HMS Cordelia was an 11-gun Racer-class sloop

Racer class sloop

The Racer-class sloop was an 11-gun wooden screw sloop class of five ships built for the Royal Navy between 1855 and 1860.-Design:Built of a traditional wooden construction, the Racer class were a lengthened version of the Swallow-class sloop, which in turn had been intended as "type of screw...

 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...

 launched in 1856 and sold in 1870.

Design

Built of a traditional wooden construction, the Racer class were a lengthened version of the Swallow-class sloop

Swallow class sloop

The Swallow-class sloop was an 9-gun wooden screw sloop class of four ships built for the Royal Navy between 1854 and 1857.-Design:Built of a traditional wooden construction, the Swallow class were intended as "type of screw vessel below the Cruizer".The class were armed with a single 32-pounder...

,Cordelia and Gannet were ordered as Swallow-class ships but the design was changed before construction. which in turn had been intended as "type of screw vessel below the Cruizer

Cruizer class sloop

The Cruizer class was a class of 17-gun wooden screw sloops built for the Royal Navy between 1852 and 1856, comprising six vessels.-Design:...

". The extra length gave greater speed, and combined with a considerable increase in power, this gave a speed of about 10 knots (19.6 km/h), rather more than the 7 knots of the previous class.

The class were armed with a single 32-pounder gun (58cwt) gun on a pivot mount and ten 32-pounder (25cwt) carronade

Carronade

The carronade was a short smoothbore, cast iron cannon, developed for the Royal Navy by the Carron Company, an ironworks in Falkirk, Scotland, UK. It was used from the 1770s to the 1850s. Its main function was to serve as a powerful, short-range anti-ship and anti-crew weapon...

s on the broadside. These guns were all smoothbore muzzle-loading, and were little changed from the standard guns of Nelson's era.

Propulsion was provided by a James Watt & Co two-cylinder horizontal single-expansion steam engine developing 461 ihp and driving a single screw. At maximum power under steam, her top speed was about 9.9 knots (19.4 km/h). A barque rig

Barque

A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing vessel with three or more masts.- History of the term :The word barque appears to have come from the Greek word baris, a term for an Egyptian boat. This entered Latin as barca, which gave rise to the Italian barca, Spanish barco, and the French barge and...

 of sails was carried, which meant she had three masts with a square rig on the fore and main masts.

Construction

Cordelia was laid down at Pembroke Dockyard in October 1855 and launched on 3 July 1856. The total cost was £33,428, of which the machinery cost £9,014.

Royal Navy service

She was commissioned on 11 April 1857 under Commander Charles Egerton Harcourt-Vernon and initially sent to the East Indies Station

East Indies Station

The East Indies Station was a formation of the British Royal Navy from 1865 to 1941.From 1831 to 1865 the East Indies and the China Station were a single command known as the East Indies and China Station...

 until being assigned to the Australia Station

Australia Station

The Australia Station was the British—and later Australian—naval command responsible for the waters around the Australian continent.-History:In the early years following the establishment of the colony of New South Wales, ships based in Australian waters came under the control of the East Indies...

 in 1859. In 1860 she served in the First Taranaki War

First Taranaki War

The First Taranaki War was an armed conflict over land ownership and sovereignty that took place between Māori and the New Zealand Government in the Taranaki district of New Zealand's North Island from March 1860 to March 1861....

. Command passed in June 1861 to Commander Francis Alexander Hume; on returning to the UK, she was paid off at Plymouth on 2 April 1862.

She was recommissioned on 24 June 1864 under Commander John Binney Scott and then served in the North American and West Indies Station until she was paid off on 9 July 1868 at Plymouth; meanwhile Commander Thomas Alexis De Wahl had been given command on 3 March 1865 when Scott became invalided, and was in turn succeeded on 16 September 1867 by Commander Charles Parry.