HMS Driver was a Driver-class wood paddle sloop 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 credited with the first global circumnavigation

Circumnavigation

Circumnavigation – literally, "navigation of a circumference" – refers to travelling all the way around an island, a continent, or the entire planet Earth.- Global circumnavigation :...

 by a steamship when she arrived back in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 on 14 May 1847.

Construction and commissioning

Driver was ordered on 12 March 1840 from Portsmouth Dockyard to a design by Sir William Symonds

William Symonds

Sir William Symonds FRS was "Surveyor of the Navy" in the Royal Navy from 9 June 1832 to October 1847, and took part in the naval reforms instituted by the Whig First Lord of the Admiralty Sir James Robert George Graham in 1832.-Early life:He was the second son...

. She was laid down in June 1840 and launched on 24 December 1840, with her machinery being supplied by Seaward & Capel. Her hull cost £19,433, with the machinery costing another £13,866. After she had completed fitting out she was commissioned on 5 November 1841.

Career

During her circumnavigation Driver became the first steamship to visit New Zealand, arriving on 20 January 1846, and was involved in the New Zealand Wars. At the time of her visit she is described as a brig

Brig

A brig is a sailing vessel with two square-rigged masts. During the Age of Sail, brigs were seen as fast and manoeuvrable and were used as both naval warships and merchant vessels. They were especially popular in the 18th and early 19th centuries...

-rigged 6-gun warship displacing 1,058 tons with engines rated 280 horsepower

Horsepower

Horsepower is the name of several units of measurement of power. The most common definitions equal between 735.5 and 750 watts.Horsepower was originally defined to compare the output of steam engines with the power of draft horses in continuous operation. The unit was widely adopted to measure the...

. Elsewhere she is described as a 12-gun paddle sloop

Sloop

A sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter....

.

On 11 March 1850 she was docked in Victoria Harbour

Victoria Harbour (British Columbia)

Victoria Harbour is a harbour, seaport, and seaplane airport located in the Canadian city of Victoria, British Columbia. It serves as a cruise ship and ferry destination for tourists and visitors to the city and Vancouver Island. It is both a port of entry and an airport of entry for general...

 to witness Richard Blanshard

Richard Blanshard

Richard Blanshard MA was an English barrister and first governor of the Colony of Vancouver Island from its foundation in 1849 to his resignation in 1851....

 assume the Governorship of the newly formed Colony of Vancouver Island

Colony of Vancouver Island

The Colony of Vancouver Island , was a crown colony of British North America from 1849 to 1866, after which it was united with British Columbia. The united colony joined the Dominion of Canada through Confederation in 1871...

, and issued a seventeen-gun salute.

She was wrecked on 3 August 1861 on Mayaguana

Mayaguana

Mayaguana is the most easterly island and district of the Bahamas. It is one of only a few Bahamian islands which retain their Lucayan names. The population of Mayaguana in the 2000 census was 259, amounting to an estimate 312 in 2010...

 Island, the most easterly of the Bahamas, in the West Indies.