HMS ''Grinder'' was a wooden 3-gun , launched on 7 March 1855. Although she served for nine years, her most active period was in her first year when she served in the
Crimean War
The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...
.
Black Sea and Sea of Azov
During the summer of 1855, ''Grinder'' carried out raids on Russian food and ammunition stores to prevent supplies reaching the Russian troops in the Crimea. ''Grinder'' and nine other gunboats (''
Beagle
The Beagle is a small breed of scent hound, similar in appearance to the much larger foxhound. The beagle was developed primarily for hunting rabbit or hare, known as beagling. Possessing a great sense of smell and superior tracking inst ...
, Boxer, Cracker, Curlew, Fancy, Jasper, Vesuvius'', ''Swallow'' and ''Wrangler'' ) were employed destroying fisheries and corn stores, as well as ammunition stores, around the
Sea of Azov
The Sea of Azov is an inland Continental shelf#Shelf seas, shelf sea in Eastern Europe connected to the Black Sea by the narrow (about ) Strait of Kerch, and sometimes regarded as a northern extension of the Black Sea. The sea is bounded by Ru ...
. Their raids forced the Russian land forces to maintain a state of constant readiness lest there be a landing.
The British naval squadron, including ''Grinder'', was active on 23 September 1855 at the entrance to the Sea of Azov in destroying communications between Temryuk and Taman, an area of shallow seas, swamps and bridges.
For some of this summer period, ''Grinder'', under the command of Lieutenant Francis Trevor Hamilton, served as a tender to the
first rate
In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a first rate was the designation for the largest ships of the line. Originating in the Jacobean era with the designation of Ships Royal capable of carrying at least ...
, flagship of Rear Admiral Sir
Edmund Lyons, Bart GCB.
From July 1855 she was commanded by
Lieutenant Burgoyne.
[ ''Grinder'' played her small part in the actions against the fort at the head of Dnieper Bay as part in a joint force of British and French warships, including the steam frigate ''Valourous'', ''Gladiator'' and ''Clinker'', on 18 October 1855.
Further activities of the squadron, including ''Grinder'', consisted of destroying vast quantities of provisions and fuel near the town of Yeisk in the Sea of Azov on 3 November 1855, just as the weather was changing to make naval activities there impossible. The attacks were on such a broad front that even the presence of 1500 cossacks in the area did not inconvenience the landing parties.]
Fate
''Grinder'' was decommissioned in 1864, and broken up at Portsmouth.[
]
Notes
Citations
References
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External links
William Loney RN website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grinder (1855)
1855 ships
Dapper-class gunboats