HMS Hornet was a 17-gun wooden screw 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....

 of the Cruizer class

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:...

 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 1854 and broken up in 1868.

Construction

Originally ordered in April 1847 as a "Screw Schooner", she was suspended in August 1847 and re-ordered on 1 November 1850 to the same design as HMS Cruizer. The wooden sloops of the Cruizer class were designed under the direction of Lord John Hay, and after his "Committee of Reference" was disbanded, their construction was supervised by the new Surveyor of the Navy

Surveyor of the Navy

The Surveyor to the Navy was a civilian officer in the Royal Navy. He was a member of the Navy Board from the inauguration of that body in 1546, and held overall responsibility for the design of British warships, although until 1745 the actual design work for warships built at each Royal Dockyard...

, Sir Baldwin Walker. Hornet was laid down at the Royal Dockyard, Deptford in June 1851. Her two-cylinder horizontal single-expansion steam engine, which was supplied by James Watt & Company at a cost of £5,450, generated an indicated horsepower of 233 hp; driving a single screw, this gave a maximum speed of 7.75 knots (15.2 km/h). The class was given a 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 sail plan.

Armament

All the ships of the class were provided with one 32-pounder (56cwt) long gun on a pivot mount and sixteen 32-pounder (32cwt) carriage guns in a broadside arrangement.

History

Hornet served in the Baltic in 1854 during the Russian War

Crimean War

The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...

, and from 1854 until 1859 she served in the East Indies and in China, taking part in the Second Opium War

Second Opium War

The Second Opium War, the Second Anglo-Chinese War, the Second China War, the Arrow War, or the Anglo-French expedition to China, was a war pitting the British Empire and the Second French Empire against the Qing Dynasty of China, lasting from 1856 to 1860...

. After a refit in 1859-1860 she recommissioned for the Cape of Good Hope Station and served both there and on the East Indies Station.

The Russian War (1854)

Under Commander Frederick Archibald Campbell Hornet served in the Baltic campaign of 1854 during the Russian War

Crimean War

The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...

.

The East Indies and China Stations (1854 - 1856)

On 25 April 1855 Hornet, along with HMS Sybille and HMS Bittern, under Commodore The Hon. Charles Elliot

Charles Elliot

Sir Charles Elliot, KCB , was a British naval officer, diplomat, and colonial administrator. He became the first administrator of Hong Kong in 1841 while serving as both Plenipotentiary and Chief Superintendent of British Trade in China...

 discovered an island in the Sea of Japan

Sea of Japan

The Sea of Japan is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean, between the Asian mainland, the Japanese archipelago and Sakhalin. It is bordered by Japan, North Korea, Russia and South Korea. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it has almost no tides due to its nearly complete enclosure from the Pacific...

, at 37°17′23"N 131°54′23"E. It was about a mile in extent, running in a NW by W and SE by E direction and formed together by a reef of rocks. The Hornets commander at the time, Charles Codrington Forsyth, noted in the ship's log:

The Second Opium War (1856 - 1859)

On 12 November 1856, in company with Calcutta

HMS Calcutta (1831)

HMS Calcutta was an 84-gun second-rate ship-of-the-line of the Royal Navy, built in teak to a draught by Sir Robert Seppings and launched on 14 March 1831 in Bombay. She was the only ship ever built to her draught. She carried her complement of smooth-bore, muzzle-loading guns on two gundecks...

, Nankin, Encounter, Barracouta

HMS Barracouta (1851)

HMS Barracouta was a paddle sloop, of the Royal Navy, built at the Pembroke Dockyard and launched on 31 March 1851.She commenced service in England before joining the East Indies Station in 1854. During the Crimean War she participated in the blockade of Petropavlovski...

 and Coromandel, she bombarded and captured the Bogue forts and the next day, the Anunghoy forts. Christmas 1856 was spent as Guardship at Canton

Guangzhou

Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...

 (now Guangzhou). In 1857 she spent much of her time at Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

 and in the Canton River

Pearl River (China)

The Pearl River or less commonly, the "Guangdong River" or "Canton River" etc., , is an extensive river system in southern China. The name Pearl River is usually used as a catchment term to refer to the watersheds of the Xi Jiang , the Bei Jiang , and the Dong Jiang...

, culminating in the capture of Canton on 28 December 1857 under Rear-Admiral Sir Michael Seymour. On February 1859 she sailed for England, decommissioning in Portsmouth on 14 July 1859.

The Cape of Good Hope and East Indies Stations (1860 - 1864)

On 20 July 1860 Hornet recommissioned for service on the Cape of Good Hope Station under Commander William Buller Fullerton Elphinstone

William Elphinstone, 15th Lord Elphinstone

William Buller Fullerton Elphinstone, 15th Lord Elphinstone and 1st Baron Elphinstone , known as William Elphinstone until 1861, was a Scottish Conservative politician....

. She also served during this period on the East Indies Station.

Disposal

Hornet decommissioned at Portsmouth on 22 September 1864 and was broken up by White

J. Samuel White

J. Samuel White was a British shipbuilding firm based in Cowes, taking its name from John Samuel White . It came to prominence during the Victorian era...

 of Cowes

Cowes

Cowes is an English seaport town and civil parish on the Isle of Wight. Cowes is located on the west bank of the estuary of the River Medina facing the smaller town of East Cowes on the east Bank...

 in 1868.

Commanding officers

From	To	Captain
15 May 1854	13 September 1854	Commander Frederick Archibald Campbell
13 September 1854	1857?	Commander Charles Codrington Forsyth
January 1857	26 February 1858	Commander William Dowell William Dowell (Royal Navy officer) Admiral Sir William Montagu Dowell GCB was a Royal Navy officer who went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth.-Naval career:Dowell joined the Royal Navy in 1839. He served in the Black Sea during the Crimean War...
26 February 1858	14 July 1859	Commander Lord Gilford Richard Meade, 4th Earl of Clanwilliam Admiral of the Fleet Richard James Meade, 4th Earl of Clanwilliam, GCB, KCMG , styled Lord Gillford until 1879, was a British Royal Navy officer and peer.-Background:...
14 July 1859	20 July 1860	Out of Commission (Portsmouth)
20 July 1860	3 May 1861	Commander William Buller Fullerton Elphinstone William Elphinstone, 15th Lord Elphinstone William Buller Fullerton Elphinstone, 15th Lord Elphinstone and 1st Baron Elphinstone , known as William Elphinstone until 1861, was a Scottish Conservative politician....
3 May 1861	1864?	Commander Joseph Dayman
1864?	12 September 1864	Acting Commander Richard Hare
12 September 1864		Out of Commission (Portsmouth)