HMS Torch (1894)
Encyclopedia
HMS Torch was an Alert-class
Alert class sloop
The Alert class was a two-ship class of 6-gun screw steel sloops built for the Royal Navy in 1894.-Design:Alert and Torch were constructed of steel to a design by William White, the Royal Navy Director of Naval Construction...
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 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...
, built at Sheerness Dockyard and launched in 1894. She served in Australia and New Zealand and was transferred to New Zealand as a training ship in 1917, being renamed HMS Firebrand at the same time. She was sold in 1920 and converted to a refrigerated ship with the new name Rama. She ran aground in the Chatham Islands in 1924 and was abandoned.
Design
Alert and Torch were constructed of steel to a design by William WhiteWilliam Henry White
Sir William Henry White was a prolific British warship designer and Chief Constructor at the Admiralty....
, 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...
Director of Naval Construction
Director of Naval Construction
The Director of Naval Construction was a senior British civil servant post in the Admiralty, that part of the British Civil Service that oversaw the Royal Navy. The post existed from 1860 to 1966....
. They were powered by a three-cylinder vertical triple expansion steam engine developing 1,400 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...
and driving a single screw.
Sail Plan
The class was originally designed and built with barqueBarque
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...
-rigged sails, but both ships were re-rigged as barquentine
Barquentine
A barquentine is a sailing vessel with three or more masts; with a square rigged foremast and fore-and-aft rigged main, mizzen and any other masts.-Modern barquentine sailing rig:...
s before 1900 by removing the main yards.
Armament
Both ships of the class were armed with four 4-inch and four 3-pounder guns, and three machine gunMachine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....
s.
Construction
Torch was laid down at Sheerness Dockyard on 18 December 1893 and launched almost a year later on 28 December 1894. She was commisisoned in October 1895.Service in Australian waters
Torch joined the Australian Station in February 1897, serving in New Zealand waters in 1898 and 1899. She was part of the naval escort for the visit of the DukeGeorge V of the United Kingdom
George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....
and Duchess of York
Mary of Teck
Mary of Teck was the queen consort of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, as the wife of King-Emperor George V....
to Australia and New Zealand aboard the chartered Royal liner HMS Ophir
SS Ophir
The SS Ophir was a British steel twin-screw ocean liner owned by the Orient Steamship Co. of London, which was employed on the company's London/Aden/Colombo/Australia service from the 1890s until 1915 when she was requisitioned by the Admiralty and saw three years' service as an armed merchant...
during 1901. After a refit, she recommissioned at Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
on 29 November 1913. In July 1914 Torch, in company with the French cruiser Kersaint, was involved with a native uprising on the Island of Wala, Vanuatu. Five men were killed and four injured, and one native prisoner was captured.. In August 1914 she became part of the New Zealand Division
New Zealand Naval Forces
New Zealand Naval Forces was the name given to a division of the Royal Navy. The division was formed in 1913 and it operated under this name until 1921, when it became the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy....
of the Pacific Station
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...
.
Training ship Firebrand
On 16 August 1917 she was transferred to the New ZealandNew 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...
Government as the training ship HMS Firebrand. Torch paid off for the last time on 23 November 1914.
Refrigerated ship Rama
She was sold in 1920, renamed Rama and fitted out as a refrigerated ship for the Chatham IslandsChatham Islands
The Chatham Islands are an archipelago and New Zealand territory in the Pacific Ocean consisting of about ten islands within a radius, the largest of which are Chatham Island and Pitt Island. Their name in the indigenous language, Moriori, means Misty Sun...
fishing trade.
Fate
While approaching the Chatham IslandsChatham Islands
The Chatham Islands are an archipelago and New Zealand territory in the Pacific Ocean consisting of about ten islands within a radius, the largest of which are Chatham Island and Pitt Island. Their name in the indigenous language, Moriori, means Misty Sun...
on 17 November 1924 she struck an uncharted rock, and was beached and abandoned.