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'''HMS ''Challenger''''' was a [[steam]]-assisted [[Royal Navy]] [[Pearl-class corvette|''Pearl''-class]] [[corvette]] launched on 13 February 1858 at the [[Woolwich Dockyard]]. She was the flagship of the [[Australia Station]] between 1866 and 1870.<ref name="Bastock">Bastock, pp.47-48.</ref>
'''HMS ''Challenger''''' was a [[steam]]-assisted [[Royal Navy]] [[Pearl-class corvette|''Pearl''-class]] [[corvette]] launched on 13 February 1858 at the [[Woolwich Dockyard]]. She was the flagship of the [[Australia Station]] between 1866 and 1870.<ref name="Bastock">Bastock, pp.47–48.</ref>


As part of the [[North America and West Indies Station]] she took part in 1862 in operations during the [[Second French intervention in Mexico]], including the occupation of [[Veracruz, Veracruz|Veracruz]]. Assigned as the flagship of Australia Station in 1866, in 1868 she undertook a [[punitive expedition]] against [[Fiji]] to avenge the murders of a [[missionary]] and some of his dependents, shelling and burning a village and killing more than 40 native Wainimala.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article166803071 |title=FIJI. |work=[[Sydney Mail]] |volume=IX |issue=429 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=19 September 1868 |accessdate=9 April 2018 |page=11 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> She left the Australian Station in late 1870.<ref name="Bastock"/>
As part of the [[North America and West Indies Station]] she took part in 1862 in operations during the [[Second French intervention in Mexico]], including the occupation of [[Veracruz, Veracruz|Veracruz]]. Assigned as the flagship of Australia Station in 1866, in 1868 she undertook a [[punitive expedition]] against [[Fiji]] to avenge the murders of a [[missionary]] and some of his dependents, shelling and burning a village and killing more than 40 native Wainimala.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article166803071 |title=FIJI. |work=[[Sydney Mail]] |volume=IX |issue=429 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=19 September 1868 |accessdate=9 April 2018 |page=11 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> She left the Australian Station in late 1870.<ref name="Bastock"/>
Line 77: Line 77:
==1873–1876: Grand tour==
==1873–1876: Grand tour==
{{Main|Challenger expedition}}
{{Main|Challenger expedition}}
The [[Challenger Expedition|''Challenger'' Expedition]] was a grand tour of the world covering 68,000 nautical miles (125,936&nbsp;km) organized by the [[Royal Society]] in collaboration with the [[University of Edinburgh]]. Charles Thomson was the leader of a large scientific team.<ref name="crew list">[http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/1885/publication-4749.pdf The Voyage of H.M.S. Challenger 1873-1876. Narrative Vol. I. First Part. Chapter I], p. 19-20</ref>
The [[Challenger Expedition|''Challenger'' Expedition]] was a grand tour of the world covering 68,000 nautical miles (125,936&nbsp;km) organized by the [[Royal Society]] in collaboration with the [[University of Edinburgh]]. Charles Thomson was the leader of a large scientific team.<ref name="crew list">[http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/1885/publication-4749.pdf The Voyage of H.M.S. Challenger 1873–1876. Narrative Vol. I. First Part. Chapter I], p. 19-20</ref>


* Captains: [[George Nares]] (1873 and 1874) and [[Frank Tourle Thomson]]<ref>UK National Archives ADM 196/13/348</ref> (1874 to 1876)
* Captains: [[George Nares]] (1873 and 1874) and [[Frank Tourle Thomson]]<ref>UK National Archives ADM 196/13/348</ref> (1874 to 1876)
* Naturalists: Charles Wyville Thomson (1830–1882), [[Henry Nottidge Moseley]] (1844–1891) and [[Rudolf von Willemoes-Suhm]] (1847–1875)
* Naturalists: Charles Wyville Thomson (1830–1882), [[Henry Nottidge Moseley]] (1844–1891) and [[Rudolf von Willemoes-Suhm]] (1847–1875)
* Oceanographers: [[John Young Buchanan]] (1844–1925) and [[John Murray (oceanographer)|John Murray]] (1841–1914)
* Oceanographers: [[John Young Buchanan]] (1844–1925) and [[John Murray (oceanographer)|John Murray]] (1841–1914)
* Publications: C.W. Thomson, ''Report on the scientific results of the voyage of HMS Challenger during the years 1873-76... prepared under the superintendence of the late Sir C. Wyville Thomson,... and now of John Murray,...'' (fifty volumes, London, 1880–1895). H.N. Moseley, ''Notes by a naturalist on the Challenger'' (1879). W.J.J. Spry, ''The cruise of the Challenger'' (1876).
* Publications: C.W. Thomson, ''Report on the scientific results of the voyage of HMS Challenger during the years 1873–76... prepared under the superintendence of the late Sir C. Wyville Thomson,... and now of John Murray,...'' (fifty volumes, London, 1880–1895). H.N. Moseley, ''Notes by a naturalist on the Challenger'' (1879). W.J.J. Spry, ''The cruise of the Challenger'' (1876).


