HMS ''Royal Albert'' was a 121 gun
three-decker
A three-decker was a sailing warship which carried her principal carriage-mounted guns on three fully armed decks. Usually additional (smaller) guns were carried on the upper works (forecastle and quarterdeck), but this was not a continuous ba ...
ship 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 ...
launched in 1854 at
Woolwich Dockyard
Woolwich Dockyard (formally H.M. Dockyard, Woolwich, also known as The King's Yard, Woolwich) was an English Royal Navy Dockyard, naval dockyard along the river Thames at Woolwich - originally in north-west Kent, now in southeast London - whe ...
. She had originally been designed as a sailing ship but was converted to screw propulsion while still under construction.
Lithographs of the launch at Woolwich, 13 May 1854 of HMS ''Royal Albert'' screw steamer, claim she had 121 guns and was fitted with screw propellers by John Penn & Sons of Greenwich.
National Maritime Museum - Lithograph of the launch and 131 guns
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From commissioning at 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 ...
she was first commanded by Commander Alexander Little between June and October 1854. From October to November 1854 by Captain Thomas Sabine Pasley
Admiral Sir Thomas Sabine Pasley, 2nd Baronet, (26 December 1804 – 13 February 1884) was an English officer of the British Royal Navy during the nineteenth century who never saw action but served across the globe in numerous positions. A career ...
while still at Sheerness. From 14 February 1855 to April 1857 she was commanded by Captain William Robert Mends
Sir William Robert Mends, (27 February 1812 – 26 June 1897), was a British admiral of the Royal Navy, eldest son of Admiral William Bowen Mends and nephew of Captain Robert Mends.
William Mends was born at Plymouth into a naval family. He ma ...
as flagship to Rear-Admiral Edmund Lyons commanding the Mediterranean fleet
The British Mediterranean Fleet, also known as the Mediterranean Station, was a formation of the Royal Navy. The Fleet was one of the most prestigious commands in the navy for the majority of its history, defending the vital sea link between ...
, then chiefly concerned with 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 ...
. In late December 1855, she sprang a leak whilst on a voyage from the Crimea
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 Ukrain ...
to Malta
Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...
and was beached at San Nicholas, Kea
The kea ( ; ; ''Nestor notabilis'') is a species of large parrot in the Family (biology), family Strigopidae that is endemic to the forested and alpine regions of the South Island of New Zealand. About long, it is mostly olive-green, with br ...
, Greece
Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
.Channel Squadron
Channel, channels, channeling, etc., may refer to:
Geography
* Channel (geography), a landform consisting of the outline (banks) of the path of a narrow body of water.
Australia
* Channel Country, region of outback Australia in Queensland and pa ...
under Rear-Admiral Charles Fremantle
Admiral Sir Charles Howe Fremantle GCB (1 June 1800 – 25 May 1869) was a British Royal Navy officer. The city of Fremantle, Western Australia, is named after him.
Early life
Fremantle was the second son of Thomas Fremantle, an associate o ...
. She received a new captain on 1 October 1859, Captain Henry James Lacon, who remained up to her paying off at Plymouth on 25 January 1861. Rear-Admiral Robert Fanshawe took over the Channel Squadron from 10 October 1860. In 1884 she was sold for breaking up at Charlton.
File:Launch of HMS Prince Albert at Woolwich Dockyard in 1854.jpg, Launch of HMS Prince Albert at Woolwich Dockyard in 1854
File:Woolwich Dockyard, launch of Royal Albert 1854 LMA.jpg, Woolwich Dockyard, launch of Royal Albert 1854
File:Interview between Admiral Lyons and Admiral Bruat on Board the Royal Albert, prior to the attack on Kinburn - Illustrated Times 1855.jpg, Interview between Admiral Lyons
Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...
and Admiral Bruat on Board the ''Royal Albert'', prior to the attack on Kinburn, 17 October 1855
File:The Royal Albert hulk in the Hamoaze, 1890 CSK 2002.jpg, The ''Royal Albert'' hulk in the Hamoaze
The Hamoaze (; ) is an estuarine stretch of the English tidal River Tamar, between its confluence with the River Lynher and Plymouth Sound.
Etymology
The name first appears as ''ryver of Hamose'' in 1588. The first element is thought to refer ...
, 1890. Thomas Bush Hardy
Citations
References
*
*
External links
*
Ship information online
Ships of the line of the Royal Navy
Ships built in Woolwich
1854 ships
Maritime incidents in December 1855
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