| HMS Driver (1840) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Career (UK) |  |
| Name: | HMS Driver |
| Ordered: | 12 March 1840 |
| Builder: | Portsmouth Dockyard |
| Cost: | £39,707 |
| Laid down: | June 1840 |
| Launched: | 24 December 1840 |
| Commissioned: | 5 November 1841 |
| Fate: | Wrecked on 3 August 1861 |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Class & type: | Driver-class wooden paddle sloop |
| Displacement: | 1,590 tons |
| Tons burthen: | 1,055 62/94 bm |
| Length: | 180 ft (55 m) (gundeck) |
| Beam: | 36 ft (11.0 m) |
| Depth of hold: | 21 ft (6.4 m) |
| Installed power: | 280 nhp |
| Propulsion: |
|
| Sail plan: | Brig-rigged |
| Complement: | 149 (later 160) |
| Armament: |
As built:
After 1856:
|
HMS Driver was a Driver-class wooden paddle sloop of the Royal Navy. She is credited with the first global circumnavigation by a steamship when she arrived back in England on 14 May 1847.[2]
Construction and commissioning[]
Driver was ordered on 12 March 1840 from Portsmouth Dockyard to a design by Sir William Symonds. She was laid down in June 1840 and launched on 24 December 1840, with her machinery being supplied by Seaward & Capel of Limehouse, Woolwich. Her hull cost £19,433, with the machinery costing another £13,866. After she had completed fitting out, at a further cost of £6,408, 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,[3] and was involved in the New Zealand Wars, including the Hutt Valley Campaign. At the time of her visit she was described as a brig-rigged 6-gun warship displacing 1,058 tons with engines rated 280 horsepower.[4] On 11 March 1850 she was docked in Victoria Harbour to witness Richard Blanshard assume the Governorship of the newly formed Colony of Vancouver Island, and issued a seventeen-gun salute.[5]
Fate[]
She was wrecked on 3 August 1861 on Mayaguana Island, the most easterly of the Bahamas, in the West Indies.[1]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Winfield (2004), p.160
- ↑ History Channel: This day in history - May 14
- ↑ New Zealand Maritime Museum
- ↑ New Zealand Electronic Text Centre
- ↑ "City of Victoria - History". http://www.victoria.ca/visitors/about_hist.shtml. Retrieved 2010-02-03.
- Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8. OCLC 67375475.
- Winfield, Rif; Lyon, David (2004). The Sail and Steam Navy List: All the Ships of the Royal Navy 1815–1889. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-032-6. OCLC 52620555.
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The original article can be found at HMS Driver (1840) and the edit history here.