The ''Hydra'' class were a

class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differentl ...

of three

paddlewheel A paddle wheel is a form of waterwheel or impeller in which a number of paddles are set around the periphery of the wheel. It has several uses, of which some are: * Very low-lift water pumping, such as flooding paddy fields at no more than about ...

steam sloop Steam frigates (including screw frigates) and the smaller steam corvettes, steam sloops, steam gunboats and steam schooners, were steam-powered warships that were not meant to stand in the line of battle. There were some exceptions like for exam ...

s 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 ...

. They saw active service variously in the Baltic 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 ...

, against Ottoman forces in Syria and against slavers in West Africa. Latterly ''Hydra'' and ''Hecate'' were used for survey in the Mediterranean, the Pacific, Australia and the Atlantic, and thus their names were re-used for the s in the late 20th century. Two of the class were broken up after more than twenty-five years of service, and ''Hecla'' was sold for commercial use in 1863.

Design

The ships were designed by

Sir William Symonds Sir William Symonds CB FRS (24 September 1782 – 30 March 1856, aboard the French steamship ''Nil'', Strait of Bonifacio, Sardinia)side-lever steam engine driving paddle wheels. In ''Hecla'' and ''Hecate'' this engine was provided by Scott & Sinclair, and was rated at 240

nominal horsepower Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are the ...

; in ''Hydra'' the steam engine was provided by

Boulton and Watt Boulton & Watt was an early British engineering and manufacturing firm in the business of designing and making marine and stationary steam engines. Founded in the English West Midlands around Birmingham in 1775 as a partnership between the Engli ...

and rated at 220 nominal horsepower. All the ships were capable of about under steam. Paddle sloops of the period were usually built with a

schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...

rig, but later pictures show ''Hecate'' with a brig rig. ''Hecla'' had her engines replaced in her 1848–1849 refit.

Armament

All three ships were armed with two 32-pounder (50 cwt) smoothbore muzzle-loading guns on truck mounts and two (65 cwt) smoothbore muzzle-loading shell guns on pivoting mounts."cwt", or "

hundredweight The hundredweight (abbreviation: cwt), formerly also known as the centum weight or quintal, is a British imperial and US customary unit of weight or mass. Its value differs between the US and British imperial systems. The two values are distingu ...

" refers to the weight of the gun itself. "32-pounder" refers to the weight of the ball fired.

Crew

They had a complement of approximately 135 men.

Service

''Hecate''

''Hecate'' served in the Mediterranean from 1840 to 1843, including operations against the Ottomans in Syria in 1840. From 1845 to 1857 she served off the west coast of Africa, including anti-slavery operations. In 1860 she became a survey vessel, and under

George Henry Richards Sir George Henry Richards (13 January 1820 –14 November 1896) was Hydrographer of the Royal Navy from 1863 to 1874. Biography Richards was born in Antony, Cornwall, the son of Captain G. S. Richards, and joined the Royal Navy in 1832. ...

she made a survey of

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are o ...

''Hydra''

With ''Hecate'', ''Hydra'' served in the Mediterranean, including the 1840 Syria operations. She served from 1840 to 1862 on both seaboards of the North and South Atlantic, including the period 1858 to 1862, when she was commanded by

Richard Vesey Hamilton Sir Richard Vesey Hamilton (28 May 1829 – 17 September 1912) was a Royal Navy officer. As a junior officer he twice volunteered to take part in missions to search for Sir John Franklin's ill-fated expedition to find the Northwest Passage ...

, later to become First Naval Lord. In 1863 she conducted survey work in the Mediterranean.

''Hecla''

From her commissioning in 1839 to 1854 ''Hecla'' served in the West Indies, in the Mediterranean and on the west coast of Africa. In February 1854 she reconnoitred the Baltic for British operations there during the Crimean War, and from March to November 1854, under the command of Captain

William Hutcheon Hall Admiral Sir William Hutcheon Hall, (c. 1797 – 25 June 1878), was a British Royal Navy officer. He served in the First Anglo-Chinese War and Crimean War. He was one of the first British officers to make a thorough study of steam engines. In ...

, who had taken command of the small vessel because a warship of the size appropriate to his seniority was not available. She ran aground off Gibraltar on 23 January 1855, for which her commanding officer, Henry Samuel Hawker was severely reprimanded by a court martial. She served off the west coast of Africa until 1859, and was sold to Williams & Co. for £2,550 for commercial use on 15 June 1863 and renamed ''Typhoon''.

Ships

Notes

References

* * {{Royal Navy paddle sloops Paddle sloops of the Royal Navy Sloop classes