HMS ''Tartar'' was a wooden screw corvette 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 ...

. Originally built for the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

, she was seized by British forces on 5 April 1854, shortly before her launch.

History

HMS ''Tartar'' was built by W. & H. Pitcher at

Northfleet Northfleet is a town in the borough of Gravesham in Kent, England. It is located immediately west of Gravesend, and on the border with the Borough of Dartford. Northfleet has its own railway station on the North Kent Line, just east of Ebbsfl ...

on the river

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

, alongside her sister ship, , for the Russians. They were confiscated by the British prior to their completion, and ''Tartar'' was launched on 17 May 1854. She was fitted for British service from 14 December of that same year. From 1854 to 1859, ''Tartar'' was in active service throughout 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 served on the North America and West Indies Station. During that period, Captain Hugh Dunlop was the captain of HMS ''Tartar''. For her service in the Baltic she was awarded the battle honour Baltic 1855. In 1860 she sailed from Sheerness Dockyard under Captain John Montagu Hayes for service in the Pacific, primarily in Japan. She underwent repairs in South Africa during her voyage to Japan. HMS ''Tartar'' was then involved in the

Shimonoseki campaign The refers to a series of military engagements in 1863 and 1864, fought to control the Shimonoseki Straits of Japan by joint naval forces from Great Britain, France, the Netherlands and the United States, against the Japanese feudal domain of ...

of 1863-1864 and was involved in the bombardment of Shimonoseki itself. After the Shimonoseki conflict, the ship remained at Sheerness before being sold to Castle shipbreakers and being broken up at Charlton. She was in commission for a total of five years in Japan and China, and five during the

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tartar (1854) 1854 ships Corvettes of the Royal Navy Ships built in Northfleet Crimean War naval ships of the United Kingdom