HMS ''Sappho'' was a sloop, 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 ...

, built by Wigram & Sons, Blackwall and launched on 20 November 1873.Bastock, p. 66. She was placed under the command of Commander Noel Stephen Fox Digby and commenced service at the

Australian station The Australia Station was the British, and later Australian, naval command responsible for the waters around the Australian continent. Australia Station was under the command of the Commander-in-Chief, Australia Station, whose rank varied over t ...

in December 1874. In May 1877 she was at

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

when the tsunami from the Iquique earthquake struck the islands. The natives blamed her for bringing the tsunami. In August 1877, still under Digby, she participated in the search for the missing crew and passengers of the ''

Queen Bee A queen bee is typically an adult, mated female ( gyne) that lives in a colony or hive of honey bees. With fully developed reproductive organs, the queen is usually the mother of most, if not all, of the bees in the beehive. Queens are develope ...

'' that had run aground on

Farewell Spit Farewell Spit () is a narrow sand spit at the northern end of the Golden Bay, in the South Island of New Zealand. The spit includes around of stable land and another of mobile sand spit running eastwards from Cape Farewell, the northern-mos ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. She successfully found the missing third mate whom she took to

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

. While at Nelson, her crew participated in a number of fund raising concerts for those shipwrecked.Wreck of the Queen Bee, p. 2, “Nelson Evening Mail”, 13 August 1877 She left the Australia Station in August 1878 and returned to England. ''Sappho'' commenced service 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 ...

in 1881 until 1886 whereupon she returned to England and was paid off.

Fate

She was sold for scrap in December 1887.

Citations

Bibliography

* *Bastock, John (1988), ''Ships on the Australia Station'', Child & Associates Publishing Pty Ltd; Frenchs Forest, Australia. * * * 1873 ships Ships built by the Blackwall Yard Victorian-era sloops of the United Kingdom Fantome-class sloops {{UK-mil-ship-stub