HMS ''Galatea'' was a 26-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 ...

, wooden

screw frigate Steam frigates (including screw frigates) and the smaller steam corvettes, steam sloops, steam gunboats and steam schooners, were steam-powered warships that were not meant to stand in the line of battle. The first such ships were paddle stea ...

in 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 ...

, launched in 1859 and broken up 1883.

Service

She was first assigned to the Channel Squadron in 1862 under Captain

Rochfort Maguire Rochfort Maguire (18 June 1815 – 29 June 1867) was an Irish Royal Navy officer who served as captain of from 1852 to 1853 during the Franklin search expedition. Career Royal Navy Maguire joined the Royal Navy in 1830. He came to no ...

. From there she served both in the Baltic and the Mediterranean. Then from 1863 to 1865 to the

North America and West Indies Station The North America and West Indies Station was a formation or command of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy stationed in North American waters from 1745 to 1956, with main bases at the Imperial fortresses of Bermuda and Halifax, Nova Scotia. The ...

based in

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

and Halifax. On 9 November 1865 the ''Galatea'' and HMS Lily participated in a reprisal raid on

Cap-Haïtien Cap-Haïtien (; ; "Haitian Cape") is a List of communes of Haiti, commune of about 400,000 people on the north coast of Haiti and capital of the Departments of Haiti, department of Nord (Haitian department), Nord. Previously named ''Cap‑Fran� ...

, bombarding the forts defending the harbour and landing government troops. The raid was provoked by rebel forces having attacked the British Consulate on 23 October 1865 and the loss of that same day in the fighting that followed. In 1866, after a refit, she went on a world cruise, under the command of Prince Alfred,

Duke of Edinburgh Duke of Edinburgh, named after the capital city of Scotland, Edinburgh, is a substantive title that has been created four times since 1726 for members of the British royal family. It does not include any territorial landholdings and does not pr ...

. On 2 November 1868, she ran aground in

Plymouth Sound Plymouth Sound, or locally just The Sound, is a deep inlet or sound in the English Channel near Plymouth in England. Description Its southwest and southeast corners are Penlee Point in Cornwall and Wembury Point in Devon, a distance of abo ...

and was damaged. It was estimated that it would take several days to repair her. While 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 ...

, ''Galatea'' was placed in the

Fitzroy Dock Fitzroy Dock is a heritage-listed dockyard at the former Cockatoo Island Dockyard, Cockatoo Island, Sydney Harbour, New South Wales, Australia. It was added to the Australian Commonwealth Heritage List on 22 June 2004. History Cockatoo Isl ...

Cockatoo Island Dockyard The Cockatoo Island Dockyard was a major dockyard in Sydney, Australia, based on Cockatoo Island. The dockyard was established in 1857 to maintain Royal Navy warships. It later built and repaired military and battle ships, and played a key role ...

in 1870. On 18 May 1882 she conveyed the Duke of Edinburgh to the official opening of the new

Eddystone Light The Eddystone Lighthouse is a lighthouse on the Eddystone Rocks, south of Rame Head in Cornwall, England. The rocks are submerged below the surface of the sea and are composed of Precambrian gneiss. View at 1:50000 scale The current structu ...

Paintings

While in Halifax, ''Galatea'' inspired a trio of dramatic paintings by ship portrait artist John O'Brien."O'Brien, John Daniel O'Connell" entry in ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography''
/ref> In 1866, after a refit, she went on a world cruise, under the command of Prince Alfred,

Notes

References

* * Lyon, David & Winfield, Rif: '' The Sail and Steam Navy List: All the Ships of the Royal Navy 1815-1889'' Chatham Publishing, 2004. .

Gallery

The Galatea Waltz (BM 1922,0710.270).jpg, Prince Alfred on the ''Galatea'' File:SLNSW 479645 142 HMS Galatea in Farm Cove.jpg, HMS ''Galatea'' in Farm Cove; Government House to the left, c. 1870, ttributed Charles PickeringFile:SLNSW 479655 151 HMS Galatea1 SH 261.jpg, HMS ''Galatea'' in Port Jackson, Sydney, c. 1870, ttributed Charles PickeringFile:HMS Galatea (black and white).jpg, Photograph of ''Galatea'', and File:John O'Brien - HMS Galatea, in a Heavy Sea, 1888.jpg, Painting by John O'Brien, circa 1888

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Galatea (1859) 1859 ships Frigates of the Royal Navy Ships built in Woolwich Age of Sail frigates of the United Kingdom Victorian-era frigates of the United Kingdom Maritime incidents in November 1868