HMS Thetis (1871)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Thetis.

History
United Kingdom
NameHMS Thetis
NamesakeThetis
BuilderDevonport Dockyard
Laid down29 August 1870
Launched26 October 1871
Completed1 February 1873
FateSold for scrap, November 1887
General characteristics (as built)
Class and typeBriton-class wooden screw corvette
Displacement1,854 long tons (1,884 t)
Tons burthen1,322 bm
Length220 ft (67.1 m) (p/p)
Beam36 ft (11.0 m)
Draught16 ft 6 in (5.0 m)
Depth of hold21 ft 6 in (6.6 m)
Installed power2,275 ihp (1,696 kW)
Propulsion
Sail planShip rig
Speed13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph)
Complement220
Armament14 × 6.3-inch 64-pounder rifled muzzle-loading guns

HMS Thetis was a Briton-class wooden screw corvette built for the Royal Navy in the late 1860s.

History

Thetis was driven ashore in 1874 whilst on duty in the East Indies. It was reported that she would be repaired at Bombay, India or Trincomalee, Ceylon.[1] On 10 March 1879, she was damaged by fire at Keyham, Devon.[2] The fire was caused by improper storage of materials on board which spontaneously combusted. Damage amounted to £4,000 worth of stores lost and £1,000 worth to the ship.[3] She was present at the Bay of Pisagua when Chilean troops captured the port on 2 November 1879, during the Tarapaca Campaign.[4]

Chilean Navy ships, Covadonga, Almirante Cochrane, Angamos, Amazonas, and HMS Thetis in Pisagua, 1879

References

  1. ^ "Shipping Disasters". Liverpool Mercury. No. 8378. Liverpool. 25 November 1874.
  2. ^ "An English Man-of-War on Fire". Daily Gazette for Middlesbrough. No. 3659. Middlesbrough. 11 March 1879.
  3. ^ "The Fire on Board H.M.S. Thetis". Aberdeen Journal. No. 7509. Aberdeen. 14 March 1879.
  4. ^ "Covadonga, Cochrane, Thetis, Angamos y Amazonas en Pisagua 1879". archivo.mmn.cl.

Bibliography

  • Ballard, G. A. (1938). "British Corvettes of 1875: The Larger Ram-Bowed Type". Mariner's Mirror. 24 (January). Cambridge, UK: Society for Nautical Research: 81–94.
  • Chesneau, Roger; Kolesnik, Eugene M., eds. (1979). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905. Greenwich, UK: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-8317-0302-4.
  • Winfield, R.; Lyon, D. (2004). The Sail and Steam Navy List: All the Ships of the Royal Navy 1815–1889. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-032-6. OCLC 52620555.