HMS Ariadne (1816)

HMS Ariadne was a 20-gun Hermes-class sixth-rate post ship built for the Royal Navy during the 1810s. The vessel was completed in 1816, modified in the early 1820s and only entered service in 1823. Ariadne was assigned to the Cape of Good Hope Station, followed by a stint in the Mediterranean Sea. The post ship was taken out of service in 1828, turned into a coal hulk and sold for scrap in 1841.

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Ariadne.

Ariadne in July 1830
History
United Kingdom
Name: Ariadne
Namesake: Ariadne
Ordered: 28 November 1812
Builder: Pater Dockyard
Laid down: April 1815
Launched: 10 February 1816
Completed: 21 March 1816
Commissioned: April 1823
Reclassified: As a coal hulk, 1836–37
Fate: Sold for scrap, 12 July 1841
General characteristics
Class and type: Hermes-class post ship
Tons burthen: 509 ​25⁄94 bm
Length:
  • 119 ft 11 in (36.6 m) (gundeck)
  • 99 ft 10 in (30.4 m) (keel)
Beam: 31 ft (9.4 m)
Draught: 10 ft 3 in (3.1 m)
Depth: 8 ft 8 in (2.6 m)
Sail plan: Full-rigged ship
Complement: 135
Armament:
  • 20 guns:
    • Gundeck: 18 × 32-pounder carronades + 2 × 9-pounder guns
  • after 1820 conversion (26-guns):
    • Gundeck: 18 × 32-pounder carronades
    • QD: 6 × 18-pounder carronades
    • Fc: 2 × 9-pounder bow chasers

Description

Ariadne had a length at the gundeck of 121 feet 7 inches (37.1 m) and 100 feet 6 inches (30.6 m) at the keel. She had a beam of 30 feet 11 inches (9.4 m), a draught of 10 feet (3.0 m) and a depth of hold of 8 feet 9 inches (2.7 m). The ship's tonnage was 511 ​42⁄94 tons burthen. Ariadne was armed with initially eighteen, later twenty-four, 32-pounder carronades on her gundeck and a pair of 9-pounder cannon as chase guns. The ship had a crew of 135 officers and ratings.[1]

Construction and career
The Honourable East India Company's Ship Inglis - leaving St Helena in July 1830, in company with H.M. Frigate Ariadne and the H.C. Ships Windsor, Waterloo, Scaleby Castle, General Kidd, Farquharson & Lowther Castle. Ariadne is likely the ship on the far right (flying the White Ensign), leading the line to port.

Ariadne, the third ship of her name to serve in the Royal Navy,[2] was ordered on 28 November 1812, laid down on April 1815 in Pater Dockyard, Wales, and launched, together with her sister ship, Valorous, on 10 February 1816[1] by John Campbell, Lord Cawdor.[3] She was completed on 21 March 1816 and placed in ordinary. Ariadne cost £11,936 to built and a further £3,579 to fit out. She was converted into a 26-gun post ship at Plymouth Dockyard in January–May 1820 by the addition of quarterdeck, with further six carronades, and forecastle to the original flush-deck construction, and fitted for sea in March–August 1822.[4]

The ship's first commission began in April 1823 under the command of Captain Robert Moorsom.[4] He was relieved by Captain Isaac Chapman in December 1824 and Ariadne was assigned to the Cape of Good Hope Station. Chapman was court-martialed and dismissed from the service in June 1826 for having purchased a female slave and brought her aboard,[5] but he had been relieved by Captain Lord Adolphus Fitzclarence earlier in February, by which time the ship was assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet. She was decommissioned at its end in May 1828.[4]

Notes
  1. Winfield 2008, p. 114
  2. Colledge, p. 20
  3. Phillips, p. 55
  4. Winfield 2014, p. 751
  5. Phillips, p. 56

References
  • 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.
  • Phillips, Lawrie; Lieutenant Commander (2014). Pembroke Dockyard and the Old Navy: A Bicentennial History. Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK: The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7509-5214-9.
  • Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth. ISBN 978-1-84415-717-4.
  • Winfield, Rif (2014). British Warships in the Age of Sail, 1817-1863 (epub). Barnsley, UK: Seaforth. ISBN 978-1-47383-743-0.
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