HMS ''Bramble'' was a 161-ton, 10-gun
cutter launched on 8 April 1822 from
Plymouth Dockyard
His Majesty's Naval Base, Devonport (HMNB Devonport) is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Portsmouth) and is the sole nuclear repair and refuelling facility for the Ro ...
.
[Bastock, p.30.]
Naval career
She operated from April 1842 to April 1847, under the command of Lieutenant
Charles Bampfield Yule as a
tender to
HMS ''Fly''. In the
East Indies Station
The East Indies Station was a formation and command of the British Royal Navy. Created in 1744 by the Admiralty, it was under the command of the Commander-in-Chief, East Indies.
Even in official documents, the term ''East Indies Station'' was ...
she undertook surveys around
Australia. After April 1847, still commanded by Charles Yule as a tender to
HMS ''Rattlesnake'', she undertook surveys and explored the southern part of
New Guinea
New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...
and the
Louisiade Archipelago
The Louisiade Archipelago is a string of ten larger volcanic islands frequently fringed by coral reefs, and 90 smaller coral islands in Papua New Guinea.
It is located 200 km southeast of New Guinea, stretching over more than and spread ...
.
Between 1855 and 1859 she was assigned as a tender to
HMS ''Calliope'' undertaking survey work around Australia and also for diving operations at Sydney. ''Bramble'' was then assigned to the Australia Station in 1859 before being decommissioned in 1876.
Civilian career
She was sold as a lightship and was anchored at Sow and Pigs reef situated just on the eastern side of the channel between
Middle Head and South Head,
Sydney Harbour. She was purchased by
Colonial Sugar Refining Co. and was fitted out as a lighter. In 1938, during the Sesquicentennial celebrations, she was chartered to the Maritime Services Board, who made the vessel into a replica of the historic
HMS ''Supply''. Afterwards she was reconverted into a lighter and was known as ''Registered lighter No. 79''.
See also
*
European and American voyages of scientific exploration
The era of European and American voyages of scientific exploration followed the Age of Discovery and were inspired by a new confidence in science and reason that arose in the Age of Enlightenment. Maritime expeditions in the Age of Discovery were ...
References
Bramble-class cutter
Ships built in Plymouth, Devon
1822 ships
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