HMS ''Urgent'' was an iron screw

troopship A troopship (also troop ship or troop transport or trooper) is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime. Troopships were often drafted from commercial shipping fleets, and were unable to land troops directly on shore, typic ...

of the

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 ...

. She served her later years as a storeship and

depot ship A depot ship is an auxiliary ship used as a mobile or fixed base for submarines, destroyers, minesweepers, fast attack craft, landing craft, or other small ships with similarly limited space for maintenance equipment and crew dining, berthing an ...

based in Jamaica.

Construction and commissioning

''Urgent'' was originally constructed by C. J. Mare, of Blackwall, under the name ''Assaye''. Also being constructed by Mare at this time was a near-sistership to ''Assaye'', the Russian ''Sobraon''. ''Assaye'' may have also been being built for Russian owners, as both ships were purchased by the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong * Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Tra ...

in 1854 to serve as auxiliaries in 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 ...

. ''Assaye'' was purchased under an Admiralty order dated 13 June 1854, and was launched on 2 April 1855. She completed fitting out for sea at

Sheerness Dockyard Sheerness Dockyard was a Royal Navy Dockyard located on the Sheerness peninsula, at the mouth of the River Medway in Kent. It was opened in the 1660s and closed in 1960. Location In the Age of Sail, the Royal Navy would often establish shore ...

on 29 September 1855, having by then cost a total of £89,936. She entered service as HMS ''Urgent'', while her near-sister ''Sobraon'' was named .

Service

On 21 October 1855, ''Urgent'' ran aground at

Fort Ricasoli Fort Ricasoli () is a bastioned fort in Kalkara, Malta, which was built by the Order of Saint John between 1670 and 1698. The fort occupies a promontory known as Gallows' Point and the north shore of Rinella Bay, commanding the entrance to the G ...

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

on a voyage from

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

. All 1,100 people on board were rescued. Having departed from

Spithead Spithead is an eastern area of the Solent and a roadstead for vessels off Gilkicker Point in Hampshire, England. It is protected from all winds except those from the southeast, with the Isle of Wight lying to the south-west. Spithead and the ch ...

on 28 February 1857, ''Urgent'' sprang a leak in the

Bay of Biscay The Bay of Biscay ( ) is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. It lies along the western coast of France from Point Penmarc'h to the Spanish border, and along the northern coast of Spain, extending westward ...

on 3 March. She put in to

A Coruña A Coruña (; ; also informally called just Coruña; historical English: Corunna or The Groyne) is a city and municipality in Galicia, Spain. It is Galicia's second largest city, behind Vigo. The city is the provincial capital of the province ...

, Spain in a sinking condition. On 1 November 1858, Urgent ran aground on the East Pole Sands, east of the '' Nab Lightship'' whilst on a voyage from

Corfu Corfu ( , ) or Kerkyra (, ) is a Greece, Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands; including its Greek islands, small satellite islands, it forms the margin of Greece's northwestern frontier. The island is part of the Corfu (regio ...

United States of the Ionian Islands The United States of the Ionian Islands was a Greeks, Greek state (polity), state and Protectorate#Amical_protection, amical protectorate of the United Kingdom between 1815 and 1864. The succession of states, successor state of the Septinsular R ...

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. She was refloated with assistance from the Government

tug A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, suc ...

''Echo''. From March 1859 she was under the command of Henry William Hire for service in the

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and

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, and on 20 August 1859 was on the

Hai River The Hai River (海河, lit. "Sea River"), also known as the Peiho, ("White River"), or Hai Ho, is a Chinese river connecting Beijing to Tianjin and the Bohai Sea. During the Song dynasty, the main stream of the Hai River was called the lowe ...

. From July 1864 she was under Samuel Hood Henderson. In August 1864, she ran aground at St. Anns, Nova Scotia,

British North America British North America comprised the colonial territories of the British Empire in North America from 1783 onwards. English colonisation of North America began in the 16th century in Newfoundland, then further south at Roanoke and Jamestown, ...

. She was later refloated and taken in to

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, British North America, where she arrived on 5 September. ''Urgent'' was at

in 1870. After service as a troopship, ''Urgent'' was moved to

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

and to serve as a depot ship, and was commissioned there in her new role on 21 July 1877. In 1880, her tender was the gunboat , which was also used as a tug. From 1880 to 1885, her tender was the

schooner A schooner ( ) is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel defined by its Rig (sailing), rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more Mast (sailing), masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than t ...

, which was surveying the area at the time. From February 1878 until 1890 ''Urgent'' flew the

broad pendant A broad pennant is a triangular swallow-tailed naval pennant flown from the masthead of a warship afloat or a naval headquarters ashore to indicate the presence of either: (a) a Royal Navy officer in the rank of Commodore, or (b) a U.S. Navy ...

of the Hon. William John Ward, the son of Edward Southwell Ward, 3rd Viscount Bangor. In 1886 ''Urgent'' came under the command of Francis Mowbray Prattent, and between September 1889 and 1890 she flew the broad pendant of Rodney Maclaine Lloyd. She finally flew the broad pendant of Daniel M K Riddel from March 1901. She was sold for scrapping to Butler & Co in June 1903, after the naval establishment was moved ashore.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Urgent, Hms Troop ships of the Royal Navy Ships built in Leamouth Victorian-era naval ships of the United Kingdom 1855 ships Maritime incidents in October 1855 Maritime incidents in March 1857 Maritime incidents in November 1858 Maritime incidents in August 1864