HMS Hamadryad (1823)
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HMS ''Hamadryad'' was a 46-gun
fifth-rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a fifth rate was the second-smallest class of warships in a hierarchical system of six " ratings" based on size and firepower. Rating The rating system in the Royal ...
Modified 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 ...
. She was launched in 1823 and later became a
hospital ship A hospital ship is a ship designated for primary function as a floating medical treatment facility or hospital. Most are operated by the military forces (mostly navies) of various countries, as they are intended to be used in or near war zones. ...
in
Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
, Wales.


History

She was ordered on 25 April 1817 at
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 ...
in
Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; cy, Sir Benfro ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and the rest by sea. The count ...
, where her keel was laid down in September 1819. She was launched on 25 July 1823, and sailed round on 8 August to
Plymouth Dockyard His Majesty's Naval Base, Devonport (HMNB Devonport) is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Portsmouth) and is the sole nuclear repair and refuelling facility for the Ro ...
to be completed.


Hospital ship

In February 1866 she was designated for handing over to Messrs. Marshall, the shipbreakers, to be taken to pieces, but instead on 9 March 1866 it was decided to lend her as a floating hospital for sick seamen in
Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
. She was towed across from Devonport and opened as a hospital ship in
Cardiff Docks Cardiff Docks ( cy, Dociau Caerdydd) is a port in southern Cardiff, Wales. At its peak, the port was one of the largest dock systems in the world with a total quayage of almost . Once the main port for the export of South Wales coal, the Port ...
in November 1866. By the 1880s, 500 in-patients were being treated per year. Finally in 1900, she was returned to naval control and transferred to
Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...
, where she was sold for breaking up on 11 July 1905. A bricks and mortar hospital, named the
Royal Hamadryad Hospital The Royal Hamadryad Hospital was a seamen's hospital and later a psychiatric hospital in the docklands area of Cardiff, Wales. It had replaced a hospital ship, the former HMS ''Hamadryad'', in 1905. After it closed in 2002 the site was redevel ...
, was opened in Cardiff Docks in 1905. The site of her mooring is now a Welsh Medium Primary School (opened January 2019), taking its name (Ysgol Hamadryad). Another redundant frigate, , was also moored in Cardiff and used as a floating church by the
Missions to Seamen The Mission to Seafarers (formerly The Missions to Seamen) is a Christian welfare charity serving merchant crews around the world. It operates through a global Mission 'family' network of chaplains, staff and volunteers and provides practical, em ...
on from 1863 to 1891.


References


Further reading

*


External links

* 1823 ships Fifth-rate frigates of the Royal Navy Hospital ships of the United Kingdom Leda-class frigates {{UK-frigate-stub