HMS ''Amethyst'' was the

lead ship The lead ship, name ship, or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships that are all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable to naval ships and large civilian vessels. Large ships are very comple ...

of the s built for 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 ...

in the early 1870s. She participated in the

Third Anglo-Ashanti War The Anglo-Ashanti wars were a series of five conflicts that took place between 1824 and 1900 between the Ashanti Empire—in the Akan interior of the Gold Coast—and the British Empire and its African allies. Despite initial Ashanti victorie ...

in 1873 before serving as the senior officer's ship for the South American side of the South Atlantic. The ship was transferred to the

Pacific Station The Pacific Station was created in 1837 as one of the geographical military formations into which the Royal Navy divided its worldwide responsibilities. The South America Station was split into the Pacific Station and the South East Coast o ...

in 1875 and fought in the

Battle of Pacocha The Battle of Pacocha was a naval battle that took place on 29 May 1877 between the rebel-held Peruvian monitor ''Huáscar'' and the British ships and . The vessels did not inflict significant damage on each other, however the battle is nota ...

against the rebellious Peruvian

ironclad warship An ironclad was a steam-propelled warship protected by steel or iron armor constructed from 1859 to the early 1890s. The ironclad was developed as a result of the vulnerability of wooden warships to explosive or incendiary shells. The firs ...

two years later. This made her the only British wooden sailing ship ever to fight an armoured opponent. After a lengthy refit, ''Amethyst'' again served as the senior officer's ship on the South American station from 1882 to 1885. She was sold for

scrap Scrap consists of recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap can have monetary value, especially recover ...

two years later.

Design and description

''Amethyst'' was

long between perpendiculars Length between perpendiculars (often abbreviated as p/p, p.p., pp, LPP, LBP or Length BPP) is the length of a ship along the summer load line from the forward surface of the stem, or main bow perpendicular member, to the after surface of the stern ...

, had a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Radio beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially lo ...

of and had a draught of . The ship displaced and had a burthen of 1,405 tons. Her crew consisted of 225 officers and ratings.Lyon & Winfield, p. 288 Unlike her iron-hulled contemporaries, the ship's wooden hull prevented any use of watertight transverse bulkheads. The ship had one two-cylinder horizontal compound expansion steam engine made by J. & G. Rennie, driving a single propeller. Six cylindrical

boilers A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, central ...

provided steam to the engine at a working pressure of . The engine produced a total of which gave ''Amethyst'' a maximum speed of during her

sea trial A sea trial or trial trip is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a "shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on op ...

s. The ship carried of coal, enough to steam between at . ''Amethyst'' was

ship rig A full-rigged ship or fully rigged ship is a sailing ship, sailing vessel with a sail plan of three or more mast (sailing), masts, all of them square rig, square-rigged. Such a vessel is said to have a ship rig or be ship-rigged, with each mas ...

ged and had a sail area of . The lower masts were made of iron, but the other masts were wood. The ship, and her

sisters A sister is a woman or a girl who shares parents or a parent with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to r ...

, were excellent sailors and their best speed under sail alone was approximately that while under steam. Ballard says that all the ships of this class demonstrated "excellent qualities of handiness, steadiness and seaworthiness". Her propeller could be hoisted up into the stern of the ship to reduce drag while under sail. During her refit in 1878, ''Amethyst'' was re-rigged as a

barque A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel with three or more mast (sailing), masts of which the fore mast, mainmast, and any additional masts are Square rig, rigged square, and only the aftmost mast (mizzen in three-maste ...

.Ballard, p. 443 The ship was initially armed with a mix of 64-pounder 71-cwt"cwt" is the abbreviation for

hundredweight The hundredweight (abbreviation: cwt), formerly also known as the centum weight or quintal, is a British imperial and United States customary unit of weight or mass. Its value differs between the United States customary and British imperial sy ...

, 64 cwt referring to the weight of the gun. and 64-cwt rifled muzzle-loading guns. The twelve 71-cwt guns were mounted on the broadside while the two lighter 64-cwt guns were mounted underneath the

forecastle The forecastle ( ; contracted as fo'c'sle or fo'c's'le) is the upper deck (ship), deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or, historically, the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters. Related to the latter meaning is t ...

and

poop deck In naval architecture, a poop deck is a deck that forms the roof of a cabin built in the rear, or " aft", part of the superstructure of a ship. The name originates from the French word for stern, , from Latin . Thus the poop deck is technic ...

chase gun A chase gun (or chaser), usually distinguished as bow chaser and stern chaser, was a cannon mounted in the bow (aiming forward) or stern (aiming backward) of a sailing ship. They were used to attempt to slow down an enemy ship either chasing (p ...

s. In 1878, the ship's 71-cwt guns were replaced by 64-cwt guns.

Service

''Amethyst'' was laid down at Devonport Dockyard on 28 July 1871. She was launched on 19 April 1873 and completed in July 1873. Her sisters cost approximately £77,000 each. The ship was first assigned as the senior officer's ship for the South American side of the South Atlantic, but she was diverted en route to

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

to support British forces during the Third Anglo-Ashanti War. ''Amethyst'' remained on the South American station until she was transferred to the Pacific Station in 1875 after she was relieved by . In May 1877, the crew of the Peruvian ironclad ''

Huáscar Huáscar (; Quechua: ''Waskar Inka'') also Guazcar (before 15271532) was Sapa Inca of the Inca Empire from 1527 to 1532. He succeeded his father, Huayna Capac and his brother Ninan Cuyochi, both of whom died of smallpox during the same year ...

'' rebelled against the government and began harassing British shipping. ''Amethyst'' and the unarmored

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 ...

were ordered to capture the rebel ship and finally found her in the late afternoon of 29 May off the port of

Ilo The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is one of the firs ...

. After ''Huáscar'' refused an offer to surrender, the British ships fired upon her in what came to be known as the

. ''Shah''s deep draught forced her to keep to seaward, therefore ''Amethyst'' was ordered into shallower inshore waters south of the Peruvian ironclad to deter her from escaping into neutral Chilean waters. The corvette's 64-pounder guns were unable to significantly damage the ironclad in any way, but her opponent's gunnery was atrocious and neither British ship suffered more than some damage to their rigging. ''Huáscar'' escaped with little damage after nightfall and surrendered to the Peruvian government the following day.Wilson, I, pp. 306–10 ''Amethyst'' was tasked with rescuing the 43 survivors of the wreck of the British steamship at Los Velos Point, Chile on 15 July. She was unable to do so due to the weather conditions at the time. ''Amethyst'' returned home in July 1878 for a lengthy refit and was recommissioned in 1882 to return as the senior officer's ship for southeastern South America until she returned in late 1885 and was paid off. The ship was sold for scrap in November 1887.

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External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amethyst (1873) 1873 ships Ships built in Plymouth, Devon Amethyst-class corvettes Victorian-era corvettes of the United Kingdom