HMS ''Sandfly'' was a two-gun

paddle A paddle is a handheld tool with an elongated handle and a flat, widened end (the ''blade'') used as a lever to apply force onto the bladed end. It most commonly describes a completely handheld tool used to propel a human-powered watercraft by p ...

gunboat 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 ...

used by the New Zealand colonial government during the

New Zealand Wars The New Zealand Wars () took place from 1845 to 1872 between the Colony of New Zealand, New Zealand colonial government and allied Māori people, Māori on one side, and Māori and Māori-allied settlers on the other. Though the wars were initi ...

''Tasmanian Maid''

Built in

Stockton-on-Tees Stockton-on-Tees is a market town in County Durham, England, with a population of 84,815 at the 2021 UK census. It gives its name to and is the largest settlement in the wider Borough of Stockton-on-Tees. It is part of Teesside and the Tees Val ...

by Richardson, Duck and Company and launched on 28 February 1856 as the ''Tasmanian Maid'', yard number 9, for F A Ducroz (Dalgety & Co) of London for service in New Zealand. She had a length of and a beam of . In calm sea, her 36 horse power motor was reputed to enable her to sail at 10–11 knots and 8 knots in a head wind. She measured 83 gross register tons (53 tons net register).Shipwreck treasure off Kawaroa
retrieved 10 April 2018 Once in New Zealand she sailed regularly between Nelson, Motueka, Collingwood, and Wairau carrying passengers and cargo. She was subsidized by the Nelson Provincial Government by £1,000 per annum. On 29 January 1862 she was the first steamer to cross the Westport bar. On 25 May 1862 she was wrecked on

Wairau River The Wairau River is one of the longest rivers in New Zealand's South Island. It flows for from the Spenser Mountains (a northern range of the Southern Alps), firstly in a northwards direction and then northeast down a long, straight valley i ...

bar. The wreck was sold, salvaged, and recommissioned. In 1863 the Government acquired her for £4,000 when she was renamed HMS Sandfly and armed with two 12 pounder Armstrong guns.

Land wars

In 1863 she was principally used to blockade the

Waihou River The Waihou River is located in the northern North Island of New Zealand. Its former name, Thames River, was bestowed by Captain James Cook in November 1769, when he explored of the river from the mouth. An older Māori name was "Wai Kahou Roung ...

(Thames River) and at Tauranga. She captured the 20 ton Maori supply ship ''Eclair'' on 31 October 1863 and bombarded retreating Maori at Maketu. Later she was used as a dispatch runner from New Plymouth to Waitara on a daily basis. In 1865 she surveyed Cook Strait for an undersea telegraph cable and assisted in transporting troops to Wanganui under Captain Marks. That same year charges of mutiny were laid against Captain Hannibal Marks for disobeying the orders of Francis Cadell. Cadell had ordered the ship to leave port without its captain due to him being delayed. The ship hit the bar while leaving port, and Marks reboarded the ship in a rowing boat. Marks was suspended and replaced with Captain Fox. When his crew refused to follow the new captain they were also suspended by Cadell. The ship was sold and the services of Marks dispensed with before any of the charges came to trial.

Wreck

In 1865 she reverted to civilian use as a passenger steamship and regained her name ''Tasmanian Maid''. While sailing under Captain Souter with the ''SS Storm Bird'' under Captain Doile she stuck the Kawaroa Reef,

New Plymouth New Plymouth () is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, in Devon, from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. The New Pl ...

at 9pm on 16 January 1868. The ''Storm Bird'' rescued all those on board before she sank. Members of the New Plymouth Underwater Club rediscovered the wreck at the southern end of Kawaroa Reef in 1976. Some artifacts from the wreck could be seen at Adam Rosser's Taranaki Dive Shop in New Plymouth. The wreck also featured in the 6th episode of the second series of the combined BBC/TVNZ television programme Coast New Zealand in 2017.Coast NZ questions and answers
retrieved 10 April 2018

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sandfly, HMS 1856 ships Ships built on the River Tees Maritime incidents in January 1868 Shipwrecks of New Zealand 1868 in New Zealand New Zealand Wars Gunboats Paddle steamers