HMS Atlas (1860)

Atlas was {{convert|245|ft|m|2}} long. She was to have been driven by a screw propeller. Had she been completed, her complement would have been 860 men.

A sister ship to {{HMS|Renown|1857|6}},{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Military and Naval Intelligence |date=16 September 1858 |page=12 |issue=23100 |column=A}} Atlas was to have been a 91-gun second rate ship of the line. She was built at Chatham Dockyard, Kent. Laid down in 1858, Atlas was one of the ships under construction at Chatham that were inspected by the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty on 23 August 1859.{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Military and Naval Intelligence |date=24 August 1859 |page=9 |issue=23393 |column=D, E}} Built on No. 6 Slip, Atlas was launched on 21 July 1860. The christening was performed by Mrs Schomberg, wife of Captain Schomberg.{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Naval and Military Intelligence |date=23 July 1860 |page=12 |issue=23679 |column=A}} On 24 July, Atlas was taken to Sheerness to be fitted with her {{convert|800|hp|kW}} steam engines.{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Naval and Military Intelligence |date=24 July 1860 |page=12 |issue=23680 |column=B}} By April 1861, Atlas was undergoing trials under steam.{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Military and Naval Intelligence |date=5 April 1861 |page=10 |issue=23899 |column=A}}

Atlas was initially earmarked for the Channel Fleet. Atlas was placed in reserve, in 1861 at Sheerness. She was reduced to 54 guns in 1870.{{cite web|url=http://www.pbenyon.plus.com/18-1900/A/00390.html |title=Atlas, 1860 |publisher=P Benyon |accessdate=6 February 2010}} In 1874, Atlas was transferred to Chatham Dockyard.{{cite web|url=http://www.pdavis.nl/ShowShip.php?id=45 |title=Atlas |publisher=Peter Davis |accessdate=6 February 2010}} She was totally disarmed in 1879.

In June 1881, the Lords of the Admiralty agreed to lend Atlas and {{HMS|Endymion|1865|2}} to the Metropolitan Asylums Board along with a steam pinnace, due to an outbreak of smallpox. Atlas was to be converted into a hospital ship for 250 patients. A third hospital ship was Castalia.{{cite hansard |jurisdiction=United Kingdom |title=Public Health: Small Pox Epidemic |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1884/jul/01/resolution#S3V0289P0_18840701_HOC_80 |house=House of Commons |date=1 July 1884 |column_start=1807 |column_end=1811 |speaker=Dr. Cameron |position=MP for Glasgow }} The Metropolitan Asylums Board was to insure Atlas and Endymion for £11,000 and £8,000 respectively. There was opposition to the proposed use of Atlas from the Thames Conservancy and other public and private bodies. Agreement had been made to lease a berth at Deptford, Kent but when the managers of a company with premises nearby learned of the proposed use of Atlas as an isolation hospital, they put pressure on the owners of the berth with the result that the owners then decided not to allow Atlas to be berthed there.{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=The Smallpox Epidemic in London |date=13 June 1881 |page=8 |issue=30219 |column=E}}

She was initially stationed at Greenwich, Kent, in a berth which had been previously used for another hospital ship. This drew an objection from the shipbuilders Messrs Rennie because some of their employees refused to work near the riverside where Atlas was moored. It was also necessary to move Atlas and Endymion every time Rennie's launched a ship.{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=The Smallpox Epidemic in London |date=25 July 1881 |page=11 |issue=30255 |column=F}} Atlas was acquired by the board on 4 June, and Endymion on 5 July.{{cite news |title=The Small Pox Epidemic |newspaper=The Morning Post |issue=34023 |page=4 |location=London |date=11 July 1881 }} Atlas housed 120 patients.{{cite web |url=http://www.ezitis.myzen.co.uk/briefhistoryhospships.html |title=SMALLPOX HOSPITAL SHIPS |publisher=Lost Hospitals of London |accessdate=2 August 2011}} In 1882, the Thames Conservancy wrote to the Metropolitan Asylums Board urging them to move Atlas and Endymion from Greenwich. The Thames Conservancy also called upon the board to pay a large claim for expenses incurred by Messrs Rennie's. At a meeting of the board, it was suggested that if moved, Atlas should be used for convalescent patients. The board decided to await the report from a Royal Commission into infectious diseases hospitals before deciding whether or not to move the ships.{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=The Metropolitan Asylums Board |date=20 March 1882 |page=11 |issue=30459 |column=G}}

File:Atlas ward.jpg

In August 1882, Atlas was moved to nearby Deptford Creek, and in 1883 downstream to Long Reach, near Dartford. In February 1885, a meeting of the Metropolitan Asylums Board was informed that the Admiralty had stated that if the board wished to continue using Atlas and Endymion, they would have to purchase them at a cost of £8,400 and £6,500 respectively. The board replied that they would purchase the ships, but asked for the cost to be reduced.{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=The Metropolitan Asylums Board |date=3 February 1852 |page=6 |issue=31360 |column=B}} In June, it was reported that the board were authorised to purchase both ships.{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=The Metropolitan Asylums Board |date=22 June 1885 |page=10 |issue=31479 |column=F}} Following a fire on the training ship {{HMS|Goliath|1842|2}} in 1875, engines and a generator were installed on board Atlas in 1886 to provide the ship with electric light, given that oil lamps had been deemed a fire hazard. Atlas served as a hospital ship until 1904, when the new Joyce Green Hospital opened at Dartford, Kent. Atlas was sold by auction in December, along with Endymion and Castalia for a total of £8,045.{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Metropolitan Asylums Board |date= 13 December 1904 |page=4 |issue=37576 |column=C }} Atlas realised £3,725.

• Healthcare in London

{{reflist|20em}}

• {{Commons category-inline|HMS Atlas (ship, 1860)}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Atlas (1860)}}

Category:1860 ships

Category:Ships of the line of the Royal Navy

Category:Hospital ships of the United Kingdom

Category:Health in the Royal Borough of Greenwich

Category:Merchant ships of the United Kingdom

Category:Hospitals in Kent