HMS ''Cruizer'' was a 17-gun wooden screw

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular ...

, the name-ship of the of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

, launched at the

Royal Dockyard Royal Navy Dockyards (more usually termed Royal Dockyards) were state-owned harbour facilities where ships of the Royal Navy were built, based, repaired and refitted. Until the mid-19th century the Royal Dockyards were the largest industrial ...

Deptford Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, within the London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a Ford (crossing), ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century to the late 19th it was home ...

in 1852. The spelling of her name was formally altered to HMS ''Cruiser'' in 1857. She became a sail training vessel in 1872 and was renamed HMS ''Lark''. She was eventually sold for breaking in 1912.

History

Her first years of service were spent on the

China station The Commander-in-Chief, China was the admiral in command of what was usually known as the China Station, at once both a British Royal Navy naval formation and its admiral in command. It was created in 1865 and deactivated in 1941. From 1831 to 18 ...

, during which a party of her crew took part in the

Battle of Fatshan Creek The Battle of Fatshan Creek (佛山水道之戰) was a naval engagement fought between the United Kingdom's Royal Navy and the Cantonese fleet of Qing China on 1 June 1857. Rear-Admiral Sir Michael Seymour sought out and destroyed the Chinese fl ...

in 1857. Her commander,

Charles Fellowes Vice Admiral Charles Fellowes (19 October 1823 – 8 March 1886) was a Royal Navy officer who went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Channel Fleet. Naval career Fellowes joined the Royal Navy in 1836. He fought in the Second Opium War, and a ...

, was the first man over the walls of

Canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ente ...

when the city was taken, and the ship saw further action in China, including the attack on the Taku Forts on the

Peiho 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. The Hai River at Tianjin is formed by the confluence of five watercourses: the ...

in 1858. On 20 November 1858, she was in the company of Her Majesty's Ships ''Furious'', ''Retribution'', ''Dove'', and ''Lee''. The squadron were conveying the Earl of Elgin on the

Yangtse River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flows ...

, when they had to engage with the

Ping Ping may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Ping, a domesticated Chinese duck in the illustrated book '' The Story about Ping'', first published in 1933 * Ping, a minor character in ''Seinfeld'', an NBC sitcom * Ping, a c ...

rebels at

Nanking Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. ...

.National Maritime Museum
/ref> In 1860, under the command of

John Bythesea Rear-Admiral John Bythesea (15 June 1827 – 18 May 1906) was an officer of the Royal Navy. He was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to ...

, she surveyed the

Gulf of Pechili The Bohai Sea () is a marginal sea approximately in area on the east coast of Mainland China. It is the northwestern and innermost extension of the Yellow Sea, to which it connects to the east via the Bohai Strait. It has a mean depth of ...

to prepare moorings for the Allied fleet to disembark troops for the advance on

Peking } Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...

. ''Cruiser'' was laid up in England in 1867, before being recommissioned for the Mediterranean station.

Disposal

In 1872, having had her guns and engine removed, she became a sail training ship and was renamed ''Lark'', in which capacity she served until at least 1903. She was finally sold for breaking up at Malta in 1912.

Notes

Citations

References

* *

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cruiser (1852) Cruizer-class sloops Victorian-era sloops of the United Kingdom Ships built in Deptford 1852 ships Crimean War naval ships of the United Kingdom