HMS Myrmidon (1867)
{{short description|Gunvessel of the Royal Navy}}
{{Other ships|HMS Myrmidon}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image=Walter Spinks - Port Darwin.jpg |Ship caption=Myrmidon at Port Darwin, by one her crew, circa 1886 }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=United Kingdom |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}} |Ship name= HMS Myrmidon |Ship namesake=The Myrmidons |Ship ordered=5 March 1860 |Ship builder= Chatham Dockyard |Ship laid down= 24 July 1860 |Ship launched= 5 June 1867 |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned= October 1867 |Ship decommissioned= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship homeport= |Ship motto= |Ship nickname= |Ship honours= |Ship fate= Sold at Hong Kong, 1889 |Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption=Preston (2007), p.157Winfield (2004), pp. 222–223. |Ship class={{sclass|Cormorant|gunvessel|0}} first-class gunvessel |Ship type= |Ship displacement= 877 tons |Ship tons burthen={{frac|694|66/94}} bm |Ship length=*{{convert|185|ft|0|in|m|abbr=on|1}} (overall)
|Ship beam={{convert|28|ft|4|in|m|abbr=on|1}} |Ship height= |Ship draught={{convert|11 |
| 12|ft|m|abbr=on|1}}
|Ship hold depth={{convert|14|ft|0|in|m|abbr=on|1}} |Ship power=*200 nhp
|Ship propulsion=
|Ship sail plan=BarqueWinfield (2004) p.218 |Ship speed={{convert|10.8|kn|km/h|lk=in}} (under steam) |Ship range= |Ship endurance= |Ship complement=90 |Ship armament=
|Ship armour= |Ship notes= }} |
HMS Myrmidon was a {{sclass|Cormorant|gunvessel}} of the Royal Navy, built at Chatham Dockyard and launched in 1867. She served on the North America and West Indies Station and surveyed parts of the Australian coast before being sold at Hong Kong in 1889.
Design
=Propulsion=
The first six ships had a 2-cylinder horizontal single-expansion steam engine provided by Robert Napier and Sons and rated at 200 nominal horsepower, driving a single screw. Sylvia and Nassau were completed as survey ships and were powered by 150 nhp Humphreys and Tennant engines, and Myrmidon, the last of the completed Cormorants, received a more powerful 200 nhp Humphreys and Tennant engine.
=Armament=
The main armament, which was principally intended for shore bombardment, was originally designed with two 68-pounder and two 32-pounder muzzle-loading smoothbore guns. They were finished, however, with a single 7-inch/110-pounder Armstrong breech-loading gun and a 68-pounder muzzle-loading smoothbore gun. A pair of broadside 20-pounder Armstrong breech-loading guns were also fitted. The 68-pounders were later replaced by a pair of 64-pounder muzzle-loading rifled guns.
=Sail plan=
File:William Mackenzie Thomson - H.M.S. 'Myrmidon'.jpg
In common with all other Royal Navy wooden screw gunvessels, the Cormorants were rigged as barques, that is with three masts, with the fore and main masts square rigged, and the mizzen fore-and-aft rigged.
Construction
The first 6 ships were ordered from commercial yards (Money Wigram & Sons, C J Mare & Co and J Scott Russell). A further batch of 4 ships (including Myrmidon) were ordered on 5 March 1860 and the final batch of 3 (Pegasus – Guernsey) on 25 March 1862. The first completed ships had a draught of {{convert|11|-|12|ft|m}}, exceeding the intended {{convert|8|ft|m}} by a considerable margin. Since gunvessels were intended to work in shallow water while bombarding the shore, work on the later two batches was suspended. Sylvia, Nassau and Myrmidon were suspended in 1862 or 1863, but were resumed, being finished as survey vessels.Preston claims that Myrmidon was completed as a survey vessel; Winfield states only that she was a survey vessel by 1888. She was launched on 5 June 1867Bastock, p.91. and commissioned in October 1867.
Operational service
Myrmidon commenced service on the North America and West Indies Station. She served on the Australia Station from 14 March 1885 and undertook hydrographic surveys along the Australian coastline until she left the Australia Station in 1888. In April 1887 she was involved in a collison with the troopship HMS Tyne near Sydney.
Fate
She sailed to Hong Kong and was sold in April 1889 for £3000. Her eventual fate is unknown.
Notes
{{Reflist|group=Note}}
References
{{Reflist}}
- Bastock, John (1988), Ships on the Australia Station, Child & Associates Publishing Pty Ltd; Frenchs Forest, Australia. {{ISBN|0-86777-348-0}}
- {{gunboat}}, p. 157
- {{winfield}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{Cormorant class gunvessel}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Myrmidon (1867)}}
Category:Ships built in Chatham