HMS ''Sulphur'' was a 10-gun of the British

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 ...

, famous as one of the ships in which

Edward Belcher Admiral Sir Edward Belcher (27 February 1799 – 18 March 1877) was a British naval officer, hydrographer, and explorer. Born in Nova Scotia, he was the great-grandson of Jonathan Belcher, who served as a colonial governor of Massachuse ...

explored the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

coast of the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

Ship history

Edward Belcher, View of Honolulu, Oahu, Sandwich Islands

''Sulphur'' was launched in 1826, and in 1829 carried Lieutenant-Colonel

Frederick Irwin Lieutenant-Colonel Frederick Chidley Irwin, KH (22 March 1794 – 31 March 1860) was acting Governor of Western Australia from 1847 to 1848. Born in 1794 in Drogheda, Ireland, Frederick Chidley Irwin was the son of Reverend James Irwin. Some ...

, officers, passengers and a detachment of troops from the

63rd Regiment of Foot The 63rd Regiment of Foot was a British Army regiment raised in 1756. Under the Childers Reforms, it amalgamated with the 96th Regiment of Foot to form the Manchester Regiment in 1881. History Formation and service in the Seven Years' War The for ...

to the

Swan River Colony The Swan River Colony, also known as the Swan River Settlement, or just Swan River, was a British colony established in 1829 on the Swan River, in Western Australia. This initial settlement place on the Swan River was soon named Perth, and it ...

. On 23 July 1830 boats and men from and ''Sulphur'' pulled off the Parmelia Reef near the Swan River. ''Medina'' had grounded while delivering immigrants. ''Sulphur'' was converted into a

survey ship A survey vessel is any type of ship or boat that is used for underwater surveys, usually to collect data for mapping or planning underwater construction or mineral extraction. It is a type of research vessel, and may be designed for the purpo ...

in 1835 together with sailed to the Pacific Ocean. Captain

Frederick Beechey Frederick William Beechey (17 February 1796 – 29 November 1856) was an English naval officer, artist, explorer, hydrographer and writer. Life and career He was the son of two painters, Sir William Beechey, RA and his second wife, Ann ...

commanded the expedition under orders to survey the Pacific coast "from

Valparaíso Valparaíso (; ) is a major city, seaport, naval base, and educational centre in the commune of Valparaíso, Chile. "Greater Valparaíso" is the second largest metropolitan area in the country. Valparaíso is located about northwest of Santiago ...

to 63°30' N." By the time the ship reached Valparaíso on 9 June 1836 however, Beechey became too ill to continue leading the vessel and departed for the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Henry Kellett Vice Admiral Sir Henry Kellett, (2 November 1806 – 1 March 1875) was a British naval officer and explorer. Career Born at Clonacody in Tipperary County, Ireland, on 2 November 1806, Kellett joined the Royal Navy in 1822. He spent three yea ...

replaced Beechey and sailed for

Panama City Panama City ( es, Ciudad de Panamá, links=no; ), also known as Panama (or Panamá in Spanish), is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has an urban population of 880,691, with over 1.5 million in its metropolitan area. The city is locat ...

where the expedition waited for a replacement officer.

arrived at the port in March 1837 as the new officer and the expedition continued its operations, sailing for the

Federal Republic of Central America The Federal Republic of Central America ( es, República Federal de Centroamérica), originally named the United Provinces of Central America ( es, Provincias Unidas del Centro de América), and sometimes simply called Central America, in it ...

. ''Sulphur'' reached the capital of

Russian America Russian America (russian: Русская Америка, Russkaya Amerika) was the name for the Russian Empire's colonial possessions in North America from 1799 to 1867. It consisted mostly of present-day Alaska in the United States, but a ...

New Archangel russian: Ситка , native_name_lang = tli , settlement_type = Consolidated city-borough , image_skyline = File:Sitka 84 Elev 135.jpg , image_caption = Downtown Sitka in 1984 , image_size ...

, on 11 September where

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Ivan Kupreyanov Ivan Antonovich Kupreyanov (russian: Ива́н Анто́нович Купрея́нов; 1794 – 20 April 1857),Pierce, Richard A. ''Russian America: A Biographical Dictionary.'' Kingston, Canada: The Limestone Press. 1990, pp. 227-229. also spe ...

greeted the British with a colonial ball. After departing south, ''Sulphur'' reached the site of the first

Nootka Convention The Nootka Sound Conventions were a series of three agreements between the Kingdom of Spain and the Kingdom of Great Britain, signed in the 1790s, which averted a war between the two countries over overlapping claims to portions of the Pacific No ...

