HMS ''Flying Fish'' was a ''Fantome''-class

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 ...

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 ...

, built 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, ...

and launched on 27 November 1873.Bastock 1988, pp. 90–100. Originally intended to be named ''Daring'', she was renamed ''Flying Fish'' before launch on 14 January 1873.

Service history

Early service and the Far East

She commenced service with the

East Indies Station The East Indies Station was a formation and command of the British Royal Navy. Created in 1744 by the Admiralty, it was under the command of the Commander-in-Chief, East Indies. Even in official documents, the term ''East Indies Station'' was ...

in 1874 in the suppression of the slave trade off the

East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa: Due to the historical ...

n coast. She

paid off Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to placing a warship in ...

in 1878 for conversion to a survey vessel and in 1880 commenced hydrographic surveys in the East Indies. In December 1880 she arrived in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

to commence surveying duties in East Asia (on the

China Station The Commander-in-Chief, China was the admiral in command of what was usually known as the China Station, at once both a British Royal Navy naval formation and its admiral in command. It was created in 1865 and deactivated in 1941. From 1831 to 18 ...

) under the command of Richard F Hoskyn. In November 1881, a party of sailors from the ship formed an honour guard for George French, Chief Justice of the

British Supreme Court for China and Japan The British Supreme Court for China (originally the British Supreme Court for China and Japan) was a court established in the Shanghai International Settlement to try cases against British subjects in China, Japan and Korea under the principles ...

who had died in

Kobe Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...

Involvement in the Imo incident

In July 1882, ''Flying Fish'' was involved in the rescue of the Japanese legation which had escaped from Seoul after an armed uprising by mutinous Korean troops there. ''Flying Fish'' transported the surviving members of the legation back to Japan. On 17 November, for his part in rescuing the survivors, the

Emperor of Japan The Emperor of Japan is the monarch and the head of the Imperial House of Japan, Imperial Family of Japan. Under the Constitution of Japan, he is defined as the symbol of the Japanese state and the unity of the Japanese people, and his positio ...

presented the captain with a pair of bronze vases and some books – including one on the ancient conquest of Korea. It is commonly said (but not proven) that the British sailors on this mission played the first game of

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

or soccer in Korean history and thereby introduced the game to Korea.

Russian scare and later service

From 1883–1887 she was under the command of

John Maclear John Fiot Lee Pearse Maclear (27 June 1838 in Cape Town – 17 July 1907 in Niagara) was an admiral in the Royal Navy, known for his leadership in hydrography. He is best known for being commander of during the ''Challenger'' Expedition (1 ...

. During the Russian war scare of 1885 she was rearmed and rejoined fleet duties, however in 1886, she reverted to survey duties on the

Australia Station The Australia Station was the British, and later Australian, naval command responsible for the waters around the Australian continent.Dennis et al. 2008, p.53. Australia Station was under the command of the Commander-in-Chief, Australia Station, ...

. She left the Australia Station later in 1886 and returned to England where she paid off. She was sold in 1888.

Flying Fish Cove Flying Fish Cove ( zh, 飛魚灣, ms, Pantai Ikan Terbang) is the capital city and main settlement of Australia's Christmas Island. Although it was originally named after British survey-ship '' Flying-Fish'', many maps simply label it "The Set ...

Christmas Island Christmas Island, officially the Territory of Christmas Island, is an Australian external territory comprising the island of the same name. It is located in the Indian Ocean, around south of Java and Sumatra and around north-west of the ...

is named after her. During the visit to this island collections of animal specimens were made by the crew. This collection was reviewed in England and new species were described, including a previously unknown fruit bat species ''

Pteropus natalis The Christmas Island flying fox or Christmas Island fruit bat, as the name suggests, is a flying fox endemic to Christmas Island. It is unclear if it should be considered a distinct species (''Pteropus natalis''), or a subspecies of the black-e ...

'' that is only found on the island. A species of snake, '' Ramphotyphlops exocoeti'', is named after her ("exocet" means "flying fish").Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Exocet", p. 87).

Notes

Bibliography

* * Bastock, John (1988), ''Ships on the Australia Station'', Child & Associates Publishing Pty Ltd; Frenchs Forest, Australia. * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Flying Fish (1873) 1873 ships Ships built in Chatham Fantome-class sloops Victorian-era sloops of the United Kingdom