HMS Eclipse was a 4-gun Cormorant-class first class gunvessel launched on 18 September 1860 from the shipyard of J. Scott Russell & Co.

Millwall Iron Works

The Millwall Iron Works, London, England, was a 19th century industrial complex and series of companies, which developed from 1824. Formed from a series of small ship building companies to address the need to build larger and larger ships, the holding company collapsed after the Panic of 1866...

, Millwall

Millwall

Millwall is an area in London, on the western side of the Isle of Dogs, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the south of the developments at West India Docks, including Canary Wharf.-History:...

.

She was sent to 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 1863 under the command of Commander Richard Charles Mayne

Richard Charles Mayne

Richard Charles Mayne RN CB FGS MP was a Royal Navy Captain, later Admiral and explorer.Richard Mayne was the son of Sir Richard Mayne KCB and the grandson of Judge Edward Mayne. Both his father and grandfather were graduates of Trinity College, Dublin,. Richard Mayne was educated at Eton...

. During the Second Taranaki War

Second Taranaki War

-Background and causes of the war:The conflict in Taranaki had its roots in the First Taranaki War, which had ended in March 1861 with an uneasy truce. Neither side fulfilled the terms of the truce, leaving many of the issues unresolved...

 she participated in an attack which was made by the garrison of New Plymouth

New Plymouth

New Plymouth is the major city of the Taranaki Region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after Plymouth, Devon, England, from where the first English settlers migrated....

 on the Māori position at the mouth of the Katikara River on 4 June 1864, by shelling the Māori positions from about 1.5km offshore. Afterwards she was sent back to Australian waters. She towed the Pioneer

Pioneer (1862)

Pioneer was a 19th century paddle-steamer gunboat used in New Zealand. Built in Sydney to the order of the New Zealand colonial government by the Australian Steam Navigation Company, she cost 9,500 pounds...

 across the Tasman Sea

Tasman Sea

The Tasman Sea is the large body of water between Australia and New Zealand, approximately across. It extends 2,800 km from north to south. It is a south-western segment of the South Pacific Ocean. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman, the first recorded European...

 from Sydney on 22 September and arriving at Onehunga

Onehunga

Onehunga is a suburb of Auckland City, New Zealand and the location of the Port of Onehunga, the city's small port on the Manukau Harbour. It is eight kilometres south of the city centre, close to the volcanic cone of One Tree Hill, Maungakiekie....

, New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 on 3 October 1863. During the voyage the two ships collided and Eclipse's bow was stoved-in.

In October 1863, Commander Mayne led a Naval Brigade

Naval Brigade

A Naval Brigade is a body of sailors serving in a ground combat role to augment land forces.-Royal Navy:Within the Royal Navy, a Naval Brigade is a large temporary detachment of Royal Marines and of seamen from the Royal Navy formed to undertake operations on shore, particularly during the mid- to...

 of 200 seamen which captured Merrimi and later fortified the town. On 20 November a Naval Brigade of 400 men, under Commander Mayne participated in the battle of Rangiriri

Battle of Rangiriri

The Battle of Rangiriri occurred during the New Zealand land wars , which were fought between the rebel Waikato Kingitanga forces and the British colonial forces. The Battle of Rangiriri is regarded as one of the most important battle in the New Zealand Wars...

 during the invasion of Waikato, where five seamen were killed and 10 wounded, including Commander Mayne who was invalided home. Coming under the command of Commander Edmund Fremantle

Edmund Fremantle

Admiral Sir Edmund Robert Fremantle GCB CMG was a Royal Navy officer who went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth.-Naval career:...

, she took part in the capture of Waikato

Waikato

The Waikato Region is a local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato, Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsula, the northern King Country, much of the Taupo District, and parts of Rotorua District...

 in January 1864, and contributed to a Naval Brigade which defeated the Maoris at Rangiawahia. Again on 29 April 1864 she contributed to a Naval Brigade which attacked the Maori stronghold at Gate Pā

Gate Pa

Gate Pā was the name of a Māori Pā or fortress built in 1864 only from the main British base of Camp Te Papa at Tauranga, during the Tauranga Campaign of the New Zealand Land Wars...

.

She left the Australia Station in mid 1866 and returned to Britain where she was paid off and broken up at Sheerness in 1867.