HMS Dido (1869)
HMS Dido circa. 1871
| |
History | |
---|---|
United Kingdom | |
Name | HMS Dido |
Namesake | Dido |
Builder | Portsmouth Dockyard |
Launched | 23 October 1869 |
Completed | 20 April 1871 |
Decommissioned | Lent to the War Dept as a hulk , 1886 |
Renamed | HMS Actaeon II, 1906 |
Fate | Sold for scrap, 17 July 1922 |
General characteristics (as built) | |
Class and type | Eclipse-class wooden screw sloop (later corvette) |
Displacement | 1,760 long tons (1,790 t) |
Tons burthen | 1,268 bm |
Length | 212 ft (64.6 m) (p/p) |
Beam | 36 ft (11.0 m) |
Draught | 16 ft 6 in (5.0 m) |
Depth | 21 ft 6 in (6.6 m) |
Installed power | 2,518 ihp (1,878 kW) |
Propulsion |
|
Sail plan | Ship rig |
Speed | 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph) |
Complement | 180 |
Armament |
|
HMS Dido was an Eclipse-class wooden screw sloop built for the Royal Navy in 1869. She was the fourth ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name. She was reclassified in 1876[1] as a corvette, and in 1906 renamed Actaeon II. She served as a mine depot ship and was merged into the Torpedo School at Sheerness, being sold for breaking in 1922.[2]
Design
Designed by
Propulsion
Propulsion was provided by a two-cylinder horizontal single-expansion steam engine by Humphrys, Tennant & Company driving a single screw.[2]
Sail Plan
All the ships of the class were built with a
Armament
The Eclipse class was designed with two 7-inch (6½-ton) muzzle-loading rifled guns mounted in traversing slides and four 64-pounder muzzle-loading rifled guns.[2] They were re-classified as corvettes in 1876, carrying 12 guns.
History
Launch and Commissioning
Dido was launched at Portsmouth Dockyard on 23 October 1869 and commissioned into the Royal Navy on 20 April 1871 for service on the West Coast of Africa, leaving England on 6 May.[3]
West Africa Station (1871)
Dido called at Madeira, arriving at Sierra Leone on 9 June. She relieved HMS Sirius at Fernando Po on 16 July. The Times of Thursday 8 June 1876 tells the story of her next adventure:
Three months later, war having broken out afresh between the kingdoms of
New Calabar, Bonny, and Ekrika, thereby bringing all European trade in the rivers to a standstill, Capt. Chapman, acting under instructions from the Admiralty, proceeded with the squadron under his orders up the Bonny River - one of the mouths of the Niger - to settle the native disputes, using force, if necessary, to open up the rivers for trade. This he accomplished most satisfactorily in conjunction with the British Consul, Capt. Hopkins, by prevailing on the contending parties to meet on board the Dido, where their mutual grievances were adjusted and peace re-established at a palaver which lasted four days. The result proved a lasting benefit to the European merchants as well as to the native Kings and Chiefs, the oil trade soon reaching the large proportions of nearly half a million per annum.[3]
In December 1871 Dido arrived at Simonstown, where Captain Chapman was to act as the Senior Officer during the absence of the Commodore on the West Coast. Five months later, on 16 May 1872, she left the Cape for Sydney, having been ordered to join the Australian Station.[3]
Australia Station (1872 - 1875)
On her way to Sydney Dido paused at St. Paul's, where the remains of Megaera were still to be seen. She arrived at Sydney on 3 July 1872, and then spent nine months in New Zealand, followed by a journey to Fiji in February 1873. The islands of Fiji were in a state of chaos, with the relationship between the government of King Cakabau and the European settlers brought to crisis point by the murder of the Burns family. The Times relates what happened:
Bloodshed would have ensued had not Capt. Chapman, at considerable risk, taken the Dido through an intricate passage for 80 miles among the coral reefs to the Ba river, and, having invited a large number of the disaffected settlers on board, prevailed upon them to lay down their arms, the Government granting a general amnesty to all concerned, with the exception of the two ringleaders, who were detained on board for a short time in order to prevent the authorities from taking any steps against them.[3]
After remaining in Fiji for six months she left for Sydney, pausing at the islands of the
During her last days on the Australian Station Dido visited Tasmania, leaving Sydney on 2 December for Melbourne, where Commodore Chapman relinquished command of the station to Captain Hoskins. HMS Sapphire arrived to relieve her, and she sailed for home.
