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HMS ''Icarus'' was a composite screw
gunvessel A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies. History Pre-steam ...
of 8 guns, and the third
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 ...
vessel to carry the name. She was launched in 1885 at Devonport and sold in 1904.


Construction

Designed by
Nathaniel Barnaby Sir Nathaniel Barnaby, (25 February 1829 – 16 June 1915) was Chief Constructor of the Royal Navy from 1872 to 1885. Biography Born on 25 February 1829 in Chatham, Barnaby began his career as a naval apprentice at Sheerness in 1843. He wo ...
, the Royal Navy
Director of Naval Construction The Director of Naval Construction (DNC) also known as the Department of the Director of Naval Construction and Directorate of Naval Construction and originally known as the Chief Constructor of the Navy was a senior principal civil officer res ...
, her hull was of composite construction; that is, iron keel, frames, stem and stern posts with wooden planking. She was fitted with a 2-cylinder horizontal compound expansion steam engine driving a single screw, produced by Barrow Iron Shipbuilding. Uniquely among her class she was built rigged with no main yards, making her a
barquentine A barquentine or schooner barque (alternatively "barkentine" or "schooner bark") is a sailing vessel with three or more masts; with a square rigged foremast and fore-and-aft rigged main, mizzen and any other masts. Modern barquentine sailing ...
-rigged vessel; the rest of her class were
barque A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel with three or more mast (sailing), masts of which the fore mast, mainmast, and any additional masts are Square rig, rigged square, and only the aftmost mast (mizzen in three-maste ...
-rigged. However, later pictures show her rigged as a barque. Her keel was laid at Devonport Royal Dockyard on 18 August 1883 and she was launched on 27 July 1885 by Miss Julia Wilson, the daughter of Admiral Superintendent Wilson; the launch was originally planned for 11 July but was postponed following the admiral's death on 4 July. Her entire class were re-classified in November 1884 as sloops before they entered service.


Career

''Icarus'' was commissioned on 6 July 1886 at Devonport. On 8 October 1889, she ran aground in
Plumper Sound Plumper Sound is a sound in the Southern Gulf Islands region of British Columbia, Canada, located between Saturna Island (E) and North and South Pender Islands. It is named for , the survey ship of the Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is th ...
whilst on a voyage from
New Westminster New Westminster (colloquially known as New West) is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District. It was founded by Major-General Richard Moody as the cap ...
to
Esquimalt The Township of Esquimalt () is a municipality at the southern tip of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. It is bordered to the east by the provincial capital, Victoria, British Columbia, Victoria, to the south by the Strait of Jua ...
,
British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...
,
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
. After returning from the Pacific in 1890 she had additional quick firing (QF) guns added. The ship's companies of ''Icarus'', and were awarded the West Africa Medal with the bar "1887–1888" for their part in supporting the infantry of the
West India Regiment The West India Regiments (WIR) were infantry units of the British Army recruited from and normally stationed in the British colonies of the Caribbean between 1795 and 1927. In 1888 the two West India Regiments then in existence were reduced t ...
between 13 November 1887 and 2 January 1888 during the Yoni Expedition against the Yoni Chiefdom in Sierra Leone. In 1890 the levels of desertion and punishment under her commanding officer, Commander Annesley, was sufficiently high to prompt a question in the
House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...
. The reply by the First Lord of the Admiralty, Lord George Hamilton, reveals good reason for the concern, since ''Icarus'' only had a total complement of 126: An inquiry concluded that Annesley had, as alleged in various newspapers, applied a "punishment not recognised in the Service", and was duly court martialled. He was found guilty and awarded a public reprimand. Her last years were spent on the
Pacific Station The Pacific Station was created in 1837 as one of the geographical military formations into which the Royal Navy divided its worldwide responsibilities. The South America Station was split into the Pacific Station and the South East Coast o ...
, based in
Esquimalt Royal Navy Dockyard Esquimalt Royal Naval Dockyard was a major British Royal Navy yard on British Columbia Coast, Canada's Pacific coast from 1842 to 1905, subsequently operated by the Canadian government as HMC Dockyard Esquimalt, now part of CFB Esquimalt, to the ...
at Esquimalt, in British Columbia, Canada. In early 1900 she visited
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
, under Commander George Francis Savage Knowling, and in late Summer 1901 she visited Panama. The following year she returned to the United Kingdom, stopping at
Pernambuco Pernambuco ( , , ) is a States of Brazil, state of Brazil located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast region of the country. With an estimated population of 9.5 million people as of 2024, it is the List of Brazilian states by population, ...
and
São Vicente, Cape Verde São Vicente (Portuguese language, Portuguese for "Vincent of Saragossa, Saint Vincent") is one of the Barlavento Islands, the northern group within the Cape Verde archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, off the West Africa, West African coast. It is ...
. She arrived at Devonport on 10 May 1902, and proceeded to
Sheerness Sheerness () is a port town and civil parish beside the mouth of the River Medway on the north-west corner of the Isle of Sheppey in north Kent, England. With a population of 13,249, it is the second largest town on the island after the nearby ...
to pay off at Chatham on 4 June 1902, where she was placed in the C Division of the Dockyard reserve.


Fate

''Icarus'' was sold on 12 April 1904.


Notes


References

*


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Icarus (1883) Mariner-class gunvessels Ships built in Plymouth, Devon 1885 ships Victorian-era gunboats of the United Kingdom Maritime incidents in October 1889