HMS Urgent (1855)

HMS Urgent was an iron screw troopship of the Royal Navy. She served her later years as a storeship and depot ship based in Jamaica.

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

History
United Kingdom
Name: HMS Urgent
Builder: C. J. Mare, Blackwall[1]
Launched: 2 April 1855
Completed: 29 September 1855
Acquired: 13 June 1854
Reclassified: Depot ship from March 1876
Fate: Sold in June 1903
General characteristics
Class and type: Iron screw troopship
Tonnage: 1,964 38/94 bm[1]
Displacement: 2,801 tons
Length:
  • 272 ft 3.5 in (83.0 m) (overall)
  • 250 ft 3.5 in (76.3 m) (keel)
Beam: 38 ft 5 in (11.7 m)
Depth of hold: 26 ft 8.5 in (8.141 m)
Installed power:
  • 400 nhp
  • 1,483 ihp (1,106 kW)
Propulsion:
  • 2-cylinder horizontal single-expansion engine
  • Single screw
Speed: 11.72 kn (21.71 km/h) (under engines)

Construction and commissioning

Urgent was originally constructed by C. J. Mare, of Blackwall, under the name Assaye. Also being constructed by Mare at this time was a near-sistership to Assaye, the Russian Sobraon. Assaye may have also been being built for Russian owners, as both ships were purchased by the Admiralty in 1854 to serve as auxiliaries in the Crimean War. Assaye was purchased under an Admiralty order dated 13 June 1854, and was launched on 2 April 1855. She completed fitting out for sea at Sheerness Dockyard on 29 September 1855, having by then cost a total of £89,936. She entered service as HMS Urgent, while her near-sister Sobraon was named HMS Perseverance.

Service

On 21 October 1855, Urgent ran aground at Fort Ricasoli, Malta on a voyage from Plymouth, Devon. All 1,100 people on board were rescued.[2] Having departed from Spithead on 28 February 1857, Urgent sprang a leak in the Bay of Biscay on 3 March. She put in to A Coruña, Spain in a sinking condition.[3] On 1 November 1858, Urgent ran aground on the East Pole Sands, 6 nautical miles (11 km) east of the Nab Lightship whilst on a voyage from Corfu, United States of the Ionian Islands to Portsmouth. She was refloated with assistance from the Government tug Echo.[4] From March 1859 she was under the command of Henry William Hire for service in the East Indies and China, and on 20 August 1859 was at Peiho.[5] From July 1864 she was under Samuel Hood Henderson.[5] In August 1864, she ran aground at St. Anns, Nova Scotia, British North America. She was later refloated and taken in to Quebec City, Province of Canada, British North America, where she arrived on 5 September.[6] Urgent was at Portsmouth in 1870.[5]

After service as a troopship, Urgent was moved to Jamaica and to serve as a depot ship, and was commissioned there in her new role on 21 July 1877.[7]

In 1880, her tender was the gunboat HMS Tyrian, which was also used as a tug.[8] From 1880 to 1885, her tender was the schooner HMS Sparrowhawk, which was surveying the area at the time.[9] From February 1878 until 1890 Urgent flew the broad pendant of the Hon. William John Ward, the son of Edward Southwell Ward, 3rd Viscount Bangor. In 1886 Urgent came under the command of Francis Mowbray Prattent, and between September 1889 and 1890 she flew the broad pendant of Rodney Maclaine Lloyd.[5] She finally flew the broad pendant of Daniel M K Riddel from March 1901.[5]

She was sold for scrapping to Butler & Co in June 1903, after the naval establishment was moved ashore.[7]

References
  1. Winfield, R.; Lyon, D. (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.
  2. "Naval and Military Intelligence". The Morning Post (25554). London. 28 November 1855. p. 3.
  3. "The "Urgent" of the Admiralty". The Times (22672). London. 5 May 1857. col B, p. 7.
  4. "The Navy". The Standard (10677). London. 3 November 1858. p. 3.
  5. "NMM, vessel ID 378157" (PDF). Warship Histories, vol iv. National Maritime Museum. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 August 2011. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
  6. "Ship News". The Times (24982). London. 20 September 1864. col F, p. 7.
  7. Warlow, Ben (2000). Shore Establishments of the Royal Navy. Maritime Books. p. 146. ISBN 978-0-907771-74-6.
  8. "NMM, vessel ID 377998" (PDF). Warship Histories, vol iv. National Maritime Museum. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 August 2011. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
  9. "NMM, vessel ID 376086" (PDF). Warship Histories, vol iv. National Maritime Museum. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 August 2011. Retrieved 28 November 2011.

Bibliography
  • Jones, Colin (1996). "Entente Cordiale, 1865". In McLean, David & Preston, Antony (eds.). Warship 1996. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-685-X.

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