Yuquot Yuquot , also known as Friendly Cove, is a small settlement of around six people—the Williams family of the Mowachaht band—plus two full-time lighthouse keepers, located on Nootka Island in Nootka Sound, just west of Vancouver Island, British C ...

, on 3 October. After meeting with local

Nuu-chah-nulth The Nuu-chah-nulth (; Nuučaan̓uł: ), also formerly referred to as the Nootka, Nutka, Aht, Nuuchahnulth or Tahkaht, are one of the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast in Canada. The term Nuu-chah-nulth is used to describe fifte ...

dignitaries, the British vessel then went to the mouth of the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, C ...

. Bad weather prevented the ship from visited from

Fort Vancouver Fort Vancouver was a 19th century fur trading post that was the headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company's Columbia Department, located in the Pacific Northwest. Named for Captain George Vancouver, the fort was located on the northern bank of the ...

and instead sailed south for

Yerba Buena Yerba buena or hierba buena is the Spanish name for a number of aromatic plants, most of which belong to the mint family. ''Yerba buena'' translates as "good herb". The specific plant species regarded as ''yerba buena'' varies from region to regi ...

Alta California Alta California ('Upper California'), also known as ('New California') among other names, was a province of New Spain, formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula, it had previously comprised the province of , but ...

. ''Sulphur'' returned to the Columbia River on 28 July 1839. After visiting Fort Vancouver the expedition went south, reaching San Blas on 24 November, where it remained until December. Sailing for the

Marquesas Islands The Marquesas Islands (; french: Îles Marquises or ' or '; Marquesan: ' ( North Marquesan) and ' ( South Marquesan), both meaning "the land of men") are a group of volcanic islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France in th ...

, ''Sulphur'' reached the archipelago in January 1840. Destroying Chinese war junks, by E

She participated in the

First Opium War The First Opium War (), also known as the Opium War or the Anglo-Sino War was a series of military engagements fought between Britain and the Qing dynasty of China between 1839 and 1842. The immediate issue was the Chinese enforcement of the ...

between 1840 and 1841. On 21 July 1841, HMS ''Sulphur'' was damaged in the 1841 Hong Kong typhoon resulting in her total dismasting. The ship was used to survey the harbour of

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 ...

in 1841 and returned to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in 1842. She was used for harbour service from 1843, and was broken up by 20 November 1859, by then the last bomb vessel on the

Navy List A Navy Directory, formerly the Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval author ...

Richard Brinsley Hinds Richard Brinsley Hinds FRCS (11 October 1811, Aldermaston, England25 May 1846, Swan River, Western Australia) was a British naval surgeon, botanist and malacologist. He sailed on the 1835–42 voyage by HMS ''Sulphur'' to explore the Pacific O ...

(1811-1846) served as

surgeon In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...

on ''Sulphur'' 1835-42. He was a naturalist, and collected numerous samples of plants and marine animals for study. He edited ' and ''The Zoology of the Voyage of H.M.S. Sulphur'' (1844). The introduction to ''Zoology, Volume 1'' provides a detailed description of the voyage.

Sulphur Channel The Sulphur Channel is a narrow inshore passage between Green Island and the northwest tip of Hong Kong Island in Hong Kong. The Sulphur Channel is mainly used by small craft and inter-island ferries passing between Victoria Harbour and the Eas ...

on the north shore of

Hong Kong Island Hong Kong Island is an Islands and peninsulas of Hong Kong, island in the southern part of Hong Kong. Known colloquially and on road signs simply as Hong Kong, the island has a population of 1,289,500 and its population density is 16,390/km ...

was named after the ship.

Notes

References

* *

External links

*
Zoomable image of Belcher's Map of Hong Kong
* Blecher, Edward
''Narrative of a Voyage round the World performed in H.M.S. Sulphur, 1836-1842.'' Vol. 2
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sulphur, HMS 1826 ships Bomb vessels of the Royal Navy Exploration ships of the United Kingdom History of Western Australia First Opium War ships of the United Kingdom

Ship history

See also

Notes

References

External links