HMS Dolphin (1751)

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For other ships with the same name, see HMS Dolphin.

HMS Dolphin at Tahiti 1767
History
RN EnsignGreat Britain
NameHMS Dolphin
Ordered26 September 1747
BuilderWoolwich Dockyard, England
Laid down3 August 1748
Launched1 May 1751
CommissionedJune 1752
Out of servicePaid off in September 1776
FateBroken up, January 1777
General characteristics
Class and typeSixth-rate frigate
Tons burthen511 2⁄94 (bm)
Length
  • 113 ft (34 m) (gundeck)
  • 93 ft 4 in (28.45 m) (keel)
Beam32 ft 1 in (9.78 m)
Depth of hold11 ft (3.4 m)
PropulsionSails
Sail planFull-rigged ship
Complement160
Armament
  • Lower deck: 2 x 9-pounders (aft)
  • Upper deck: 20 x 9-pounders
  • Quarter deck: 2 x 3-pounders

HMS Dolphin was a 24-gun

survey ship from 1764 and made two circumnavigations of the world under the successive commands of John Byron and Samuel Wallis. She was the first ship to circumnavigate the world twice. She remained in service until she was paid off in September 1776. She was broken up in early 1777.[1]

Construction

Built to the 1745 Establishment, Dolphin was originally ordered from the private yard of Earlsman Sparrow in Rotherhithe (under contract dated 7 October 1747). Following Sparrow's bankruptcy in 1748, the order was moved to Woolwich Dockyard. In order to reduce the likely incidence of shipworm, Dolphin's hull was copper-sheathed ahead of her first voyage of circumnavigation in 1764.[2]

Early service

Not long after her commissioning, the hostilities of the

Mahon, Britain's main base in the Western Mediterranean (as a result of which Byng was later court-martialled
and shot).

First circumnavigation

With Britain's successful conclusion of the Seven Years' War in 1763, her attentions turned towards consolidating her gains and continuing to expand her trade and influence at the expense of the other competing European powers. The

Terra Australis Incognita) must exist at southern latitudes
to "counterbalance" the northern hemisphere's landmasses.

No longer in a state of war, the

South Atlantic base from which Britain could keep an eye on voyages bound for the Pacific. Another purpose was to generally explore for unknown lands which could then be claimed and exploited by the Crown, and to reach the Far East if necessary. Dolphin was selected as lead vessel for this voyage, and she was to be accompanied by the sloop HMS Tamar
.

Her captain was

Northern Marianas Islands
.

Second circumnavigation

Memorial to Samuel Wallis and the crew in Truro Cathedral in Cornwall

Dolphin circumnavigated the world for a second time, under the command of

John Gore, was among a number of the crew from Byron's circumnavigation who crewed with Wallis. The master on this voyage, George Robertson, subsequently wrote a book The discovery of Tahiti; a journal of the second voyage of H.M.S. Dolphin round the world under the command of Captain Wallis, R.N., in the years 1766, 1767, and 1768, written by her master.[4] Dolphin sailed in 1766 in the company of HMS Swallow, under the command of Philip Carteret
, who had served on Byron's circumnavigation.

Dolphin dropped anchor at the peninsula of Tahiti Iti ("small Tahiti", aka Taiarapu) on 17 June 1767 but quickly left to find a better anchorage. Wallis chose

Louis-Antoine de Bougainville
landed at Hitiaa on the opposite side of Tahiti and unaware of Wallis's earlier visit, claimed it for the King of France.)

Early on a large canoe approached Dolphin and at a signal its occupants launched a storm of stones at the British, who replied with grapeshot. Dolphin's gunnery cut the canoe in two, killing most of its occupants. Wallis then sent his carpenters ashore to cut the eighty-some canoes there in half. Eventually, friendly relations were established between the British sailors and the locals. The relationships became particularly friendly when the sailors discovered that the women were eager to exchange sex for iron. This trade became so extensive that the loss of nails started to threaten Dolphin's physical integrity.[5]

See also

Notes

  1. ISBN 0-395-98415-7
    .
  2. ^ Beaglehole 1966, p.195
  3. ^ "Circumnavigation: Notable global maritime circumnavigations". Solarnavigator.net. Retrieved 20 July 2009.
  4. ^ Alibris
  5. ^ Couper (2009), pp. 64–65, 69.

References

External links
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