HMS ''Leander'' was a 50-gun

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...

(rated in the

fourth rate In 1603 all English warships with a complement of fewer than 160 men were known as 'small ships'. In 1625/26 to establish pay rates for officers, a six-tier naval ship rating system was introduced.Winfield 2009 These small ships were divided ...

) 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 ...

which saw service 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 ...

. ''Leander'' operated from 1849 to 1856 as a sailing frigate. She served as

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of navy, naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically ...

for Rear-Admiral Charles Howe Fremantle in the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

during the

, from 6 January 1855 to 23 September 1856. She was then refitted and recommissioned on 16 February 1861 as a steam-powered screw frigate. From 23 May 1863 to 16 June 1866 she was the

of 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 ...

Southern Division based out of

Valparaíso Valparaíso () is a major city, Communes of Chile, commune, Port, seaport, and naval base facility in the Valparaíso Region of Chile. Valparaíso was originally named after Valparaíso de Arriba, in Castilla–La Mancha, Castile-La Mancha, Spain ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

before returning to Britain on 17 November 1866 and being broken up in 1867.William Loney RN
/ref>

Construction and commissioning

HMS ''Leander'' was ordered from the

HMNB Portsmouth His Majesty's Naval Base, Portsmouth (HMNB Portsmouth) is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Devonport). Portsmouth Naval Base is part of the city of Portsmouth; it is loc ...

on 4 July 1843. She was three-eighths completed in January 1846 and built of

wood Wood is a structural tissue/material found as xylem in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulosic fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin t ...

to a design by Richard F. S. Blake, the master shipwright for HMNB Portsmouth from 1830 to 1835. ''Leander'' was floated out on 8 March 1848. LEANDER 1848 RMG J6046

Early service

''Leander'' was commissioned under her first commander, Captain Sidney Dacres, on 28 September 1849. Born into a substantial naval dynasty during the Napoleonic Wars, he eventually rose to the rank of

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...

and became First Naval Lord. His only significant action as First Naval Lord was to press for the abolition of

mast Mast, MAST or MASt may refer to: Engineering * Mast (sailing), a vertical spar on a sailing ship * Flagmast, a pole for flying a flag * Guyed mast, a structure supported by guy-wires * Mooring mast, a structure for docking an airship * Radio mas ...

s. He went on to be visitor and governor of Greenwich Hospital. He commissioned her at Portsmouth for particular service in a Squadron of Evolution. He commanded the ''Leander'' until 3 June 1852.

Crimean War service

Her next captain,

George King George King may refer to: Politics * George King (Australian politician) (1814–1894), New South Wales and Queensland politician * George King, 3rd Earl of Kingston (1771–1839), Irish nobleman and MP for County Roscommon * George Clift King (184 ...

, commanded her from 3 June 1852 to 22 November 1854. On 25 May 1853 she was engaged to convey the royal commissioners to the

Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibit ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. He then took her out to the Mediterranean and then the Black Sea at the start of the

. King went on to be Commander-in-Chief,

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 ...

. Her next captain was

Swynfen Carnegie Admiral Swynfen Thomas Carnegie (8 March 1813 – 29 November 1879) was a Royal Navy officer who went on to be Fourth Naval Lord. Early life Swynfen Thomas Carnegie was born the youngest son of Admiral William Carnegie, 7th Earl of Northesk a ...

from 22 November 1854 to 1855. He went on to be Fourth Naval Lord. On 6 January 1855, under her new Captain William Peel, she became the flagship of Rear-Admiral Charles Howe Fremantle, controlling the naval transport service from Balaclava on the

Crimean Peninsula Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrai ...

during the Crimean War. Peel served with the Naval Brigade during the

. On 18 October 1854 at the Siege of Sevastopol, he picked up from amongst several powder cases a live shell with the fuse still burning and threw it over the parapet. The shell burst as it left his hands. For this he was awarded the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...

(VC); it is now displayed at the

National Maritime Museum The National Maritime Museum (NMM) is a maritime museum in Greenwich, London. It is part of Royal Museums Greenwich, a network of museums in the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site. Like other publicly funded national museums in the Unit ...