To enable her to probe the depths, all but two of ''Challenger's'' guns had been removed and her spars reduced to make more space available.<ref name="Bishop">{{cite web|last1=Bishop|first1=Tina|title=Then and Now: The HMS Challenger Expedition and the "Mountains in the Sea" Expedition|url=http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/03mountains/background/challenger/challenger.html|website=oceanexplorer.noaa.gov|publisher=[[NOAA]]|accessdate=31 January 2018}}</ref> Laboratories, extra cabins and a special [[Marine biology dredge|dredging]] platform were installed. She was loaded with specimen jars, [[ethanol|alcohol]] for preservation of samples, [[microscope]]s and chemical apparatus, [[trawl]]s and [[Marine biology dredge|dredge]]s, [[thermometer]]s and water sampling bottles, sounding leads and devices to collect [[sediment]] from the sea bed and great lengths of rope with which to suspend the equipment into the ocean depths.<ref name="Equipment">{{cite web|title=Scientific Equipment on HMS Challenger|url=https://rammhmschallenger.wordpress.com/2015/06/02/scientific-equipment-on-hms-challenger/|website=HMS Challenger Project|accessdate=31 January 2018|date=2 June 2015}}</ref> In all she was supplied with 181 miles (291&nbsp;km)<!--depends if nautical miles or statute miles; with the odd, three "significant" digit number, it may well be 1,100,000 feet expressed in nautical miles)--> of Italian hemp for sounding, trawling and dredging.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1Q8rAQAAMAAJ&q=hms+challenger+italian+hemp+181+miles |title=Sea Frontiers |publisher=International Oceanographic Foundation |year=1972 |volume=18 |language=en}}</ref>
To enable her to probe the depths, all but two of ''Challenger's'' guns had been removed and her spars reduced to make more space available.<ref name="Bishop">{{cite web|last1=Bishop|first1=Tina|title=Then and Now: The HMS Challenger Expedition and the "Mountains in the Sea" Expedition|url=http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/03mountains/background/challenger/challenger.html|website=oceanexplorer.noaa.gov|publisher=[[NOAA]]|accessdate=31 January 2018}}</ref> Laboratories, extra cabins and a special [[Marine biology dredge|dredging]] platform were installed. She was loaded with specimen jars, [[ethanol|alcohol]] for preservation of samples, [[microscope]]s and chemical apparatus, [[trawl]]s and [[Marine biology dredge|dredge]]s, [[thermometer]]s and water sampling bottles, sounding leads and devices to collect [[sediment]] from the sea bed and great lengths of rope with which to suspend the equipment into the ocean depths.<ref name="Equipment">{{cite web|title=Scientific Equipment on HMS Challenger|url=https://rammhmschallenger.wordpress.com/2015/06/02/scientific-equipment-on-hms-challenger/|website=HMS Challenger Project|accessdate=31 January 2018|date=2 June 2015}}</ref> In all she was supplied with 181 miles (291&nbsp;km)<!--depends if nautical miles or statute miles; with the odd, three "significant" digit number, it may well be 1,100,000 feet expressed in nautical miles)--> of Italian hemp for sounding, trawling and dredging.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1Q8rAQAAMAAJ&q=hms+challenger+italian+hemp+181+miles |title=Sea Frontiers |publisher=International Oceanographic Foundation |year=1972 |volume=18 |language=en}}</ref>

Revision as of 11:57, 19 December 2020

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

HMS Challenger
Painting of Challenger by William Frederick Mitchell
History
RN Ensign
NameHMS Challenger
BuilderWoolwich Dockyard
Launched13 February 1858
DecommissionedChatham Dockyard, 1878
FateBroken for scrap, 1921
General characteristics
Class and typeTemplate:Sclass-
Displacement2,137 long tons (2,171 t)[1]
Tons burthen1465 bm[1]
Length
  • 225 ft 3 in (68.66 m) oa
  • 200 ft (61 m) (gundeck)
Beam40 ft 4 in (12.29 m)
Draught
  • 17 ft 4 in (5.28 m) (forward)
  • 18 ft 10 in (5.74 m) (aft)
Depth of hold23 ft 11 in (7.29 m)
Installed power
Propulsion
Sail planFull-rigged ship
Speed10.7 knots (19.8 km/h) (under steam)
Armament
  • 20 × 8-inch (42cwt) muzzle-loading smoothbore cannons on broadside trucks
  • 1 × 10-inch/68pdr (95cwt) muzzle-loading smoothbore cannons pivot-mounted at bow

