HMS Miranda was a 14-gun (15-gun from 1856) wooden screw 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...

, launched in 1851 and sold for breaking in 1869. Two of her crew were awarded the Victoria Cross

Victoria Cross

The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....

 for their bravery during the Crimean 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...

.

Design

Ordered on 25 April 1847 as HMS Grinder, she was re-ordered on 3 November 1847 under the new name of Miranda to a design by the Admiralty under the direction of Lord John Hay. This Admiralty design was a modification of the Royal Navy's first screw sloop, . Originally classified as a sloop, she was reclassified as a corvette

Corvette

A corvette is a small, maneuverable, lightly armed warship, originally smaller than a frigate and larger than a coastal patrol craft or fast attack craft , although many recent designs resemble frigates in size and role...

 by 1862.

Propulsion

She was designed with a two-cylinder horizontal single-expansion geared steam engine developing an indicated 613 hp and driving a single screw. This was sufficient to achieve 10.75 knots (21.1 km/h) under engines alone. Her machinery was provided by Robert Napier and Sons at a cost of £14,235.

Sail Plan

The pictorial record shows Miranda with a full ship rig

Full rigged ship

A full rigged ship or fully rigged ship is a sailing vessel with three or more masts, all of them square rigged. A full rigged ship is said to have a ship rig....

 in 1862, which makes it likely that she carried this rig for her entire life.

Armament

Originally built with fourteen 32-pounder (42cwt) carriage guns in a broadside arrangement, a further 68-pdr (87cwt) pivot gun was added in 1856.

Construction

Miranda was laid down at Sheerness Royal Dockyard in September 1848 and launched on 18 March 1851. She commissioned at Sheerness on 25 February 1854.

History

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...

 Miranda served in the Baltic and White Sea in 1854 and in the Sea of Azov in 1855 . From 1860 until 1865 she served on the Australia Station, taking part in the New Zealand land wars

New Zealand land wars

The New Zealand Wars, sometimes called the Land Wars and also once called the Māori Wars, were a series of armed conflicts that took place in New Zealand between 1845 and 1872...

.

The Russian War (1854 - 1856)

In the autumn 1854, a squadron of three British warships led by HMS Miranda left the Baltic for the White Sea

White Sea

The White Sea is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is surrounded by Karelia to the west, the Kola Peninsula to the north, and the Kanin Peninsula to the northeast. The whole of the White Sea is under Russian sovereignty and considered to be part of...

, where they shelled and destroyed Kola

Kola (town)

Kola is a town and the administrative center of Kolsky District of Murmansk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kola and Tuloma Rivers, south of Murmansk and southwest of Severomorsk. It is the oldest town of the Kola Peninsula. Population: 11,060 ; -History:The district of Kolo...

. An attempt to storm Arkhangelsk

Arkhangelsk

Arkhangelsk , formerly known as Archangel in English, is a city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina River near its exit into the White Sea in the north of European Russia. The city spreads for over along the banks of the river...

 proved abortive, as was the siege of Petropavlovsk in Kamchatka. While the Anglo-French naval squadron successfully shelled the town, a landing of 800 sailors and marines was repulsed.

On 3 June 1855 at Siege of Taganrog

Siege of Taganrog

The Siege of Taganrog during the Crimean War was a series of military actions designed to allow the British and the French access to Rostov-on-Don, which was an important city for Russian military operations in the Caucasus.-Prelude:...

 on Sea of Azov

Sea of Azov

The Sea of Azov , known in Classical Antiquity as Lake Maeotis, is a sea on the south of Eastern Europe. It is linked by the narrow Strait of Kerch to the Black Sea to the south and is bounded on the north by Ukraine mainland, on the east by Russia, and on the west by the Ukraine's Crimean...

, Boatswain

Boatswain

A boatswain , bo's'n, bos'n, or bosun is an unlicensed member of the deck department of a merchant ship. The boatswain supervises the other unlicensed members of the ship's deck department, and typically is not a watchstander, except on vessels with small crews...

 Henry Cooper

Henry Cooper (VC)

Henry Cooper VC was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces....

 and Lieutenant Cecil William Buckley

Cecil William Buckley

Captain Cecil William Buckley VC RN was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces....

 of HMS Miranda landed destroying equipment and setting fire to government buildings. This despite the town being under bombardment and garrisoned by 3,000 Russian troops. For this action the pair were awarded the Victoria Cross

Victoria Cross

The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....

.

She decommissioned on 21 April 1857 at Sheerness.

Australia and New Zealand

Miranda recommissioned at Sheerness on 4 October 1860 for 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...

. During the early 1860s she took part in the New Zealand Wars, and returned to Sheernees to decommission on 3 June 1865.

Commanding officers

From	To	Captain
25 February 1854	23 June 1855	Captain Edmund Moubray Lyons (died in command)
24 June 1855	21 April 1857	Captain Robert Hall Robert Hall (Royal Navy officer) Captain Robert Hall CB was a Royal Navy officer who went on to be Third Naval Lord and Controller of the Navy.-Naval career:...
21 April 1857	4 October 1860	Out of Commission (Sheerness)
4 October 1860	29 August 1861	Commander Henry Carr Glyn
29 August 1861	3 June 1865	Captain Robert Jenkins