HMS ''Malabar'' was a ''Euphrates''-class troopship launched in 1866, and the fifth ship 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 ...

to employ the name. She was designed to carry troops between the United Kingdom and British India, and was employed in that role for most of her life. She became the base ship (or ''depot ship'') at the

Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda HMD Bermuda ( Her/His Majesty's Dockyard, Bermuda) was the principal base of the Royal Navy in the Western Atlantic between American independence and the Cold War. The Imperial fortress colony of Bermuda had occupied a useful position astride ...

in 1897. She was renamed ''Terror'' in 1901 and sold in 1918. Her name was later used as the ''stone frigate'' to which shore personnel in Bermuda were enrolled, and later for Her Majesty's Naval Base Bermuda, after the 1950s, when the dockyard was reduced to a base.

Design

''Malabar'' was one of five iron-hulled vessels of the ''Euphrates'' class. All five were built to a design of 360 ft overall length by about 49 ft breadth, although ''Malabar'' was very slightly smaller than the rest of the class. They had a single screw, a speed of 14 knots, one funnel, a barque-rig sail plan, three 4-pounder guns, and a white painted hull. Her bow was a "ram bow" which projected forward below the waterline.

Identification

The ''Euphrates''-class troopships could each be identified by a different coloured hull band. The ''Malabar''s hull band was black. The blue hull band of her sister Euphrates became the standard for all HM Troopships.The Royal Navy at Malta, Volume One: The Victorian Era - 1865-1906, page 51, by Richard Ellis & Lt. Cdr. Ben Warlaw RN -

Career

She was built to transport troops between the United Kingdom and the Indian sub-continent, and was operated by the

. She carried up to 1,200 troops and family on a passage of approximately 70 days. In common with her sisters, she was re-engined, her single-expansion steam engine being replaced with a Napier 2-cylinder compound-expansion engine in 1873. On 2 November 1878, she suffered an engine breakdown in the

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east south east of

Prawle Point Prawle Point ( oe, Prǣwhyll, "lookout hill") is a coastal headland in south Devon, England. It is the southernmost point of Devon. Just to the west is Elender Cove, and further west are Gammons Head Beach, also known as Maceley Cove, and Gammo ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

whilst on a voyage from

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. She was taken in tow by the steamship ''Benjamin Whitworth'', which with the assistance of two

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...

tugs took her in to

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

, Devon. In 1878 or early 1879 she grounded in

Whitsand Bay Whitsand Bay, situated in south east Cornwall, England, runs from Rame Head in the east to Portwrinkle in the west. It is characterised by sheer, high cliffs, dramatic scenery and long stretches of sandy beaches. The South West Coast Path runs t ...

near Plymouth. Her commanding officer, Captain Percy Luxmoore, was dismissed from the ship and replaced by Captain John Grant. Between August 1887 and early 1890 she was commanded by Captain

Arthur Dalrymple Fanshawe Admiral of the Fleet Sir Arthur Dalrymple Fanshawe, (2 April 1847 – 21 January 1936) was a Royal Navy officer. As a captain he became commanding officer, successively, of the troopships and , which were tasked with ferrying troops between t ...

Fate

She became the

depot ship A depot ship is an auxiliary ship used as a mobile or fixed base for submarines, destroyers, minesweepers, fast attack craft, landing craft, or other small ships with similarly limited space for maintenance equipment and crew dining, berthing an ...

at Bermuda in 1897 and was renamed HMS ''Terror'' on 1 May 1905; the name ''Malabar'' was later used by the Royal Naval dockyard at Bermuda. ''Terror'' was sold in January 1918.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Malabar Troop ships of the Royal Navy Euphrates-class troopships Ships built in Leamouth Victorian-era naval ships of the United Kingdom 1866 ships Maritime incidents in November 1878