HMS ''Pique'' was a wooden

fifth-rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a fifth rate was the second-smallest class of warships in a hierarchical system of six " ratings" based on size and firepower. Rating The rating system in the Royal N ...

sailing frigate 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 ...

, designed by Sir

William Symonds Sir William Symonds CB FRS (24 September 1782 – 30 March 1856, aboard the French steamship ''Nil'', Strait of Bonifacio, Sardinia)Devonport. The vessel was of 1,633

tons burthen Builder's Old Measurement (BOM, bm, OM, and o.m.) is the method used in England from approximately 1650 to 1849 for calculating the cargo capacity of a ship. It is a volumetric measurement of cubic capacity. It estimated the tonnage of a ship bas ...

and had 36 guns. She was

broken up Ship-breaking (also known as ship recycling, ship demolition, ship dismantling, or ship cracking) is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships for either a source of Interchangeable parts, parts, which can be sold for re-use, ...

in 1910.

Service history

''Pique'' was the first of a new class of medium-sized frigates designed by Sir William Symonds, Chief Surveyor of the Navy. Following commissioning she formed part of an experimental squadron, which were groups of ships sent out in the 1830s and 1840s to test new techniques of ship design, armament, building and propulsion. In September 1835 she ran ashore in the

Strait of Belle Isle The Strait of Belle Isle (; french: Détroit de Belle Isle ) is a waterway in eastern Canada that separates the Labrador Peninsula from the island of Newfoundland, in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Location The strait is the northern o ...

. She was refloated and crossed the Atlantic rudderless and taking on water. In October the vessel arrived in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

for repairs where a large rock, which had plugged the hole in her hull, was removed. This stone remains on display in the Porter's Garden,

Portsmouth Historic Dockyard Portsmouth Historic Dockyard is an area of HM Naval Base Portsmouth which is open to the public; it contains several historic buildings and ships. It is managed by the National Museum of the Royal Navy as an umbrella organization representing f ...

. Under the command of Captain

Edward Boxer Rear-Admiral Edward Boxer CB (Dover, 27 February 1784 – Balaklava, 4 June 1855) was an officer of the Royal Navy. He served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, and died during the Crimean War with the rank of rear-admi ...

(3 August 1837 – August 1841), ''Pique'' sailed to North America, the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

and the Mediterranean, including operations on the coast of Syria, as part of the squadron led by , and including and . Cannon balls from bombardment of Akko, 1840 (1)

Cannon balls from bombardment of Akko, 1840 (1)

In 1840 ''Pique'' saw service in the bombardment of the city of Acre under the command of Admiral Robert Stopford. For the engagement, ''Pique'' was assigned to the far northern end of the line, north-northeast of the much larger and at a greater distance from the city than the rest of Stopford's fleet.Kahanov et al, 2014, pp. 147-149 Despite this unfavourable position, accurate gunnery enabled ''Pique'' to score several hits on the town. In 2012 renovation works along Acre's city wall uncovered three cannonballs fired by ''Pique'' during the battle, the shots having struck within of each other and embedded in the wall at depths of up to . Between 1841 and 1846 ''Pique'' served on the

North America and West Indies Station The North America and West Indies Station was a formation or command of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy stationed in North American waters from 1745 to 1956. The North American Station was separate from the Jamaica Station until 1830 when the t ...

. With HMS ''Blake'', in 1845 she acted as a

cable ship A cable layer or cable ship is a deep-sea vessel designed and used to lay underwater cables for telecommunications, electric power transmission, military, or other purposes. Cable ships are distinguished by large cable sheaves for guiding cabl ...

for experiments in laying telegraph cable in

Portsmouth Harbour Portsmouth Harbour is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest between Portsmouth and Gosport in Hampshire. It is a Ramsar site and a Special Protection Area. It is a large natural harbour in Hampshire, England. Geographically it i ...

. From 26 December 1853 she was commanded by Captain Frederick Nicolson on the

Pacific Station The Pacific Station was created in 1837 as one of the geographical military formations into which the Royal Navy divided its worldwide responsibilities. The South America Station was split into the Pacific Station and the South East Coast of A ...

, and participated in the 1854 Anglo-French squadron sent to the Russian War and

Second Anglo-Chinese 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 ...

). She was present at the

Siege of Petropavlovsk The siege of Petropavlovsk was a military operation in the Pacific theatre of the Crimean War. The Russian casualties are estimated at 115 soldiers and sailors killed and seriously wounded, whilst the British suffered 105 casualties and th ...

. From 1872 she was a

receiving ship A hulk is a ship that is afloat, but incapable of going to sea. Hulk may be used to describe a ship that has been launched but not completed, an abandoned wreck or shell, or to refer to an old ship that has had its rigging or internal equipmen ...

, and from 1882 rented as a

hospital A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emerge ...

hulk The Hulk is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in the debut issue of ''The Incredible Hulk (comic book), The Incredible Hulk' ...

to Plymouth Borough Council to quarantine sailors who had fallen victim to a

cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...

epidemic.

Fate

''Pique'' was sold for scrap on 12 July 1910, raising £2,300.

References

Bibliography

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External links

*http://www.nmm.ac.uk/collections/prints/viewPrint.cfm?ID=PAG7142 *http://www.nmm.ac.uk/collections/prints/viewPrint.cfm?ID=PAD6161 *http://www.pdavis.nl/ShowShip.php?id=1895 {{DEFAULTSORT:Pique (1834) Hospital ships of the United Kingdom Ships built in Plymouth, Devon 1834 ships Cable ships of the United Kingdom Crimean War naval ships of the United Kingdom Fifth-rate frigates of the Royal Navy