horton Bluff, Nova Scotia Nineteenth Century Naval Hero", Collections of the Royal Nova Scotia Historical Society Vol. 44, p. 73
  4. "The Combined Fleets of England and France". The Morning Chronicle (27117). London. 21 November 1853.
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References

  • Lavery, Brian (2003) The Ship of the Line – Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650–1850. Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-252-8.
  • "William Loney RN – Victorian Naval Surgeon" (Search – Mid-Victorian RN Vessel HMS Rodney)


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