HMS Daring was a 4-gun Fantome-class

Fantome class sloop

The Fantome class was a six-ship class of 4-gun screw composite sloops built for the Royal Navy during 1873 and 1874.-Construction:Fantome and her sister ships were constructed of an iron frame sheathed with teak and copper ....

 sloop

Sloop-of-war

In the 18th and most of the 19th centuries, a sloop-of-war was a warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen guns. As the rating system covered all vessels with 20 guns and above, this meant that the term sloop-of-war actually encompassed all the unrated combat vessels including the...

 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 was launched in 1874 and sold for breaking in 1889 after serving most of her career in the Pacific.

Construction

Daring was constructed of an iron frame sheathed with teak and copper (hence 'composite'), and powered by a trunk engine provided by John Penn & Sons. She was fitted with a full barque

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...

 rig of sails.

History

Daring served on the Pacific

Pacific Station

The Pacific Station, often referred to as the Pacific Squadron, was one of the geographical divisions into which the Royal Navy divided its worldwide responsibilities...

 and China Station

China Station

The China Station was a historical formation of the British Royal Navy. It was formally the units and establishments responsible to the Commander-in-Chief, China....

s, working some of the time for the Canadian Government

Government of Canada

The Government of Canada, formally Her Majesty's Government, is the system whereby the federation of Canada is administered by a common authority; in Canadian English, the term can mean either the collective set of institutions or specifically the Queen-in-Council...

, including conducting hydrography

Hydrography

Hydrography is the measurement of the depths, the tides and currents of a body of water and establishment of the sea, river or lake bed topography and morphology. Normally and historically for the purpose of charting a body of water for the safe navigation of shipping...

, for which the Canadian Government bore half the cost. In Spring 1861 she carried Joseph Howe

Joseph Howe

Joseph Howe, PC was a Nova Scotian journalist, politician, and public servant. He is one of Nova Scotia's greatest and best-loved politicians...

 (the Provincial Secretary at the time) to the mouth of the Tangier River in Halifax County, Nova Scotia

Halifax County, Nova Scotia

Halifax County is a county in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.The Municipality of the County of Halifax was the municipal government of Halifax County, apart from the separately incorporated towns and cities therein...

. There he arranged to have law and order restored by carving the gold diggings into appropriately sized lots, and offering them for rental for $40. In 1877 Commander

Commander

Commander is a naval rank which is also sometimes used as a military title depending on the individual customs of a given military service. Commander is also used as a rank or title in some organizations outside of the armed forces, particularly in police and law enforcement.-Commander as a naval...

 John Hammer made a sketch survey of the Skeena River

Skeena River

The Skeena River is the second longest river entirely within British Columbia, Canada . The Skeena is an important transportation artery, particularly for the Tsimshian and the Gitxsan - whose names mean "inside the Skeena River" and "people of the Skeena River" respectively, and also during the...

entrance from Daring.