HMS St Georges and Arethusa-Edward Snell

HMS ''Arethusa'' was a 50-gun

fourth-rate In 1603 all English warships with a compliment of fewer than 160 men were known as 'small ships'. In 1625/26 to establish pay rates for officers a six tier naval ship rating system was introduced.Winfield 2009 These small ships were divided i ...

sailing

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

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 ...

, was launched in 1849 from the

Pembroke Dockyard Pembroke Dockyard, originally called Pater Yard, is a former Royal Navy Dockyard in Pembroke Dock, Pembrokeshire, Wales. History It was founded in 1814, although not formally authorized until the Prince Regent signed the necessary Order in Cou ...

and served in 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 ...

. In 1861 she was converted to a steam

screw A screw and a bolt (see '' Differentiation between bolt and screw'' below) are similar types of fastener typically made of metal and characterized by a helical ridge, called a ''male thread'' (external thread). Screws and bolts are used to fa ...

frigate. Decommissioned in 1874, ''Arethusa'' became a school and training ship on the River Thames, preparing young boys for maritime careers, until she was broken up in 1934.

Construction

HMS ''Arethusa'' was ordered in 1844 from the

as a repeat of the frigate HMS ''Constance'' and was launched on 26 June 1849. She had a tonnage of 2,132 and was designed with a V-shaped hull by Sir William Symonds. She was of all-wooden construction.

Naval service

''Arethusa'' saw service during the

, On 29 October 1853, she ran aground in the

Dardanelles The Dardanelles (; tr, Çanakkale Boğazı, lit=Strait of Çanakkale, el, Δαρδανέλλια, translit=Dardanéllia), also known as the Strait of Gallipoli from the Gallipoli peninsula or from Classical Antiquity as the Hellespont (; ...

. She was refloated the next day after her guns had been removed to lighten her. ''Arethusa'' took part in battles at

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...

and

Sevastopol Sevastopol (; uk, Севасто́поль, Sevastópolʹ, ; gkm, Σεβαστούπολις, Sevastoúpolis, ; crh, Акъя́р, Aqyár, ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea, and a major port on the Black Sea ...

. At the time of the battle in 1854 she was captained by

William Robert Mends Sir William Robert Mends, (27 February 1812 – 26 June 1897), was a British admiral of the Royal Navy, eldest son of Admiral William Bowen Mends and nephew of Captain Robert Mends. William Mends was born at Plymouth into a naval family. He ...

and was the last major ship of the Royal Navy to enter an engagement under sail power alone.''The Oxford Illustrated History of the Royal Navy'', p. 174
Ranft, Bryan, Oxford University Press, 2002 In 1860-1861 ''Arethusa'' was lengthened and converted to screw propulsion at

Chatham Dockyard Chatham Dockyard was a Royal Navy Dockyard located on the River Medway in Kent. Established in Chatham in the mid-16th century, the dockyard subsequently expanded into neighbouring Gillingham (at its most extensive, in the early 20th century, ...

, with a steam trunk engine made by

John Penn and Sons John Penn and Sons was an English engineering company based in London, and mainly known for its marine steam engines. History Establishment In 1799, engineer and millwright John Penn (born in Taunton, Somerset, 1770; died 6 June 1843) started ...

, London.

Training ship

Once decommissioned, in 1874, the ship's engines were removed and she was loaned by the Admiralty to the charity that later became known as

Shaftesbury Homes and Arethusa The Shaftesbury Homes and Arethusa (now Shaftesbury Young People) is one of the United Kingdom's oldest children's charities. It has been active since 1843. Its aim, written in its current mission statement, is to support young people in care an ...

. Retaining the name ''Arethusa'', she was moored next to their existing training ship ''

Chichester Chichester () is a cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. It is the only ci ...

'' at

Greenhithe Greenhithe is a village in the Borough of Dartford in Kent, England, and the civil parish of Swanscombe and Greenhithe. It is located east of Dartford and west of Gravesend. Area In the past, Greenhithe's waterfront on the estuary of the ri ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. Shaftesbury Homes provided refuge and taught maritime skills to destitute young boys who had been sleeping rough on the streets of London and trained them for a career in the Royal Navy or Merchant Navy. Invite to watch Arethusa Jack Tars

In 1933 the wooden frigate was no longer viable, and was replaced by the steel-hulled ship ''

Peking } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

'', which was moored at

Upnor Lower Upnor and Upper Upnor are two small villages in Medway, Kent, England. They are in the parish of Frindsbury Extra on the western bank of the River Medway. Today the two villages are mainly residential and a centre for small craft moored ...

on the Medway, and renamed ''Arethusa''. The frigate returned to the Admiralty, was sold to Castle's Shipbreakers on 2 August 1933 and demolished at

Charlton, London Charlton is an area of southeast London, England, in the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is east of Greenwich and west of Woolwich, on the south bank of the River Thames, southeast of Charing Cross. An ancient parish in the county of Kent, it ...

in the following year. The frigate's figurehead, originally carved by the Hellyer family, was retained by the school and displayed onshore at Upnor, where it remains after restoration in 2013.

References

External links

*
A short extract from Lieut Henry Rogers Journal while he was on HMS ''Arethusa''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arethusa, HMS Frigates of the Royal Navy 1849 ships Ships built in Pembroke Dock Training ships of the United Kingdom Maritime incidents in October 1853