HMS ''Brisk'' was a 14-gun wooden-hulled

screw sloop A screw sloop is a propeller-driven sloop-of-war. They were popularized in the mid-19th century, during the introduction of the steam engine and the transition of fleets to this new technology. The sailing sloop The British sloop in the Age o ...

designed by the Committee of Reference as part of the 1847 program. She is considered an enlarged Rattler with the design approved in 1847.Winfield (2014), Chapter 12. She was ordered on 25 April 1847 from Woolwich Dockyard as a 10-gun sloop,Lyon & Winfield (2004), p. 213. but the guns were later increased due to the Russian War, to 14 guns by increasing the number of 32-pounder guns. She was launched on 2 June 1851 from

Woolwich Dockyard Woolwich Dockyard (formally H.M. Dockyard, Woolwich, also known as The King's Yard, Woolwich) was an English Royal Navy Dockyard, naval dockyard along the river Thames at Woolwich - originally in north-west Kent, now in southeast London - whe ...

.Bastock (1988), p.27. She served in the Russian War of 1854- 55 and as part of the Southern African anti-slavery patrol, with a final commission on the Australian Station. She was sold in 1870 for use in a pioneer, but unsuccessful, telegraph service. ''Brisk'' was the fourth vessel of the name, since it was introduced for a 16-gun sloop launched by Jacobs of Sandgate on 6 May 1784 and sold in May 1805.

Construction and specifications

''Brisk''s keel was laid in January 1849 at Woolwich Dockyard and she was launched on 2 June 1851. Her gun deck was with her keel length reported for tonnage calculation of . Her maximum breadth was reported for tonnage was . She had a depth of hold of . Her builder's measure tonnage was 1,086 tons and displaced 1,087 tons. Her minimum draught was forward and 16 feet 8 inches aft. On 26 June 1851, she arrived at

Greenock Greenock (; ; , ) is a town in Inverclyde, Scotland, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. The town is the administrative centre of Inverclyde Council. It is a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, and forms ...

to have her machinery fitted by Scott, Sinclair & Company. She shipped two rectangular fire tube boilers. Her engine was a 2-cylinder horizontal single expansion (HSE) steam engine with cylinders of in diameter with a stroke, rated at 250

nominal horsepower Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are th ...

(NHP). She had a single screw propeller. ''Brisk'' arrived at Devonport from Scotland on 21 May 1852. In 1864, her engine was replaced by a Miller, Ravenhill & Salkeld engine with two cylinders of diameter pistons with a stroke rated at 200 NHP. Her initial armament consisted of two Dundas 1853 68-pounder 87 hundredweight (cwt) muzzle-loading smoothbore (MLSB) 10-foot solid-shot gun and eight Monk's 'C' 1839 32-pounder 42 cwt MLSB 8.5-foot solid-shot guns on broadside trucks. The 32-pounders were increased to twelve guns for the Russian War. In 1856 she was rearmed with a single Dundas 1853 68-pounder MLSB of 87 cwt 10-foot solid-shot gun on a pivot mount and fourteen Monk's 'C' 1839 32-pounder 42 cwt MLSB solid-shot guns on broadside trucks.

Trials

During steam trials her engine generated for a speed of . On her trials after the engine change, the engine generated for a speed of . ''Brisk'' was completed for sea on 24 August 1853 at a cost of £47,482 (including hull of £20,677).

Commissioned service

First commission

She was commissioned on 24 May 1853 under the command of Commander

Frederick Beauchamp Paget Seymour Admiral Frederick Beauchamp Paget Seymour, 1st Baron Alcester, (12 April 1821 – 30 March 1895) was a British naval commander. He was commander of the Channel Squadron between 1874 and 1877 and Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet bet ...

for service on the North America and West Indies Station.''The Navy List'', July 1853, p. 140. During her transit 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 ...

she carried the new governor to

Port Royal Port Royal () was a town located at the end of the Palisadoes, at the mouth of Kingston Harbour, in southeastern Jamaica. Founded in 1494 by the Spanish, it was once the largest and most prosperous city in the Caribbean, functioning as the cen ...

, Jamaica. With the Russian War, she returned to Home Waters and joined Captain Sir Erasmus Ommanney's Squadron for service 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 ...

.Winfield (2014), Battles and Campaigns. The squadron searched for Russian ships then bombarded the port of Kola on 24 August. The squadron withdrew from the White Sea before the winter freeze up. With Commander Alfred J. Curtis, RN, taking command on 20 October 1854 she was sent to the Russian Pacific Coast to blockade Russian ports.''The Navy List'', January 1855, p. 141. On 1 June 1855 the squadron entered the harbour of Petropavlovsk, but found it abandoned. The batteries and magazines were then destroyed. On 7 June an eruption of Kozelsky was witnessed. Upon the sessation of hostilities, she returned to Home Waters, paying off at Plymouth on 13 June 1857.

Second commission

After almost two years in reserve, she was commissioned under Captain Algernon F.R. de Horsey for service on the

Cape of Good Hope Station The Commander-in-Chief, Africa was the last title of a Royal Navy's formation commander located in South Africa from 1795 to 1939. Under varying titles, it was one of the longest-lived formations of the Royal Navy. It was also often known as the C ...

.''The Navy List'', January 1860, p. 146. Apart from anti-slavery patrols, she also searched for Dr. Livingstone on 15 September 1859 at the River Kongone. In November she picked up the survivors of the '' Barretto Junior'' which had run aground on Mayotte Reef while heading for

Mayotte Mayotte ( ; , ; , ; , ), officially the Department of Mayotte (), is an Overseas France, overseas Overseas departments and regions of France, department and region and single territorial collectivity of France. It is one of the Overseas departm ...

