HMS Cruizer (1852)
.jpg) HMS Cruizer at Malta in 1894 (as HMS Lark)
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | Cruizer |
| Builder | Royal Dockyard, Deptford |
| Cost | £25,213[1] |
| Launched | 19 June 1852 |
| Renamed |
|
| Fate | Sold at Malta in 1912 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Cruizer-class screw sloop |
| Displacement | 960 tons[1][Note 1] |
| Tons burthen | 747+51⁄94 bm[1] |
| Length |
|
| Beam | 31 ft 10 in (9.70 m)[1] |
| Depth of hold | 17 ft 6 in (5.33 m)[1] |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | |
| Sail plan | Barque-rigged |
| Speed | 6.6 knots (12.2 km/h; 7.6 mph) |
| Armament |
|
HMS Cruizer was a 17-gun wooden screw sloop, the name-ship of the Cruizer class of the Royal Navy, launched at the Royal Dockyard, Deptford in 1852. The spelling of her name was formally altered to HMS Cruiser in 1857. She became a sail training vessel in 1872 and was renamed HMS Lark. She was eventually sold for breaking in 1912.
History
[edit]Her first years of service were spent on the China station, during which a party of her crew took part in the Battle of Fatshan Creek in 1857. Her commander, Charles Fellowes, was the first man over the walls of Canton when the city was taken,[2] and the ship saw further action in China, including the attack on the Taku Forts on the Hai River in 1858.
On 20 November 1858, she was in the company of Her Majesty's Ships Furious, Retribution, Dove, and Lee. The squadron were conveying the Earl of Elgin on the Yangtze River, when they had to engage with the Taiping rebels at Nanjing.[3]
In 1860, under the command of John Bythesea, she surveyed the Bohai Sea to prepare moorings for the Allied fleet to disembark troops for the advance on Beijing.
Cruiser was laid up in England in 1867, before being recommissioned for the Mediterranean station.
Figurehead
[edit]The figurehead of HMS Cruizer features a bust depicting a mid-nineteenth century sailor. He wears a straw sennet hat, representative of the tropical naval headwear introduced in the 1800s[4], square rig - the standard uniform for Seamen 2nd Class[5] - and medals on the left breast.[6]
The figurehead was designed and carved by Hellyer & Son of Portsmouth. The original design featured a sailor as a demi-head, with one arm down by his side, holding his hat, and the other raised in salute.[7] The Surveyor of the Navy, however, preferred a bust without arms, being cheaper at £6.10.0 (approximately £708.50 today) than Hellyer’s proposed cost of £9.10.0[8] (approximately £1062.76 today[9]).
When the ship was sold to Malta for breaking up in 1912, the figurehead was removed, remaining at the dockyard there. It was eventually transported back to Portsmouth following a bombing raid in 1942 on the port, which badly damaged the fort housing the figurehead.[10]
Upon arrival in England, the figurehead was covered in a fiberglass coating and displayed alongside HMS Caradoc’s figurehead at the entrance to the parade area beside HMS Victory at Portsmouth Dockyard, before being placed into storage.[11]
.jpg)
Disposal
[edit]In 1872, having had her guns and engine removed, she became a sail training ship and was renamed Lark, in which capacity she served until at least 1903. She was finally sold for breaking up at Malta in 1912.
Notes
[edit]Citations
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g Winfield (2004) pp.213-215
- ^ W.L. Clowes on the Second Anglo-Chinese War ("Opium war") of 1856 - 1860
- ^ National Maritime Museum
- ^ "Sennet Cap". www.thebluejackets.co.uk. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
- ^ "Working Dress". www.commsmuseum.co.uk. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
- ^ Bolckow (23 January 2009), H. M. S. Cruizer figurehead. Cruizer was naval sloop of 1852. Now at Portsmouth Royal Naval Base., retrieved 16 January 2025
- ^ doi.org. doi:10.1107/s2052520622011969/yh5024sup1.cif https://doi.org/10.1107/s2052520622011969/yh5024sup1.cif. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
{{cite journal}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ Pulvertaft, David (2009). The Warship Figureheads of the Royal Navy (Illustrated ed.). UK: The History Press. p. 82. ISBN 978-0752450766.
- ^ "Inflation calculator". www.bankofengland.co.uk. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
- ^ Pulvertaft, David (2009). The Warship Figureheads of Portsmouth (Illustrated ed.). UK: The History Press. p. 82. ISBN 978-0752450766.
- ^ Pulvertaft, David (2009). The Warship Figureheads of Portsmouth (Illustrated ed.). UK: The Historic Press. p. 82. ISBN 978-0752450766.
References
[edit]- 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. OCLC 52620555.
External links
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