HMS ''Grinder'' was a wooden 3-gun , launched on 7 March 1855. Although she served for nine years, her most active period was in her first year when she served in the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...

Black Sea and Sea of Azov

During the summer of 1855, ''Grinder'' carried out raids on Russian food and ammunition stores to prevent supplies reaching the Russian troops in the Crimea. ''Grinder'' and nine other gunboats (''

Beagle The beagle is a breed of small scent hound, similar in appearance to the much larger foxhound. The beagle was developed primarily for hunting hare, known as beagling. Possessing a great sense of smell and superior tracking instincts, th ...

, Boxer, Cracker, Curlew, Fancy, Jasper, Vesuvius'', ''Swallow'' and ''Wrangler'' ) were employed destroying fisheries and corn stores, as well as ammunition stores, around the Sea of Azov. Their raids forced the Russian land forces to maintain a state of constant readiness lest there be a landing. The British naval squadron, including ''Grinder'', was active on 23 September 1855 at the entrance to the Sea of Azov in destroying communications between Temryuk and Taman, an area of shallow seas, swamps and bridges. For some of this summer period, ''Grinder'', under the command of Lieutenant Francis Trevor Hamilton, served as a tender to the

first rate In the rating system of the British Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a first rate was the designation for the largest ships of the line. Originating in the Jacobean era with the designation of Ships Royal capable of carrying at ...

, flagship of Rear Admiral Sir Edmund Lyons, Bart GCB. From July 1855 she was commanded by Lieutenant Burgoyne. ''Grinder'' played her small part in the actions against the fort at the head of Dnieper Bay as part in a joint force of British and French warships, including the steam frigate ''Valourous'', ''Gladiator'' and ''Clinker'', on 18 October 1855. Further activities of the squadron, including ''Grinder'', consisted of destroying vast quantities of provisions and fuel near the town of

Yeisk Yeysk (russian: Ейск) is a port and a resort town in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, situated on the shore of the Taganrog Gulf of the Sea of Azov. The town is built primarily on the Yeysk Spit, which separates the Yeya River from the Sea of Azo ...

in the Sea of Azov on 3 November 1855, just as the weather was changing to make naval activities there impossible. The attacks were on such a broad front that even the presence of 1500 cossacks in the area did not inconvenience the landing parties.

Fate

''Grinder'' was decommissioned in 1864, and broken up at Portsmouth.

Notes, citations, and references

;Notes ;Citations ;References * * *

External links

William Loney RN website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grinder (1855) 1855 ships Dapper-class gunboats