Greenwich Greenwich ( , , ) is an List of areas of London, area in south-east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London, east-south-east of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime hi ...

, England. On 13 August 1855 William Moorsom became her captain, and she remained Fremantle's flagship. Her final Crimean War captain was Edward Rice, from 5 January 1856 until she paid off 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 ...

on 23 September 1856. He ended his career as

Commander-in-Chief, The Nore The Commander-in-Chief, The Nore, was an operational commander of the Royal Navy. His subordinate units, establishments, and staff were sometimes informally known as the Nore Station or Nore Command. Nore, The Nore is a sandbank at the mouth of t ...

from 1882 until he retired in 1884 and was promoted to full

Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...

three days after his retirement.

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 ...
service

On 16 February 1861, she was undocked as screw-propelled steam frigate, and it is assumed she went into reserve. As refitted, she now had a James Watt & co. engine with cylinders 64" in diameter 3 ft. stroke. 400 h.p. NHP. 1,568 ihp = 9.703 kts., making her a sailing ship with auxiliary steam power. She was rearmed with thirty

ML 8-inch shell gun The ML 8-inch shell guns of 50 cwt, 54 cwt and 65 cwt were the three variants of British cast iron smoothbore muzzle-loading guns designed specifically to fire the new generation of exploding shells pioneered in the early to mid-ni ...

s on her main deck and twenty

32-pounder gun The 32-pounder guns (and the French 30-pounders) were sets of heavy-caliber pieces of artillery mounted on warships in the last century of the Age of sail, during the 18th and early 19th centuries. It was usually the most powerful armament on a w ...

s 56cwt plus one

68-pounder gun The 68-pounder cannon was an artillery piece designed and used by the British Armed Forces in the mid-19th century. The cannon was a smoothbore muzzle-loading gun manufactured in several weights firing projectiles of . Colonel William Dundas de ...

95cwt chaser on her upper deck. ''Leander''s next commission started at

Sheerness Dockyard Sheerness Dockyard was a Royal Navy Dockyard located on the Sheerness peninsula, at the mouth of the River Medway in Kent. It was opened in the 1660s and closed in 1960. Location In the Age of Sail, the Royal Navy would often establish shore ...

on 23 May 1863, under Commodore Thomas Harvey, eldest son of Vice-Admiral Sir Thomas Harvey. She sailed for

, where she served as the flagship of the Southern Division, based at Valparaiso. On 1 January 1866, she received a new captain, Commodore Michael de Courcy, remaining flagship of the Pacific Station Southern Division. De Courcy had previously served as captain of HMS ''Pylades'' (1854) on the Pacific Station from 1859 to 1861, and

De Courcy Island De Courcy Island is one of the Gulf Islands of the coast of southwestern British Columbia, Canada, located between the Pylades and Stuart Channels approximately southeast of Nanaimo and approximately west of Vancouver. The island, about in a ...

on Canada's west coast is named for him. Under his command she was present for the

Bombardment of Valparaíso The Bombardment of Valparaíso on 31 March 1866 took place during the Chincha Islands War, when a Spanish fleet shelled, burned and destroyed the undefended port of Valparaíso. Background After the humiliating defeat at the Battle of Papudo an ...

on the 31 March 1866. Due to the damage inflicted on British property, while the Pacific Station commander, Admiral

Henry Mangles Denham Vice Admiral Sir Henry Mangles Denham (28 August 1800 – 3 July 1887) was a Royal Navy officer who went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Station. Early career Denham joined the navy in 1809. He served on between 1810 and 1814, initially ...

in HMS ''Sutlej'' and ''Leander'', stood by and watched, it was described as "a Spanish victory over Britain". Her final captain,

William Dowell William Dowell (21 May 1885 – 9 November 1949) was a Welsh dual-code international rugby union and rugby league footballer who played rugby union for Newport, Pontypool, rugby league and Warrington RLFC. He won seven caps for the Wales ru ...

, took command on 16 June 1866 and brought her home to

for decommission on 17 November 1866. She was sold to the shipbreaking firm of Castle & Beech of New Charlton, London April 1867 for breaking up. Like most other screw frigate conversions of the period she was obsolete when completed and only had one commission.

Citations

References