HMS ''Hornet'' was a 17-gun wooden

screw sloop A screw sloop is a propeller-driven sloop-of-war. In the 19th century, during the introduction of the steam engine, ships driven by propellers were differentiated from those driven by paddle-wheels by referring to the ship's ''screws'' (propelle ...

of the of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

, launched in 1854 and broken up in 1868.

Construction

Originally ordered in April 1847 as a "Screw Schooner", she was suspended in August 1847 and re-ordered on 1 November 1850 to the same design as HMS ''Cruizer''. The wooden sloops of the ''Cruizer'' class were designed under the direction of Lord John Hay, and after his "Committee of Reference" was disbanded, their construction was supervised by the new

Surveyor of the Navy The Surveyor of the Navy also known as Department of the Surveyor of the Navy and originally known as Surveyor and Rigger of the Navy was a former principal commissioner and member of both the Navy Board from the inauguration of that body in 15 ...

, Sir Baldwin Walker. ''Hornet'' was laid down at the Royal Dockyard, Deptford in June 1851. Her two-cylinder horizontal single-expansion steam engine, which was supplied by James Watt & Company at a cost of £5,450, generated an indicated horsepower of ; driving a single screw, this gave a maximum speed of . The class was given a

barque A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel with three or more mast (sailing), masts having the fore- and mainmasts Square rig, rigged square and only the mizzen (the aftmost mast) Fore-and-aft rig, rigged fore and aft. Som ...

-rig sail plan.

Armament

All the ships of the class were provided with one 32-pounder (56 cwt) long gun on a pivot mount and sixteen 32-pounder (32 cwt) carriage guns in a broadside arrangement.

History

''Hornet'' served in the Baltic in 1854 during 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 de ...

, and from 1854 until 1859 she served in the East Indies and in China, taking part in the

Second Opium War The Second Opium War (), also known as the Second Anglo-Sino War, the Second China War, the Arrow War, or the Anglo-French expedition to China, was a colonial war lasting from 1856 to 1860, which pitted the British Empire and the French Emp ...

. After a refit in 1859–1860 she recommissioned for the

Cape of Good Hope Station The Commander-in-Chief, Africa was the last title of a Royal Navy's formation commander located in South Africa from 1795 to 1939. Under varying titles, it was one of the longest-lived formations of the Royal Navy. It was also often known as the C ...

and served both there and on the East Indies Station.

The Russian War (1854)

Under Commander Frederick Archibald Campbell ''Hornet'' served in the Baltic campaign of 1854 during the Russian War. Capture of Bocca Tigris forts 1856

The East Indies and China Stations (1854 - 1856)

On 25 April 1855 ''Hornet'', along with HMS ''Sybille'' and HMS ''Bittern'', under

Commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ''Kommodore'' * Air commodore, a ...

The Hon.

Charles Elliot Admiral Sir Charles Elliot (15 August 1801 – 9 September 1875) was a British Royal Navy officer, diplomat, and colonial administrator. He became the first Administrator of Hong Kong in 1841 while serving as both Plenipotentiary and Chief S ...

discovered

Liancourt Rocks The Liancourt Rocks, also known by their Korean name of Dokdo or their Japanese name of Takeshima,; ; . form a group of islets in the Sea of Japan between the Korean peninsula and the Japanese archipelago. The Liancourt Rocks comprise two ...

in the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it h ...

, at . It was about a mile in extent, running in a NW by W and SE by E direction and formed together by a reef of rocks. The ''Hornet''s commander at the time, Charles Codrington Forsyth, noted in the ship's log:

The Second Opium War (1856 - 1859)

Boats of HMS Hornet attacking a Pirate fleet, 1857

On 12 November 1856, in company with ''Calcutta'', ''Nankin'', ''Encounter'', ''Barracouta'' and ''Coromandel'', she bombarded and captured the

Bogue forts The Humen, also Bocca Tigris or Bogue, is a narrow strait in the Pearl River Delta that separates Shiziyang in the north and Lingdingyang in the south near Humen Town in China's Guangdong Province. It is the site of the Pearl River's discharge in ...

and the next day, the Anunghoy forts. Christmas 1856 was spent as Guardship at

Canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ent ...

(now Guangzhou). In 1857 she spent much of her time at

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

and in the

Canton River The Pearl River, also known by its Chinese name Zhujiang or Zhu Jiang in Mandarin pinyin or Chu Kiang and formerly often known as the , is an extensive river system in southern China. The name "Pearl River" is also often used as a catch-al ...

, culminating in the capture of Canton on 28 December 1857 under Rear-Admiral Sir Michael Seymour.''The London Gazette'', 26 February 1858
/ref> In February 1859 she sailed for England, decommissioning in Portsmouth on 14 July 1859.

The Cape of Good Hope and East Indies Stations (1860 - 1864)

On 20 July 1860 ''Hornet'' recommissioned for service on the Cape of Good Hope Station under Commander William Buller Fullerton Elphinstone. She also served during this period on the East Indies Station.

Disposal

''Hornet'' decommissioned at Portsmouth on 22 September 1864 and was broken up by

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

Cowes Cowes () is an English seaport town and civil parish on the Isle of Wight. Cowes is located on the west bank of the estuary of the River Medina, facing the smaller town of East Cowes on the east bank. The two towns are linked by the Cowes Floa ...

in 1868.

Commanding officers

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hornet (1854) Cruizer-class sloops Victorian-era sloops of the United Kingdom Ships built in Deptford 1854 ships Crimean War naval ships of the United Kingdom