A good passage was made to within 200 miles of Cape Pillar. Here, on 20 February, was encountered one of the most furious gales over experienced by any one on board. Although the ship was put under storm canvas, consisting of a close-reefed maintopsail and storm forestaysail, both were blown away, and soon followed by the fall of the fore and main topmasts and jibboom; the barometer fell to 28.15, the wind increased to a hurricane, and rapidly raised a tremendous sea. Fortunately the gale did not remain at its height f or more .than four hours, and, soon abating, the ship was enabled, to proceed on her voyage, and entered the Straits of Magellan, where she refitted; but, being unable to obtain spars at Sandy Point, she called at Montevideo for that purpose, as well as for provisions. The Dido left the River Plate on the 1st of April, crossed the line on the 27th, touched at Fayal (Azores) on the 21st of May, experienced successive calms and light winds until the 2d of June, and arrived at Spithead on the 6th.
Out of commission (1876 - 1879)
On 6 June 1876 Dido returned to
West Africa Station and the First Boer War (1879 - 1881)
In 1881 Dido contributed 50 men and two field guns to a
North America and West Indies Station (1881 - 1886)
The ship was re-assigned to the North America and West Indies Station, based at the Royal Naval Dockyard in Bermuda, in October 1881. In 1883, Dido as specially prepared to carry Princess Louise from Charleston, South Carolina, to winter in Bermuda, embarking the Princess at Charleston at 17:00 on the 24 January and arriving about noon on the 29 January at Grassy Bay (the anchorage of the Fleet in the Great Sound), from where the Princess was carried by HM Tender Supply to Hamilton Harbour, then rowed ashore to Front Street in the City of Hamilton where the Governor and military Commander-in-Chief of Bermuda, Lieutenant-General Thomas LJ Gallwey, waited.[4] From there the ship was steamed to Barbados, to be paid off on 16 February 1883.[1] The paid off crew returned to England, via Bermuda, aboard HMS Tamar.[5] On recommissioning Captain Frederick Samuel Vander-Meulen commanded her on the station until 1886, when she returned home to Portsmouth.
Hulk (1886)
On 25 September 1886 Dido paid off at Portsmouth and her sea-going equipment was removed so that her hull could be used for accommodation and storage. She served as a mine depot in the Firth of Forth, and in 1906 her name was changed to Actaeon II.[2] She became part of the Torpedo School at Sheerness.
Disposal
Actaeon II was sold to J B Garnham for breaking on 17 July 1922.[2]
References
- ^ a b c d "HMS Dido at William Looney website". Retrieved 17 September 2008.
- ^ a b c d e f g Winfield, p. 291
- ^ a b c d e f The Times, Thursday 8 June 1876
- ^ Reception of Her Royal Highness The Princess Louise (Marchioness of Lorne). The Royal Gazette, City of Hamilton, Pembroke, Bermuda. 30 January 1883. Page 2
- ^ The Royal Gazette , City of Hamilton, Pembroke, Bermuda. 27 March 1883, Page 2, column 2.
Bibliography
- Ballard, G. A. (1938). "British Sloops of 1875: The Smaller Ram-Bowed Type". Mariner's Mirror. 24 (April). Cambridge, UK: Society for Nautical Research: 160–75. .
- Chesneau, Roger; Kolesnik, Eugene M., eds. (1979). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905. Greenwich, UK: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-8317-0302-4.
- Winfield, R.; Lyon, D. (2004). The Sail and Steam Navy List: All the Ships of the Royal Navy 1815–1889. London: Chatham Publishing. OCLC 52620555.
External links
- Media related to HMS Dido (ship, 1869) at Wikimedia Commons