HMS ''Ariadne'' was a 26 gun Walker

screw frigate Steam frigates (including screw frigates) and the smaller steam corvettes, steam sloops, steam gunboats and steam schooners, were steam-powered warships that were not meant to stand in the line of battle. The first such ships were paddle stea ...

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 ...

in service from 1859 to 1873. After decommissioning in 1873 it became a shore station from 1884 to 1905 and training hulk from 1905 to 1922.

Early career

''Ariadne'' was a screw frigate designed by Baldwin Walker. She served in the Channel Squadron from 1859 to 1864. In 1860 the ship carried the future King

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until Death and state funeral of Edward VII, his death in 1910. The second child ...

(then as Prince of Wales) on a royal tour of Canada and United States.

Later career and fate

In 1884 she became part of the shore establishment and served as a naval cadet training ship. She was renamed in 1905. As ''Actaeon'', she was used only as a hulk by the naval torpedo school in

Sheerness Sheerness () is a port town and civil parish beside the mouth of the River Medway on the north-west corner of the Isle of Sheppey in north Kent, England. With a population of 13,249, it is the second largest town on the island after the nearby ...

. She was paid off and sold for scrap in 1922. She was succeeded as shore station by in 1906. Her fate is unknown.

References

1859 ships Ships built on the River Thames Steam frigates of the Royal Navy {{Warship-stub