HMS ''Maeander'' was a

sailing frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...

of the British

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

. Her service included the suppression of piracy, the

Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...

, and support for the suppression of slavery with the

West Africa Squadron The West Africa Squadron, also known as the Preventive Squadron, was a squadron of the Royal Navy whose goal was to suppress the Atlantic slave trade by patrolling the coast of West Africa. Formed in 1808 after the British Parliament passed ...

. She was wrecked in a gale in 1870.

Career

''Maeander'' was launched at

Chatham Dockyard Chatham Dockyard was a Royal Navy Dockyard located on the River Medway in Kent. Established in Chatham, Kent, Chatham in the mid-16th century, the dockyard subsequently expanded into neighbouring Gillingham, Kent, Gillingham; at its most extens ...

on 5 May 1840. From 1 November 1847 to 1851 her captain was

Henry Keppel Admiral of the Fleet Sir Henry Keppel, (14 June 1809 – 17 January 1904) was a Royal Navy officer. His first command was largely spent off the coast of Spain, which was then in the midst of the First Carlist War. As commanding officer of the co ...

. ''Maeander'' served in the East Indies, cooperating with

James Brooke James Brooke (29 April 1803 – 11 June 1868), was a British soldier and adventurer who founded the Raj of Sarawak in Borneo. He ruled as the first White Rajahs, White Rajah of Sarawak from 1841 until his death in 1868. Brooke was born and ra ...

in the suppression of piracy. Next, in September 1849 she sailed from Singapore via Batavia for Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific coast of America; United States Army Lieutenant

George H. Derby George Horatio Derby (April 3, 1823 – May 15, 1861) was an early California humorist. He attended West Point with Ulysses S. Grant. Derby used the pseudonym "John P. Squibob" and its variants "John Phoenix" and "Squibob." Derby served as a l ...

, in his "Report of the Expedition of the U.S. Transport Invincible" notes that Keppel with the ''Maeander'' was in the Mexican port of

Guaymas Guaymas () is a city in Guaymas Municipality, in the southwest part of the List of states of Mexico, state of Sonora, in northwestern Mexico. The city is south of the state capital of Hermosillo, and from the Mexico – United States border, U.S. ...

on 5 February 1851. After twelve months on the Valparaiso station, ''Maeander'' then returned to Britain with $860,000 in bullion via the Straits of Magellan. (At the time she was thought to have been the largest vessel to have passed through the straits.) She was in the straits for over nine days in May 1851, anchoring every night because of the difficulty of the passage). On 14 July 1852 Captain Charles Talbot took command of ''Maeander''. On 30 May 1854 Captain Thomas Baillie took command. She served in the

White Sea The White Sea (; Karelian language, Karelian and ; ) is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is surrounded by Karelia to the west, the Kola Peninsula to the north, and the Kanin Peninsula to the nort ...

in 1855 during the

. On 2 December 1856,

James Robert Drummond Admiral Sir James Robert Drummond (15 September 1812 – 7 October 1895) was a Royal Navy officer who commanded several ships in the Black Sea Fleet during the Crimean War and who commanded the Mediterranean Fleet from 1874 to 1877 before going o ...

was appointed captain of ''Maeander'', for coast guard service.

George Fowler Hastings Vice-Admiral George Fowler Hastings Companion of the Order of the Bath, CB (28 November 1814 – 21 March 1876) was an officer of the Royal Navy, who saw service during the First Opium War and the Crimean War. In a naval career spanning over 50 y ...

succeeded Drummond. In September 1857 an advertisement seeking a 'seaman schoolmaster' to instruct the boys of the ''Maeander'' in the 3Rs. was placed in the name of 'Captain the Hon. G F Hastings CB'. Hastings was appointed superintendent of Haslar Hospital in January 1858. In 1859 Commander Malcolm MacGregor assumed command of ''Maeander''. In 1860 her armament was reduced to ten guns as part of her conversion into a storeship. She then joined the West Africa Squadron at

Ascension Island Ascension Island is an isolated volcanic island, 7°56′ south of the Equator in the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic Ocean. It is about from the coast of Africa and from the coast of South America. It is governed as part of the British Overs ...

as a replacement for ''Tortoise''. From 1 November 1859 to July 1861 ''Maeander'' was under the command of Captain

William Farquharson Burnett Commodore William Farquharson Burnett, (1815 – 7 February 1863) was a senior officer in the Royal Navy. Naval career Burnett was appointed a lieutenant in the Royal Navy in 1838. Promoted to captain in 1854, he commanded ''Tortoise'' at ...

. On 23 February 1861 Captain Frederick Lamport Barnard took command. From 24 December 1864 to January 1866 her commander was Captain Joseph Grant Bickford.

Fate

In July 1870 ''Maeander'' was wrecked in a gale in the

South Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

off

. Her remains are at a depth of 14 metres (46 feet) in position , bows on to the shore. She lies on her

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manch ...

side and has opened up.

Timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...

copper sheathing Copper sheathing is a method for protecting the hull of a wooden vessel from attack by shipworm, barnacles and other marine growth through the use of copper plates affixed to the surface of the hull, below the waterline. It was pioneered and d ...

, knees supporting her gun deck, and her

tiller A tiller or till is a lever used to steer a vehicle. The mechanism is primarily used in watercraft, where it is attached to an outboard motor, rudder post, rudder post or stock to provide leverage in the form of torque for the helmsman to turn ...

have been located.

Memorials

A memorial tablet to the men of ''Maeander'' killed between 1848 and 1851 can be seen at

St Ann's Church, HMNB Portsmouth St Ann's Church is an Anglican chapel within His Majesty's Naval Base Portsmouth. It is regarded as the spiritual home of the Royal Navy, and contains numerous memorials to men lost at sea. The original church was built in 1704, on the site of ...

. A memorial tablet to the Royal Marines from HMS ''Maeander'' who died of fever in

Labuan Labuan (), officially the Federal Territory of Labuan (), is an island federal territory of Malaysia. It includes and six smaller islands off the coast of the state of Sabah in East Malaysia. Labuan's capital is Victoria, which is best kno ...

(on

Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...

) between 14 June and 29 November 1848 can be found in the Old Navy Cemetery within the Botanical Gardens in Labuan,

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maeander (1840) 1840 ships Ships built in Chatham Seringapatam-class frigate Ships of the West Africa Squadron Coal hulks Maritime incidents in July 1870