HMS ''Mohawk'' was a British ''Vigilant''-class gunvessel launched in 1856.

History

HMS ''Mohawk'' was purchased by

Horatio Nelson Lay Horatio Nelson Lay (23 January 1832 – 4 May 1898, Forest Hill, Kent, England) was a British diplomat, noted for his role in the ill-fated "Lay-Osborn Flotilla" during the Taiping Rebellion. Biography Early life Horatio Nelson Lay was born in F ...

, Inspector General of the

Qing Dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

Chinese Maritime Customs Service The Chinese Maritime Customs Service was a Chinese governmental tax collection agency and information service from its founding in 1854 until it split in 1949 into services operating in the Republic of China on Taiwan, and in the People's Republ ...

, on 20 September 1862, as part of an effort to bolster the

naval force A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It inclu ...

in response to the ongoing

Taiping Rebellion The Taiping Rebellion, also known as the Taiping Civil War or the Taiping Revolution, was a massive rebellion and civil war that was waged in China between the Manchu-led Qing dynasty and the Han, Hakka-led Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. It last ...

. Thereafter she was renamed ''Pei King'' (also as ''Pekin'', ), and became part of the Lay-Osborn Flotilla commanded by

Sherard Osborn Sherard Osborn (25 April 1822 – 6 May 1875) was a Royal Navy admiral and Arctic explorer. Biography Born in Madras, he was the son of an Indian army officer. Osborn entered the navy as a first-class volunteer in 1837, serving until 1 ...

. She was put under the command of

Hugh Burgoyne Captain Hugh Talbot Burgoyne VC (17 July 1833 – 7 September 1870) was an Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross. Born in Dublin, he was the son of John Fox Burgoyne and the grandson of John Burgoyne. Burgoyne was a 21-year-old Royal Navy ...

. Upon her arrival in China, the Qing government ordered the ship to be renamed as ''Chin T'ai'' (). Disagreements between the Qing government and Lay over the command of the Lay-Osborn Flotilla led to its disbandment in 1863, and ''Pekin'' returned to the United Kingdom. She was originally intended for sale, but an embargo on sales, due to the concurrent

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by state ...

and fear of the vessel joining the

Confederate States Navy The Confederate States Navy (CSN) was the naval branch of the Confederate States Armed Forces, established by an act of the Confederate States Congress on February 21, 1861. It was responsible for Confederate naval operations during the American ...

, prevented any sales. When the American Civil War ended in 1865, she, along with '' China'' and ''

Tientsin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popula ...

'', were sold in an auction to

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Med ...

on 30 December 1865 for £20,500.

Citations

References

* * * and * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mohawk (1856) Vigilant-class gunvessels 1856 ships Victorian-era gunboats of the United Kingdom Naval ships of Imperial China Naval ships of China Gunboats of China