William Symonds
Sir William Symonds CB FRS (24 September 1782 – 30 March 1856, aboard the French steamship ''Nil'', Strait of Bonifacio, Sardinia)Royal Dockyard, Woolwich and launched on 3 July, 1841 under command of Hastings Reginald Henry. She was armed with 6 guns (including a pair of 68lb guns) and a crew of 149 men. She served her first year in the Mediterranean.
In May 1842, command transferred to John James Robinson for a period before going back to Captain Henry. In November 1843, it passed to Swynfen Carnegie and in February 1844,
William Hewgill Kitchen
William is a masculine given name of Norman French origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conques ...
(who was later Governor of
Ascension Island
Ascension Island is an isolated volcanic island, 7°56′ south of the Equator in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is about from the coast of Africa and from the coast of South America. It is governed as part of the British Overseas Territory o ...
) took command.
From October 1845 to March 1846, she was recommissioned at Woolwich and put under Commander
Edward Crouch
Edward Crouch (November 9, 1764February 2, 1827) was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.
Early life
Edward Crouch was born at Walnut Hill in the Province of Pennsylvania on November 9, 1764. His father James Cr ...
Cape of Good Hope
The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa.
A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is t ...
.
In a change of scene in May 1851, she sailed to North America and the West Indies under Captain Colin Yorke Campbell. From 1853 to 1858, she stayed in the West Indies under successive command of:
Algernon Frederick Rous de Horsey
Admiral Sir Algernon Frederick Rous de Horsey (25 July 1827 – 22 October 1922) was a Royal Navy officer, appointed aide-de-camp to Queen Victoria. He distinguished himself in Canada during the Fenian raids, and was thanked in Parliament for s ...
Charles Wake
Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was "f ...
; and
John Kennedy Erskine Baird
Admiral Sir John Kennedy Erskine Baird, KCB was an officer in the Royal Navy, who is chiefly remembered for commanding the losing side in the 1888 annual naval manoeuvres.
Early life
Baird was born on 16 September 1832, the fourth son of Sir ...
.
In December 1861, she was posted to the Pacific under John Dobree McCrea. After six months command passed to John William Pike, under whose command in 1864 there were reports of an outbreak of bronchopneumonia.
Still in the Pacific at Christmas 1864 command passed to the Hon Walter Hylton Joliffe who returned her to England in August 1866. She was broken for scrap in 1866.
Trivia
Hotham's letters of 1846 to 1848 from the Devastation to England are preserved in the National Archive at Kew.