.gif)
HMS Bacchante (1876)
Encyclopedia
HMS Bacchante was a Bacchante-class
Bacchante class corvette
The Bacchante class was a group of three iron screw corvettes in service with the Royal Navy from the late 1870s.-Design and construction:...
ironclad screw-propelled corvette
Corvette
A corvette is a small, maneuverable, lightly armed warship, originally smaller than a frigate and larger than a coastal patrol craft or fast attack craft , although many recent designs resemble frigates in size and role...
of the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
. She is particularly famous for being the ship on which the Princes
Monarchy of the United Kingdom
The monarchy of the United Kingdom is the constitutional monarchy of the United Kingdom and its overseas territories. The present monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, has reigned since 6 February 1952. She and her immediate family undertake various official, ceremonial and representational duties...
George
George V of the United Kingdom
George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....
and Albert served as midshipmen.
Bacchante was built at Portsmouth Dockyard
HMNB Portsmouth
Her Majesty's Naval Base Portsmouth is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the British Royal Navy...
and launched on 19 October 1876, the second ship of the three ship Bacchante class. She was armed with fourteen 7 inches (177.8 mm) muzzle-loading rifle guns and two 64-pounder torpedo carriages, and rated at 4070 tons.
Royal crew
The two oldest sons of the Prince of WalesEdward VII of the United Kingdom
Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...
had entered the navy in 1877, and by 1879 it had been decided by the Royal Family and the Government that the two should undertake a cruise. They were assigned to Bacchante, which was then part of a squadron intended to patrol the sea lanes of the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
. Queen Victoria
Victoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....
was concerned that the Bacchante might sink, drowning her grandchildren. Confident in their ship, the Admiralty
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
sent Bacchante through a gale to prove she was sturdy enough to weather storms. The Princes, with their tutor John Neale Dalton
John Neale Dalton
Canon John Neale Dalton KCVO CMG was a chaplain to Queen Victoria and tutor to King George V of the United Kingdom.-Life history:...
, duly came aboard on 17 September 1879. The Bacchante was to be their home for the next three years.
They made a number of cruises to different parts of the Empire with the squadron. Serving aboard the squadron's flagship
Flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
, at this time was their relation, Prince Louis of Battenberg. The squadron initially consisted of HMS Inconstant, Bacchante, and , the composition altering during the voyages as ships left, or were joined by new ones. The Bacchante visited the Mediterranean and the West Indies, followed by later voyages to South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. The Princes made regular diary entries, which were later published as two volumes in 1886 as The Cruise of Her Majesty's Ship Bacchante. Bacchante briefly assisted in the First Boer War
First Boer War
The First Boer War also known as the First Anglo-Boer War or the Transvaal War, was fought from 16 December 1880 until 23 March 1881-1877 annexation:...
, before the squadron sailed again for Australia. Shortly after reaching the coast on 12 May, a heavy storm blew up and when it had abated, the Bacchante was missing. After three days searching, news reached the squadron that Bacchante had had her rudder disabled, but had been able to reach safety at Albany
Albany, Western Australia
Albany is a port city in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, some 418 km SE of Perth, the state capital. As of 2009, Albany's population was estimated at 33,600, making it the 6th-largest city in the state....
.
Encountering the Flying Dutchman
On 11 July 1881 the Bacchante was off Cape TownCape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
when a strange sail was spotted. Prince George, the future King George V later wrote this in his diary:
The Flying Dutchman was again reportedly sighted in the same area where the Bacchante had seen her, but 60 years later, during the Second World War. This time one of the witnesses was the writer Nicholas Montserrat.
Later career
After the encounter with the Flying Dutchman the Bacchante continued on her voyage. Bacchante eventually returned to England in August 1882 and discharged her young Royal midshipmen. By then she had covered 40,000 miles, mostly under sail, and had rounded the Cape of Good Hope twice. She became the only British vessel in which two grandsons of the reigning monarch served at the same time. Bacchante was then paid off and underwent a long refit, which saw her being partially rearmed. She was then dispatched to the East Indies to relieve her sister, , as flagshipFlagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
on the station. Bacchante served during the Third Anglo-Burmese War
Third Anglo-Burmese War
The Third Anglo-Burmese War was a conflict that took place during 7–29 November 1885, with sporadic resistance and insurgency continuing into 1887. It was the final of three wars fought in the 19th century between the Burmese and the British...
in 1885, transferring three-quarters of her complement to serve on gunboats on the Irrawaddy River or in the suppression of banditry. She returned to Britain in 1888 and was placed in reserve
Reserve fleet
A reserve fleet is a collection of naval vessels of all types that are fully equipped for service but are not currently needed, and thus partially or fully decommissioned. A reserve fleet is informally said to be "in mothballs" or "mothballed"; an equivalent expression in unofficial modern U.S....
. She was sold to the shipbreakers Cohen in 1897, and scrapped.