HMS ''Wild Swan'' was an

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 ...

built for 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 ...

in the mid-1870s. She was launched in 1877 and became a base ship in 1904, being renamed ''Clyde''. She was renamed ''Columbine'' in 1913 and was sold for breaking in 1920.

Design and construction

''Wild Swan'' was an ''Osprey''-class sloop-of-war, with a

composite hull The technique of composite ship construction (wooden planking over a wrought iron frame) emerged in the mid-19th century as the final stage in the evolution of fast commercial sailing ships. Construction of wrought iron hulled vessels had begun i ...

design. The ship had a displacement of 1,130 tons, was long, had a beam of , and a draught of .Winfield, pp.291-292 An

R & W Hawthorn R and W Hawthorn Ltd was a locomotive manufacturer in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, from 1817 until 1885. Locomotive building Robert Hawthorn first began business at Forth Bank Works in 1817, building marine and stationary steam engines. In 1820 ...

two-cylinder horizontal returning-rod steam engine fed by three cylindrical boilers provided to the single propeller screw. This gave ''Wild Swan'' a top speed of , which failed to meet the required contract speed. After the first commission the engine was replaced by a Devonport Dockyard two-cylinder horizontal compound-expansion steam engine. She had a maximum range of at . In addition to the steam-driven propeller, the vessel was also

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 ...

rigged. The standard ship's company was between 140 and 150. Armament consisted of two 7-inch (90 cwt) muzzle-loading rifled guns, four 64-pounder guns, four machine guns, and one light gun. ''Wild Swan'' and her sister-ship were re-armed later with two 6-inch (81 cwt) BL guns and six 5-inch (35 cwt) BL guns. ''Wild Swan'' was built by

Robert Napier and Sons Messrs Robert Napier and Sons was a famous firm of River Clyde, Clyde shipbuilders and marine engineers at Govan, City of Glasgow, Glasgow founded by Robert Napier (engineer), Robert Napier in 1826. It was moved to Govan for more space in 1841. Hi ...

, of

Govan Govan ( ; Cumbric?: ''Gwovan'?''; Scots: ''Gouan''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile a' Ghobhainn'') is a district, parish, and former burgh now part of south-west City of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the south ba ...

, Scotland. The vessel was laid down on 14 September 1874 as yard number 341. She was launched on 28 January 1876, and commissioned into the Royal Navy on 23 August 1876. Construction costs included £39,643 for the hull, and £11,853 for machinery and equipment.

Service history

''Wild Swan'' patrolled off the coast of

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

in 1880, operating against the slave trade. In early 1881, she operated together with Portuguese forces against slavers, landing a Portuguese force at Conducia Bay on 12 February 1881 and supporting them with gun and rocket fire. ''Wild Swan'' was decommissioned and placed on the list of Admiralty vessels for sale in 1900. She was withdrawn from the list and re-fitted in late 1901 as a training ship in Kingstown Harbour for men of the Royal Navy Reserve and coastguards of the North of Ireland stations. She also served as tender to HMS Melampus, coast guard ship at Kingstown.

Fate

''Wild Swan'' became a base ship on 1 May 1904 and was renamed ''Clyde''. She was renamed again in July 1913, becoming ''Columbine''. She was sold for breaking to the Forth Shipbreaking company on 4 May 1920.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wild Swan (1876) Osprey-class sloops Ships built on the River Clyde 1876 ships Victorian-era sloops of the United Kingdom