HMS Challenger was a steam-assisted Royal Navy Pearl-class corvette launched on 13 February 1858 at the Woolwich Dockyard. She was the flagship of the Australia Station between 1866 and 1870.[2]

As part of the North America and West Indies Station she took part in 1862 in operations during the Second French intervention in Mexico, including the occupation of Veracruz. Assigned as the flagship of Australia Station in 1866, in 1868 she undertook a punitive expedition against Fiji to avenge the murders of a missionary and some of his dependents, shelling and burning a village and killing more than 40 native Wainimala.[3] She left the Australian Station in late 1870.[2]

She was picked to undertake the first global marine research expedition: the Challenger expedition. The Challenger carried a complement of 243 officers, scientists and crew when she embarked on her 68,890-nautical-mile (127,580 km) journey.

The United States Space Shuttle Challenger was named after the ship.[4] Her figurehead is on display in the foyer of the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton.

1873–1876: Grand tour

Main article: Challenger expedition

The Challenger Expedition was a grand tour of the world covering 68,000 nautical miles (125,936 km) organized by the Royal Society in collaboration with the University of Edinburgh. Charles Thomson was the leader of a large scientific team.[5]

  • Captains: George Nares (1873 and 1874) and Frank Tourle Thomson[6] (1874 to 1876)
  • Naturalists: Charles Wyville Thomson (1830–1882), Henry Nottidge Moseley (1844–1891) and Rudolf von Willemoes-Suhm (1847–1875)
  • Oceanographers: John Young Buchanan (1844–1925) and John Murray (1841–1914)
  • Publications: C.W. Thomson, Report on the scientific results of the voyage of HMS Challenger during the years 1873–76... prepared under the superintendence of the late Sir C. Wyville Thomson,... and now of John Murray,... (fifty volumes, London, 1880–1895). H.N. Moseley, Notes by a naturalist on the Challenger (1879). W.J.J. Spry, The cruise of the Challenger (1876).

To enable her to probe the depths, all but two of Challenger's guns had been removed and her spars reduced to make more space available.[7] Laboratories, extra cabins and a special dredging platform were installed. She was loaded with specimen jars, alcohol for preservation of samples, microscopes and chemical apparatus, trawls and dredges, thermometers and water sampling bottles, sounding leads and devices to collect sediment from the sea bed and great lengths of rope with which to suspend the equipment into the ocean depths.[8] In all she was supplied with 181 miles (291 km) of Italian hemp for sounding, trawling and dredging.[9]

The Challenger's crew was the first to sound the deepest part of the ocean, thereafter named the Challenger Deep.

Later service history

She was commissioned as a Coast Guard and Royal Naval Reserve training ship at Harwich in July 1876.[2]

In 1878 Challenger went through an overhaul by the Chief Constructor at Chatham Dockyard with a view to converting the vessel into a training ship for boys of the Royal Navy. She was found suitable and it was planned to take the place of HMS Eurydice which sank off the Isle of Wight on 24 March 1878.[10] The Admiralty did not go ahead with the conversion and she remained in reserve until 1883, when she was converted into a receiving hulk in the River Medway, where she stayed until she was sold to J B Garnham on 6 January 1921 and broken up for her copper bottom in 1921.[2]

Nothing, apart from her figurehead, now remains. This is kept at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton.[11]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d Winfield (2004) p.209
  2. ^ a b c d Bastock, pp.47–48.
  3. ^ "FIJI". Sydney Mail. Vol. IX, no. 429. New South Wales, Australia. 19 September 1868. p. 11. Retrieved 9 April 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ^ Space Shuttle Challenger at the Kennedy Space Centre website Archived 2009-02-03 at the Wayback Machine.
  5. ^ The Voyage of H.M.S. Challenger 1873–1876. Narrative Vol. I. First Part. Chapter I, p. 19-20
  6. ^ UK National Archives ADM 196/13/348
  7. ^ Bishop, Tina. "Then and Now: The HMS Challenger Expedition and the "Mountains in the Sea" Expedition". oceanexplorer.noaa.gov. NOAA. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
  8. ^ "Scientific Equipment on HMS Challenger". HMS Challenger Project. 2 June 2015. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
  9. ^ Sea Frontiers. Vol. 18. International Oceanographic Foundation. 1972.
  10. ^ "Naval". The Cornishman. No. 27. 16 January 1879. p. 6.
  11. ^ "HMS Challenger". Figureheads. Royal Museums Greenwich. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
  • Bastock, John (1988), Ships on the Au 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.
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