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HMS Galatea (1859) facts for kids

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StateLibQld 1 254247 Three masted sailing ship H.M.S. Galatea, ca. 1868.jpg
HMS Galatea pictured c.1868.
Quick facts for kids
History
Royal Navy EnsignUnited Kingdom
Name HMS Galatea
Ordered 9 April 1856
Builder
Laid down 2 February 1857
Launched 14 September 1859
Completed By February 1862
Fate Broken up in June 1883
General characteristics
Class and type Jason-class corvette
Displacement 4,686 tons
Tons burthen 3,227 bm
Length
  • 280 ft (85.3 m) (overall)
  • 245 ft 8 in (74.9 m) (keel)
Beam 50 ft (15.2 m)
Depth of hold 19 ft 4 in (5.89 m)
Propulsion
  • Sails
  • 2-cyl. horizontal single expansion
  • Rectangular boilers
  • Single screw
  • 800 nhp
  • 3,061 ihp = 11.796 kn
Sail plan Full-rigged ship
Complement 450
Armament
  • Middle deck: 24 × 10 in (85 cwt) MLSB shell guns (broadside)
  • Upper deck: 2 x 68 pdr (65 cwt) MLSB (pivot-mounted)
  • Later replaced by slide-mounted 110 pdr Armstrong BLs

HMS Galatea was a Jason-class 26-gun, sixth-rate, wooden screw frigate in the Royal Navy, launched in 1859 and broken up 1883.

Service

She was first assigned to the Channel Squadron in 1862 under Captain Rochfort Maguire. From there she served both in the Baltic and the Mediterranean. Then from 1863 to 1865 to the North America and West Indies Station based in Bermuda and Halifax.

On 9 November 1865 the Galatea and HMS Lily participated in a reprisal raid on Cap-Haïtien, bombarding the forts defending the harbour and landing government troops. The raid was provoked by rebel forces having attacked the British Consulate on 23 October 1865 and the loss of HMS Bulldog (1845) that same day in the fighting that followed.

In 1866, after a refit, she went on a world cruise, under the command of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh.

On 2 November 1868, she ran aground in Plymouth Sound and was damaged. It was estimated that it would take several days to repair her. While in Sydney, Galatea was placed in the Fitzroy Dock at Cockatoo Island Dockyard in 1870.

On 18 May 1882 she conveyed the Duke of Edinburgh to the official opening of the new Eddystone Light.

Henry A. Luscombe - The Opening of the New Eddystone Lighthouse by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, 18 May 1882 PLYMG.1920.250
The Opening of the New Eddystone Lighthouse by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, 18 May 1882, by Henry A. Luscombe

Paintings

While in Halifax, Galatea inspired a trio of dramatic paintings by ship portrait artist John O'Brien. In 1866, after a refit, she went on a world cruise, under the command of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh.

Gallery

  • The Galatea Waltz (BM 1922,0710.270)

    Prince Alfred on the Galatea

  • SLNSW 479645 142 HMS Galatea in Farm Cove

    HMS Galatea in Farm Cove; Government House to the left, c. 1870, [attributed Charles Pickering]

  • SLNSW 479655 151 HMS Galatea1 SH 261

    HMS Galatea in Port Jackson, Sydney, c. 1870, [attributed Charles Pickering]

  • HMS Galatea (black and white)

    Photograph of Galatea, and HMS Challenger

  • John O'Brien - HMS Galatea, in a Heavy Sea, 1888

    Painting by John O'Brien, circa 1888

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