HMS ''Surprise'' was a
''Vigilant''-class gunvessel 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 ...
. She was launched at
Blackwall Yard
Blackwall Yard is a small body of water that used to be a shipyard on the River Thames in Blackwall, engaged in ship building and later ship repairs for over 350 years. The yard closed in 1987.
History
East India Company
Blackwall was a sh ...
,
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
in 1856 and broken up in Plymouth in 1866.
Design
Her class were designed as second-class despatch and gunvessels. They were intended to operate close inshore 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 were essentially enlarged versions of the
''Arrow''-class gunvessel, which has been designed by the Surveyor’s Department in 1854.
[
]
Propulsion
A two-cylinder horizontal single expansion steam engine by Miller, Ravenhill and Salkeld provided through a single screw,[ and gave a top speed of about 11 knots.][
]
Sail plan
All ''Vigilant''-class gunvessels were barque-rigged.[
]
Armament
Although designed with a pair of 68-pounder Lancaster muzzle-loading rifles, the ''Vigilant'' class were finished with one / Armstrong breech-loading gun, one Lancaster muzzle-loading rifled gun and two 20-pounder breech loaders.[
]
Construction
''Surprise'' was ordered on 26 July 1855 at the same time as nine others of her class. Her keel was laid at the Blackwall yard of Money Wigram & Son on 30 August and she was launched on 6 March 1856.[
]
History
From 18 March 1856 she was commanded by Commander Charles Egerton Harcourt-Vernon,[ From 1857 under Commander Cresswell the ship served in the East Indies including the Second Anglo-Chinese War,][ and from 1861 she formed part of the ]Mediterranean Fleet
The British Mediterranean Fleet, also known as the Mediterranean Station, was a formation of the Royal Navy. The Fleet was one of the most prestigious commands in the navy for the majority of its history, defending the vital sea link between t ...
.[ Between August 1864 and 24 April 1866 she was commanded by ]George Tryon
Vice-Admiral Sir George Tryon (4 January 1832 – 22 June 1893) was a Great Britain, British admiral who died when his flagship HMS Victoria (1887), HMS ''Victoria'' collided with HMS Camperdown (1885), HMS ''Camperdown'' during manoeuvres of ...
, later to become infamous as the Admiral who caused the loss in 1893 of his flagship HMS ''Victoria'' during fleet manoeuvres.
Disposal
''Surprise'' was sold to Marshall of Plymouth and broken up in November 1866.[Winfield (2004) p.220]
Commanding officers
References
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Surprise (1856)
Vigilant-class gunvessels
Ships built by the Blackwall Yard
1856 ships
Victorian-era gunboats of the United Kingdom