en HMS Virago (1842)

	HMS Virago
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Virago
Ordered	18 March 1841
Builder	Chatham Dockyard
Laid down	15 November 1841
Launched	25 July 1842
Commissioned	29 July 1843
Fate	Scrapped at Chatham Dockyard in 1876
General characteristics
Class and type	Driver-class wooden paddle sloop
Displacement	1,590 tons
Tons burthen	1,055 62⁄94 bm
Length	180 ft (54.9 m)
Beam	36 ft (11.0 m)
Depth of hold	21 ft (6.4 m)
Installed power	300 nhp
Propulsion	Boulton & Watt 2-cylinder direct-acting steam engine; Paddles;
Sail plan	Brig-rigged
Complement	149 (later 160)
Armament	2 × 10-inch/42-pounder (84 cwt) pivot guns; 2 × 68-pounder guns (64 cwt); 2 × 42-pounder (22 cwt) guns;

HMS Virago was a Royal Navy Driver-class wooden paddle sloop launched on 25 July 1842 from Chatham Dockyard.^[2]

She was sent to the Mediterranean Station arriving in November 1843 serving until 1847. Upon returning to England, she was placed into reserve.

In 1851 she was sent to the Pacific Station. Under the command of Commander Willam Stewart, she participated with the assistance of two Chilean ships: Indefatigable and Meteoro in the recapture of Punta Arenas in the Strait of Magellan, which had been subject to a mutiny.^[3]

She took part in the siege of Petropavlovsk during the Crimean War in August–September 1854. She also undertook survey work along the Canadian Pacific coast. She returned to England in 1855 and was part of the Channel Squadron and then West Indies Station.^{[citation needed]} On 22 October 1861, Virago ran aground in the East Swin, in the Thames Esturary. Repairs cost £30.^[4] She was sent to the Australia Station, arriving in May 1867. She undertook survey work of the Great Barrier Reef, the Queensland coast, Norfolk Island and the coast of New Zealand. While in New Zealand she helped repair HMS Clio, which had run aground in the Bligh Sound.

Returning to England on 28 June 1871, upon arrival she was laid up at Sheerness. She was scrapped at Chatham Dockyard in 1876.^[2]^[5]

Citations

^ Winfield & Lyon (2004), p. 160.
^ ^a ^b Bastock, p. 50.
^ Brown, Charles H., Insurrection at Magellan. Narrative of the Imprisonment and Escape of Capt. Chas. H. Brown, from the Chilian Convicts, published by Geo. C. Rand, Boston, Second Edition, 1854.
^ "Naval Disasters Since 1860". Hampshire Telegraph. No. 4250. Portsmouth. 10 May 1873.
^ "HMS Virago". William Loney RN website. Retrieved 4 August 2010.

Bastock, John (1988), Ships on the Australia Station, Child & Associates Publishing Pty Ltd; Frenchs Forest, Australia. ISBN 0-86777-348-0
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.