HMS Acheron (1838)
{{short description|Sloop of the Royal Navy}}
{{other ships|HMS Acheron}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2018}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2018}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image=HMS Acheron (1838).jpg |Ship caption=Acheron in New Zealand }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=United Kingdom |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}} |Ship name=HMS Acheron |Ship ordered=15 September 1837 |Ship builder=Sheerness dockyard |Ship original cost=£25,509 |Ship laid down=October 1837 |Ship launched=23 August 1838 |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned=8 January 1839 |Ship decommissioned= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship renamed= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship honours= |Ship captured= |Ship fate=*Survey ship, 1847
|Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship tons burthen=715 43/94 bm |Ship displacement=1,006 tons |Ship length=*{{convert|150|ft|0|in|m|abbr=on|1}} gundeck
|Ship beam=*{{convert|32|ft|9|in|m|abbr=on|1}} maximum
|Ship draught=*{{convert|11|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on|1}} (forward)
|Ship hold depth={{convert|17|ft|0|in|m|abbr=on|1}} |Ship sail plan=3-masted barque |Ship power=160 nominal horsepower |Ship propulsion=
|Ship complement=135 |Ship armament=
|Ship notes= }} |
HMS Acheron was the last {{sclass|Hermes|sloop|0}} wooden paddle sloop ordered for the Royal Navy. She was launched at Sheerness in 1838. She spent two commissions in the Mediterranean before being reclassed as a survey ship in 1847.Lyon Winfield, page 158 Between 1848 and 1851 she made a coastal survey of New Zealand, the first such survey since Captain Cook. She was paid off at Sydney and was tender to HMS Calliope.Winfield She was sold at Sydney in 1855.
Acheron was the second named vessel since it was used for an 8-gun Bomb, purchased in October 1803 then captured by the French in the Mediterranean and burnt on 3 February 1805.Colledge, Acheron
Construction
She was initially ordered from Chatham Dockyard on 15 September 1837, but three days later this was changed to Sheerness Dockyard because the relevant tooling was already present there. The Vessel was named on 27 September and laid down in October. She was launched on 23 August 1838. She was completed for sea at Sheerness om 8 January 1839 at a first cost of 25,509 (including 16,819 for and rigging and 8,690 for machinery).A total cost accounting for inflation of approximately £{{formatnum:{{Inflation|UK|25509|1838|r=-2}}}} in 2010.
Commissioned service
=First commission=
=Second commission=
=Commissioned as survey ship=
Acheron was commissioned the next day on 14 October 1847, under the command of Captain John Lort Stokes, RN, for service on the East Indies Station as a survey ship.The Navy List, July 1848, page 115 She was dispatched to New Zealand in January 1849,The Navy List, April 1849, page 126 arriving in November the same year.{{cite web |url=http://www.hydro-international.com/issues/articles/id2-By_the_Old_Hydrographer.html |date=1 January 2008 |first=Steve |last=Ritchie |website=Hydro International |title=By the Old Hydrographer}} In March 1851, due to a budget cut to the Hydrographer of the Navy, Acheron was ordered to be laid up in Sydney, New South Wales and her crew returned to England.{{DNZB|title=John Lort Stokes|first= Sheila|last= Natusch|id=1s24|accessdate=22 January 2012}} However, in November 1851, she was sent to rescue the passengers and crew of the British merchant ship Syrian, which had run aground on the Elizabeth Reef whilst on a voyage from Wellington, New Zealand to Sydney.{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Ship News |date=18 March 1852 |page=7 |issue=21066 |column=F }} In July 1853, she rescued the passengers and crew of the British barque Tory, which had been wrecked north of Port Stephens, New South Wales.{{Cite news |title=Shipping |newspaper=The Morning Chronicle |location=London |date=31 October 1853 |issue=27099 }}
Disposition
Notes
{{reflist|group=Note}}
Citations
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References
- Lyon Winfield, The Sail & Steam Navy List, All the Ships of the Royal Navy 1815 to 1889, by David Lyon & Rif Winfield, published by Chatham Publishing, London © 2004, {{ISBN|1-86176-032-9}}
- Winfield, British Warships in the Age of Sail (1817 – 1863), by Rif Winfield, published by Seaforth Publishing, England © 2014, e{{ISBN|9781473837430}}, Chapter 11 Steam Paddle Vessels, Vessels acquired since November 1830, Hermes Class
- Colledge, Ships of the Royal Navy, by J.J. Colledge, revised and updated by Lt Cdr Ben Warlow and Steve Bush, published by Seaforth Publishing, Barnsley, Great Britain, © 2020, e {{ISBN|978-1-5267-9328-7}} (EPUB)
- The Navy List, published by His Majesty's Stationery Office, London
{{Royal Navy paddle sloops}}
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