HMS ''Blossom'' was an 18-gun

sloop-of-war During the 18th and 19th centuries, a sloop-of-war was a warship of the Royal Navy with a single gun deck that carried up to 18 guns. The rating system of the Royal Navy covered all vessels with 20 or more guns; thus, the term encompassed all u ...

. She was built in 1806 and is best known for the 1825–1828 expedition under Captain Beechey to the Pacific Ocean. She explored as far north as Point Barrow,

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

, the furthest point into the Arctic any non-

Inuit Inuit (singular: Inuk) are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America and Russia, including Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwe ...

had been at the time. She was finally broken up in 1848.

Napoleonic Wars

On 26 February 1808 ''Blossom'' was in company with when they captured ''Sally and Hetty'', William Fleming, Master. ''Blossom'' was in company with ''Jamaica'' when they recaptured the American brig ''Iris''. In the mid-morning of 23 February 1812, ''Blossom'' was off Cabrera when a strange schooner sailed towards her, mistaking her for a merchantman. When the schooner realized her mistake a five-hour chase followed before ''Blossom'' was able to capture the schooner . ''Jean Bart'' was of 147.5 tons (bm) and had been launched in

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

only five weeks earlier. She was armed with five 12 and two 6-pounder guns, and had a crew of 106 men under the command of Jean Francis Coulome. She had made no captures but within the previous five days her excellent sailing had enabled her to evade two British frigates and a brig. On 18 August 1812, shortly after the outbreak of war with America, ''Blossom'' and were in sight when the

letter of marque A letter of marque and reprisal () was a Sovereign state, government license in the Age of Sail that authorized a private person, known as a privateer or French corsairs, corsair, to attack and capture vessels of a foreign state at war with t ...

captured the American ship ''Grace Ann Green''.

Post-war

''Blossom'' was re-rated as a 24-gun

sixth rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a sixth-rate was the designation for small warships mounting between 20 and 28 carriage-mounted guns on a single deck, sometimes with smaller guns on the upper works an ...

in February 1817. Between July 1824 and August 1825, she was at Deptford and Woolwich being converted to serve as an exploration ship in "icy seas". In January 1825 Commander Frederick Beechey commissioned her for exploration of the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...

. In 1917 a copper plate was discovered in the

Bonin Islands The Bonin Islands, also known as the , is a list of islands of Japan, Japanese archipelago of over 30 subtropical and Island#Tropical islands, tropical islands located around SSE of Tokyo and northwest of Guam. The group as a whole has a total ...

, inscribed with a message claiming the islands as a British possession: In 1827, Captain Beechey discovered a submerged obstacle in

San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay (Chochenyo language, Chochenyo: 'ommu) is a large tidal estuary in the United States, U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the cities of San Francisco, California, San ...

, that threatened ships sailing to the young port of

San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. His soundings revealed that it was a large rock, whose top was below the water line at mean low tide. The rock was previously uncharted, and too large to be removed from the channel by the technology available then. Beechey named the obstacle Blossom Rock, in honour of his ship. Beechey also discovered that two especially prominent giant sequoia trees on the east coast of the bay could serve as a navigational aid to locate the position of the rock, allowing ships to bypass the obstacle and avoid a wreck. This location is marked by

California Historical Landmark A California Historical Landmark (CHL) is a building, structure, site, or place in the U.S. state of California that has been determined to have statewide historical landmark significance. Criteria Historical significance is determined by meetin ...

#962, "Blossom Rock Navigation Trees." In 1870, American military engineers, led by R. S. Williamson, were able to develop technology adequate to remove enough of Blossom Rock to mitigate the hazard to ships. ''Blossom'' was paid off in May 1828. Between April and August 1829, she was at Woolwich being fitted as a survey ship. In May, Richard Owen recommissioned her for the Jamaica station. She remained there until some point in 1832. While she was there the 1-gun schooner served as ''Blossom''s

ship's tender A ship's tender, usually referred to as a tender, is a boat or ship used to service or support other boats or ships. This is generally done by transporting people or supplies to and from shore or another ship. A second and distinctly different ...

until ''Monkey'' wrecked in 1831. The Navy then purchased a second schooner to function as a tender for ''Blossom'', and renamed the tender . The Navy sold ''Monkey'' after ''Blossom'' returned to Britain in 1832.

Fate

''Blossom'' was hulked as a

lazarette The lazarette or lazaret (sometimes lazaretto) of a boat is an area near or aft of the cockpit. The word is similar to and probably derived from lazaretto. A lazarette is usually a storage locker used for gear or equipment a sailor or boatswa ...

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 ...

in January 1833, and was broken up at Chatham in August 1848.

Notes

Sources

References

* * *
Ships of discovery and exploration, by Lincoln P. Paine

* ttp://www.pdavis.nl/ShowShip.php?id=2491 Mid-Victorian RN vessel HMS ''Blossom''

External links

*
Map of the 1825-1828 voyage under the command of Beechey
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blossom (1806) 1806 ships Arctic exploration vessels Cormorant-class ship-sloops Survey vessels of the Royal Navy Victorian-era sloops of the United Kingdom