HMS ''Flying Fish'' was a ''Fantome''-class sloop 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 ...

, built at

Chatham Dockyard Chatham Dockyard was a Royal Navy Dockyard located on the River Medway in Kent. Established in Chatham, Kent, Chatham in the mid-16th century, the dockyard subsequently expanded into neighbouring Gillingham, Kent, Gillingham; at its most extens ...

and launched on 27 November 1873.Bastock 1988, pp. 90–100. Originally intended to be named ''Daring'', she was renamed ''Flying Fish'' before launch on 14 January 1873.

Service history

Early service and the Far East

She commenced service with the

East Indies Station The East Indies Station was a formation and command of the British Royal Navy. Created in 1744 by the Admiralty, it was under the command of the Commander-in-Chief, East Indies. Even in official documents, the term ''East Indies Station'' wa ...

in 1874 in the suppression of the slave trade off the

East Africa East Africa, also known as Eastern Africa or the East of Africa, is a region at the eastern edge of the Africa, African continent, distinguished by its unique geographical, historical, and cultural landscape. Defined in varying scopes, the regi ...

n coast. She

paid off Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to placing a warship i ...

in 1878 for conversion to a survey vessel and in 1880 commenced hydrographic surveys in the East Indies. In December 1880 she arrived in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

to commence surveying duties in East Asia (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 1 ...

) under the command of Richard F Hoskyn. In November 1881, in

Kobe Kobe ( ; , ), officially , is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. With a population of around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's List of Japanese cities by population, seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Port of Toky ...

, Japan, a party of sailors from the ship formed an honour guard for George French, Chief Justice of the

British Supreme Court for China and Japan The British Supreme Court for China (originally the British Supreme Court for China and Japan) was a court established in the Shanghai International Settlement to try cases against British subjects in China, Japan and Korea under the principles o ...

who had died in that city.

Involvement in the Imo incident

In July 1882, ''Flying Fish'' was involved in the rescue of the Japanese legation which had escaped from Seoul after an armed uprising by mutinous Korean troops there. ''Flying Fish'' transported the surviving members of the legation back to Japan. On 17 November, for his part in rescuing the survivors, the

Emperor of Japan The emperor of Japan is the hereditary monarch and head of state of Japan. The emperor is defined by the Constitution of Japan as the symbol of the Japanese state and the unity of the Japanese people, his position deriving from "the will of ...

presented the captain with a pair of bronze vases and some books – including one on the ancient conquest of Korea. It is commonly said, though unproven, that the British sailors on this mission played the first game of

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

or soccer in Korean history and thereby introduced the game to Korea.

Russian scare and later service

From 1883 to 1887, she was under the command of John Maclear. During the Russian war scare of 1885, she was rearmed and rejoined fleet duties. However in 1886, she reverted to survey duties 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 ...

. She left the Australia Station later in 1886 and returned to England where she paid off. She was sold in 1888.

Legacy

Flying Fish Cove Flying Fish Cove ( zh, 飞鱼湾, ) is the capital city and main settlement of Christmas Island. Although it was originally named after the British survey-ship ''HMS Flying Fish (1873), Flying-Fish'', many maps simply label it "The Settlement" ...

Christmas Island Christmas Island, officially the Territory of Christmas Island, is an States and territories of Australia#External territories, Australian external territory in the Indian Ocean comprising the island of the same name. It is about south o ...

is named after her. During the visit to this island collections of animal specimens were made by the crew. This collection was reviewed in England and new species were described, including a previously unknown fruit bat species '' Pteropus natalis'' that is only found on the island. A species of snake, '' Ramphotyphlops exocoeti'', is named after her ("exocet" means "flying fish").Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Exocet", p. 87).

Notes

Bibliography

* * Bastock, John (1988), ''Ships on the Australia Station'', Child & Associates Publishing Pty Ltd; Frenchs Forest, Australia. * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Flying Fish (1873) 1873 ships Ships built in Chatham Fantome-class sloops Victorian-era sloops of the United Kingdom