HMS Challenger (1858)
Painting of Challenger by William Frederick Mitchell
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History | |
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United Kingdom | |
Name | Challenger |
Builder | Woolwich Dockyard |
Launched | 13 February 1858 |
Decommissioned | Chatham Dockyard, 1878 |
Fate | Broken for scrap, 1921 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Pearl-class corvette |
Displacement | 2,137 long tons (2,171 t)[1] |
Tons burthen | 1465 bm[1] |
Length |
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Beam | 40 ft 4 in (12.29 m) |
Draught |
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Depth of hold | 23 ft 11 in (7.29 m) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion |
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Sail plan | Full-rigged ship |
Speed | 10.7 knots (19.8 km/h) (under steam) |
Armament |
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HMS Challenger was a Pearl-class corvette of the Royal Navy launched on 13 February 1858 at the Woolwich Dockyard. She served the flagship of the Australia Station between 1866 and 1870.[2]
As part of the
She was picked to undertake the first global marine research expedition: the Challenger expedition. She carried a complement of 243 officers, scientists and sailors when she embarked on her 68,890-nautical-mile (127,580 km) journey.
The
1873–1876: Grand tour
The Challenger expedition, which embarked from Portsmouth, England on 21 December 1872, was a grand tour of the world covering 68,000 nautical miles (125,936 km) organized by the Royal Society in collaboration with the University of Edinburgh.[5] British scientist Charles Thomson led a large scientific team which accompanied the crew.[6]
- Captains: George Nares (1873 and 1874) and Frank Tourle Thomson[7] (1874 to 1876)
- Naturalists: Charles Wyville Thomson (1830–1882), Henry Nottidge Moseley (1844–1891) and Rudolf von Willemoes-Suhm (1847–1875)
- Oceanographers: John Young Buchanan (1844–1925) and John Murray (1841–1914)
- Publications: C.W. Thomson, Report on the scientific results of the voyage of HMS Challenger during the years 1873–76... prepared under the superintendence of the late Sir C. Wyville Thomson,... and now of John Murray,... (fifty volumes, London, 1880–1895). H.N. Moseley, Notes by a naturalist on the Challenger (1879). W.J.J. Spry, The cruise of the Challenger (1876).
To enable her to probe the depths, all but two of Challenger's guns had been removed and her spars reduced to make more space available for scientific instruments.[8] Laboratories, extra cabins and a special dredging platform were installed as well.[9]
She was loaded with specimen jars,
Later service and decomissioning
She was commissioned as a His Majesty's Coastguard and Royal Naval Reserve training ship at the Harwich Dockyard in July 1876.[2] In 1878, Challenger went through an overhaul by the Chief Constructor at Chatham Dockyard with a view to converting the vessel into a training ship for boys of the Royal Navy. She was found suitable and it was planned to take the place of HMS Eurydice which sank off the Isle of Wight on 24 March 1878.[12]
The Admiralty did not go ahead with the conversion and she remained in reserve until 1883, when she was converted into a
See also
References
- ^ OCLC 52620555.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-86777-348-4.
- ^ "Fiji". The Sydney Mail. Vol. IX, no. 429. 19 September 1868. p. 11. Retrieved 9 April 2018 – via NLA Trove.
- ^ Grinter, K., ed. (3 October 2000). "Orbiter Vehicles: Challenger (STA-099, OV-99)". Kennedy Space Center. Merritt Island: National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Archived from the original on 3 February 2009. Retrieved 15 March 2023.
- ISBN 978-1-85728-705-9.
- ^ Tizard, T. H.; Moseley, H. N.; Buchanan, J. Y; Murray, J. (1965) [1885]. "Narrative of the Cruise of H.M.S. Challenger – Chapter 1" (PDF). In Thomson, C. W.; Murray, J. (eds.). Report on the Scientific Results of the Voyage of H.M.S. Challenger During the Years 1873–1876. Vol. I, first part (facsimile ed.). New York: Johnson Reprint Corporation. pp. 19–20.
- ^ "Admiralty service record: Thomson, Frank Tourle". Kew: The National Archives. ADM 196/13/348.
- ^ Bishop, T.; Tuddenham, P.; Tuddenham, P.; Payne, D.; Babb, I. "Then and Now: The HMS Challenger Expedition and the "Mountains in the Sea" Expedition". Ocean Explorer. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, US Department of Commerce. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
- ^ S2CID 146750038.
- ^ "Scientific Equipment on HMS Challenger". HMS Challenger Project. 2 June 2015. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
- ISSN 0897-2249.
- ^ "Naval". The Cornishman. No. 27. 16 January 1879. p. 6.
- ^ "Figurehead of the HMS Challenger". London: Royal Museums Greenwich. Archived from the original on 15 December 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
Further reading
- Thomson, C. W.; Murray, J., eds. (1880–1895). Report of the Scientific Results of the Voyage of H.M.S. Challenger during the Years 1873–1876, under the Command of Captain George S. Nares, R.N., F.R.S., and Captain Frank Tourle Thomson R.N. Her Majesty's Stationery Office. OCLC 10354084.
External links
Media related to HMS Challenger (1858) at Wikimedia Commons