HMS ''Forward'' was a British ''Albacore''-class wooden screw

gunboat A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies. History Pre-ste ...

launched in 1855 and sold in 1869. After her sale, Mexican

pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

s captured her, and boats from the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

sloop-of-war destroyed her in the Battle of Boca Teacapan in 1870.

History

''Forward'' was built by W & H Pitcher at Northfleet,

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 ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, and was launched on 8 December 1855. She was fitted for

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 ...

service in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

in 1859 where she served along with her sister ship HMS ''Grappler''. Together they were involved in the Lemalchi incident in the spring of 1863 when they hunted down and captured natives believed to have murdered some Gulf Island settlers. ''Forward'' used her guns to level a village on Kuper Island; she then transported her captives to

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

where they were tried and hanged. She was then sold off to Hill & Ready in Esquimault, British Columbia in 1869 for use as a commercial vessel. As a commercial vessel, she went south to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

for

oyster Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but not ...

s and was seized near Mazatlan, Mexico, by a descendant of

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus * lij, Cristoffa C(or)ombo * es, link=no, Cristóbal Colón * pt, Cristóvão Colombo * ca, Cristòfor (or ) * la, Christophorus Columbus. (; born between 25 August and 31 October 1451, died 20 May 1506) was a ...

, Plácido Vega y Daza. Crewed by Mexicans, and flying the flag of San Salvador, she preyed on shipping and coastal settlements in the

Gulf of California The Gulf of California ( es, Golfo de California), also known as the Sea of Cortés (''Mar de Cortés'') or Sea of Cortez, or less commonly as the Vermilion Sea (''Mar Bermejo''), is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean that separates the Baja C ...

. The U.S. Navy considered her a

pirate ship Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

, and sent the sloop-of-war USS ''Mohican'' in pursuit of her. A launch and five cutters from ''Mohican'' discovered ''Forward'' beached in the Teacapan Estuary at Boca Teacapan, Sinaloa, Mexico, and destroyed her on 17 June 1870 in the Battle of Boca Teacapan.

References

Citations

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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Forward (1855) 1855 ships Albacore-class gunboats (1855) Pirate ships Victorian-era gunboats of the United Kingdom Maritime incidents in June 1870 Ships built on the River Clyde Shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean Shipwrecks of the Mexican Pacific coast 19th-century pirates Captured ships