Hermes-class sloop

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HMS Acheron (1838).jpg
Acheron in New Zealand
Class overview
NameHermes-class paddle sloop
Builders
Operators Royal Navy
Preceded by
Succeeded byHMS Gorgon
CostAcheron: £25,509[Note 1]
Built1834–1839
In commission1835–1864
Completed4
Lost1
Retired3
General characteristics [1]
TypePaddle sloop
Displacement1,006 tons
Tons burthen715 43/94 bm
Length
  • 150 ft 0 in (45.7 m) (gundeck)
  • 128 ft 0 in (39.0 m) (keel)[Note 2]
Beam32 ft 9 in (10.0 m)
Draught
  • 11 ft 6 in (3.5 m) (forward)
  • 12 ft 0 in (3.7 m) (aft)
Depth of hold18 ft 2 in (5.5 m)
Installed power140 nominal horsepower (160 in Acheron)
Propulsion
  • 2-cylinder side lever steam engine
  • Paddles
Sail plan3-masted barque rigged
Complement135
Armament
  • As built:
  • 2 × 9-pounder (13 1⁄2 cwt) brass guns
  • From 1842:
  • 1 × 8-inch (52 cwt) pivot gun
  • 2 × 32-pounder (17 cwt) carronades

The Hermes class were a class of four paddlewheel steam sloops built for the British Royal Navy in the 1830s. Megaera was wrecked in Jamaica in 1843, but the other three survived to be broken up, with Volcano surviving in Portsmouth as a floating engineers' workshop until 1894, giving the best part of 60 years of service.

Design[]

The ships were designed by John Edye to a specification by Sir William Symonds and were approved in 1834. They were built of wood, displaced 1,006 tons and had a length on the gundeck of 170 feet (51.8 m).[1]

Propulsion[]

Power was provided by a two-cylinder side-lever steam engine driving paddle wheels. In Hermes this engine was provided by the Butterley Company of Derbyshire, but the other ships had a Seaward and Capel unit fitted.[1] The engines were rated at 140 nominal horsepower, with the exception of Acheron, which was rated at 160 nominal horsepower.[1] Hermes had her original engine removed at Woolwich in 1840, and after she had been lengthened, in 1843 a new Maudslay 220 nominal horsepower 'Siamese'-type steam engine was fitted.[1] This gave her a speed under power of about 8+1⁄2 knots (15.7 km/h).[1] Pictures show Acheron with a barque rig.

Armament[]

All four ships were initially armed with two 9-pounder (13 1⁄2 cwt) smoothbore muzzle-loading brass guns. In 1842 or 1843 they were re-armed with a single 8-inch pivot gun and two 32-pounder (17 cwt) carronades.[Note 3][1]

Crew[]

They had a complement of approximately 135 men.[1]

Ships[]

Name Ship builder Laid down Launched Commissioned Fate
Hermes Portsmouth Dockyard April 1834 26 June 1835 25 November 1835 Sold for breaking October 1864
Portsmouth Dockyard July 1835 30 June 1836 17 January 1837 Engineers' workshop at Portsmouth from 1854; broken up at Portsmouth in 1894
Sheerness Dockyard August 1836 17 August 1837 30 March 1838 Wrecked on Bare Bush Key, 5 miles east of Portland Point, Jamaica, 4 March 1843
Acheron Sheerness Dockyard October 1837 23 August 1838 8 January 1839 Sold at Sydney in 1855

Notes[]

  1. ^ A total cost accounting for inflation of approximately £2,348,200 in today's money.
  2. ^ Hermes was lengthened in 1842, making her 170 ft 0 in (51.8 m) long on the gundeck, 148 ft 1+1⁄4 in (45.1 m) long at the keel and 32 ft 10 in (10.0 m) in the beam. Her tonnage increased to 827 88/94 bm
  3. ^ "cwt", or "hundredweight" refers to the weight of the gun itself. "32-pounder" refers to the weight of the ball fired.

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Winfield (2004), p.158
  • Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
  • 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.
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