. On 10 August 1860 she captured the

clipper ship A clipper was a type of mid-19th-century Merchant ship, merchant Sailing ship, sailing vessel, designed for speed. The term was also retrospectively applied to the Baltimore clipper, which originated in the late 18th century. Clippers were gen ...

Emanuela 576 Emanuela is an asteroid orbiting the Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the e ...

'' in the

Mozambique Channel The Mozambique Channel (, , ) is an arm of the Indian Ocean located between the Southeast African countries of Madagascar and Mozambique. The channel is about long and across at its narrowest point, and reaches a depth of about off the coa ...

with more than 800 slaves aboard. With Captain de Horsey becoming invalid due to illness, he was replaced with Captain John P. Luce, RN, and assigned to the West Coast of Africa on 24 February 1862.''The Navy List'', July 1862, p. 164. She returned to Home Waters in 1863, paying off at Plymouth on 22 August.

Third commission

''Brisk''s last commission was on 30 August 1864 under Captain Charles W. Hope, RN, for service on the

Australia Station The Australia Station was the British, and later Australian, naval command responsible for the waters around the Australian continent. Australia Station was under the command of the Commander-in-Chief, Australia Station, whose rank varied over t ...

.''The Navy List'', January 1865, pp. 175-176. She was sent to relieve . Sailing around the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( ) is a rocky headland on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A List of common misconceptions#Geography, common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Afri ...

, she arrived in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

on 15 January 1865. Once there she received orders to proceed immediately to

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

and join the squadron at

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

. She arrived in Auckland on 5 February, with the ''Miranda'' departing the same day. The ''Brisk'' was to undertake escort duties during the

New Zealand Wars The New Zealand Wars () took place from 1845 to 1872 between the Colony of New Zealand, New Zealand colonial government and allied Māori people, Māori on one side, and Māori and Māori-allied settlers on the other. Though the wars were initi ...

. Her first task was to take 300–400 troops of the 2nd Battalion, 14th Regiment, under Colonel W. C. Trevor from

Manukau Manukau (), or Manukau Central, is a suburb of South Auckland, New Zealand, centred on the Manukau City Centre business district. It is located 23 kilometres south of the Auckland Central Business District, west of the Southern Motorway, ...

Whanganui Whanganui, also spelt Wanganui, is a city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest navigable waterway. Whanganui is ...

on 1 March 1865. Returning to Auckland she took Governor Grey to

Kawau Kawau Island is in the Hauraki Gulf, close to the north-eastern coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the Māori word for the shag.At its closest point it lies off the coast of the Northland Peninsula, just south of Tāw ...

on 1 May. On 15 May she received news from the ''Dauntless'' of the demise of the clipper ''Fiery Star''. She sailed for the

Chatham Island Chatham Island ( ) ( Moriori: , 'Misty Sun'; ) is the largest island of the Chatham Islands group, in the south Pacific Ocean off the eastern coast of New Zealand's South Island. It is said to be "halfway between the equator and the pole, a ...

s to search for the missing passengers and crew. None were found and she returned to Auckland. On 6 August she took 300 soldiers of the 70th Regiment from

Taranaki Taranaki is a regions of New Zealand, region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano Mount Taranaki, Taranaki Maunga, formerly known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the ...

to Napier and from there she was involved in the fighting around

Ōpōtiki Ōpōtiki (; from ''Ōpōtiki-Mai-Tawhiti'') is a town in the eastern Bay of Plenty in the North Island of New Zealand. It houses the headquarters of the Ōpōtiki District Council, the mayor of Ōpōtiki and comes under the Bay of Plenty Region ...

. In early 1866 she took soldiers of the 43rd Regiment to Taranaki. After this she left Auckland and sailed around the south sea islands, returning to Sydney on 26 September for a refit. From 10 January to 3 May 1867 she took Governor Grey on a tour around New Zealand's

South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...

. In September 1868 she left the Australia Station.

Telegraph service

She was decommissioned on 19 January 1869, then sold on 31 January 1870 to the International Mid-channel Telegraph Company Ltd and registered under the same name at London (

Official number Official numbers are ship identifier numbers assigned to merchant ships by their flag state, country of registration. Each country developed its own official numbering system, some on a national and some on a port-by-port basis, and the formats hav ...

63570). Anchored at on Admiralty Patch,

south southwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A ''compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each ...

Land's End Land's End ( or ''Pedn an Wlas'') is a headland and tourist and holiday complex in western Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, on the Penwith peninsula about west-south-west of Penzance at the western end of the A30 road. To the east of it is ...

in April 1870, ''Brisk'' was part of an experimental telegraph service based at

Porthcurno Porthcurno (, meaning ''"pinnacle cove"'', see below) is a small village covering a small valley and beach on the south coast of Cornwall, England in the United Kingdom. It is the main settlement in a civil parishes in England, civil and an ecc ...

, Cornwall. Cable breakages and sea-sickness amongst the signallers ended the venture after two months, in June 1870. In August 1870 the telegraph company was bankrupt and ''Brisk'' was sold at London by the liquidators.

Legacy

Brisk Bay in

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia, is named after her.

Citations

References

* '' The Navy List'', published by

His Majesty's Stationery Office The Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) is the body responsible for the operation of His Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO) and of other public information services of the United Kingdom. The OPSI is part of the National Archives of the U ...

, London. * * (EPUB), Section B (Brisk). * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brisk (1851) 1851 ships Ships built in Woolwich Sloops of the Royal Navy