HMS ''Royalist'' was a ''Satellite''-class composite screw

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...

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 ...

, built in 1883 and hulked as a depot ship in 1900. She was renamed ''Colleen'' in 1913, transferred to the Irish Free State in 1923 and broken up in 1950.

Construction

''Royalist'' was ordered from Devonport Dockyard and laid down on 27 April 1881. She was launched on 7 March 1883Bastock 1988, p. 110. and reclassified as a

corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the slo ...

in 1884 before being commissioned for the first time on 14 April 1886. She was built of an iron frame with wooden planking (hence "composite") and her class was unique in being the only wooden or composite ships of the Royal Navy to be fitted with an armoured deck. She was fitted with a horizontal compound-expansion steam engine by Maudslay, Sons and Field. This engine produced and drove a single screw. Masts and spars were provided for 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. Although four of her sister ships were armed with two 6-inch and ten 5-inch breech-loading guns, ''Royalist'', in common with ''Heroine'' and ''Hyacinth'', received a homogenous outfit of eight BL 6-inch/100-pounder (81cwt) Mk II guns, complemented with a light gun and 4 machine guns.

Royal Navy service

Initially on service with 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 ...

, she commenced service on the

Australia Station The Australia Station was the British, and later Australian, naval command responsible for the waters around the Australian continent.Dennis et al. 2008, p.53. Australia Station was under the command of the Commander-in-Chief, Australia Station, ...

in May 1888. Ships on the Australia Station were active in the Pacific in the management of the

British Western Pacific Territories The British Western Pacific Territories (BWPT) was the name of a colonial entity, created in 1877, for the administration, under a single representative of the British Crown, styled High Commissioner for the Western Pacific, of a series of Paci ...

. Under the command of Captain Edward Henry Meggs Davis, ''Royalist'' conducted a survey in 1891-92, visiting:

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (french: link=no, République de Vanuatu; bi, Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of no ...

and

New Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of New Caledonia , map_caption = Location of New Caledonia , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...

(10 December 1889 to 18 June 1891);

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

and

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capita ...

(18 June 1891 to 9 April 1892); and

Gilbert Islands The Gilbert Islands ( gil, Tungaru;Reilly Ridgell. ''Pacific Nations and Territories: The Islands of Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia.'' 3rd. Ed. Honolulu: Bess Press, 1995. p. 95. formerly Kingsmill or King's-Mill IslandsVery often, this n ...

Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands ( mh, Ṃajeḷ), officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands ( mh, Aolepān Aorōkin Ṃajeḷ),'' () is an independent island country and microstate near the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the Internati ...

and

Ellice Islands Tuvalu ( or ; formerly known as the Ellice Islands) is an island country and microstate in the Polynesian subregion of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean. Its islands are situated about midway between Hawaii and Australia. They lie east-northea ...

(14 April 1892 to 30 August 1892). In September 1891, several

Kalikoqu The Kalikoqu are an ethnic Melanesian tribe who are concentrated in the New Georgia island of the Solomon Islands. Prior to European colonization, they resided in the eastern side of the western Roviana lagoon and established the concept of the ...

tribesmen killed a European trader operating on

Uki Island Ugi Island, also Uki Island (or Uki Ni Masi), is an island in Solomon Islands; it is located in Makira-Ulawa Province and lies 11 km north of Makira Island. Geography Ugi Island is a raised coral reef about 10.5 km long and 6.5 km ...

named Fred Howard. In response, the ''Royalist'' launched a

punitive expedition A punitive expedition is a military journey undertaken to punish a political entity or any group of people outside the borders of the punishing state or union. It is usually undertaken in response to perceived disobedient or morally wrong behavio ...

against the village responsible, killing several of the tribesmen who were involved in the murder along with burning the village and destroying several of its canoes. On 27 May 1892, Captain Davis proclaimed the

to be a British Protectorate. During the

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

n civil unrest in 1899, she took part in operations with and . She left the Australia Station in June 1899. In February 1900 she was hulked and used for harbour service, she was renamed ''Colleen'' on 1 December 1913. The Antarctic explorer

Tom Crean Tom or Thomas Crean may refer to: *Thomas Crean (1873–1923), Irish rugby union player, British Army soldier and doctor *Tom Crean (explorer) (1877–1938), Irish seaman and Antarctic explorer *Tom Crean (basketball) Thomas Aaron Crean (born Ma ...

, who had been part of both

Captain Scott Captain Robert Falcon Scott, , (6 June 1868 – c. 29 March 1912) was a British Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the ''Discovery'' expedition of 1901–1904 and the ill-fated ''Terra Nov ...

's and

Ernest Shackleton Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (15 February 1874 – 5 January 1922) was an Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic. He was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of ...

's expeditions, served in ''Colleen'' as a boatswain during the later years of World War I.

Irish service

''Colleen'' was transferred to the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between th ...

on 19 February 1923 and broken up in 1950.

Notes

References

*Bastock, John (1988), ''Ships on the Australia Station'', Child & Associates Publishing Pty Ltd; Frenchs Forest, Australia. *

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Royalist (1883) 1883 ships Ships built in Plymouth, Devon Satellite-class sloops Victorian-era sloops of the United Kingdom Ships of Ireland