HMS Vixen (1865)

Designed by the Admiralty, Vixen was a half-sister to Viper and Waterwitch, and all three were built mostly as experimental vessels. While Viper and Vixen were twin screw vessels, Waterwitch had a water-pump propulsion system. Viper differed from Vixen mainly in her iron construction.

A contemporary cut-away diagram of Vixen

Vixen was ordered from Charles Lungley of Deptford on 22 March 1864[1] and laid down the same year. She was launched on 18 November 1865 and commissioned in 1866 under Commander Spencer Phipps Brett for comparative trials. Her total cost was £54,193.[1]

Vixen, Viper, and Waterwitch conducted comparative trials at Stokes Bay during the late 1860s.[4] Although turning ability was impressive, none of the ships attained more than 9 ¹⁄₂ knots (17.6 km/h) in an era when Warrior could achieve 14 ¹⁄₂ knots (26.9 km/h).[3] Furthermore, Vixen was nearly lost in the Irish Channel during a winter gale in 1876,[3] making her unsuitable for the open sea under steam or sail. Vixen and Viper were towed to Bermuda in 1868 where they operated within the reefline as floating defensive batteries, extending the defences of the Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda.

In July 1869, both ships were employed to bring the floating dock Bermuda from The Narrows to the dockyard,[5] and in 1870, Vixen rescued a disabled barque.[3] 1873 saw the loss of all rigging, masts and upperdeck equipment, and this must have helped her to survive the 1878 hurricane which caused serious damage to the floating dock and other dockyard facilities. In 1895, she was used as an accommodation hulk for dockyard labourers and in 1895 listed as 'to be sold' in the Navy List.

The Daniel’s Head Channel Act (1887) had authorised the sinking of a blockship to close the channel, but the Hydrographer’s Report of 1888 declared the approaches from that direction safe from attack. By December 1895, Vixen had been sold to a local scrap merchant. In 1896, Vice-Admiral James Erskine recommended the channel be covered by shore batteries against torpedo boat attack, and in order to make such boats pass close to Daniel's Head, Vixen was sunk in the channel, probably the same year.[3]

Bermuda, wreck of HMS Vixen

Once her engines had been removed, she was placed across the Chubb Cut and massive scuttling charges were detonated. Her keel was broken, and she settled in her final resting place. Vixen now lies in 10 m (33 ft) of water about 0.2 nmi (0.37 km) offshore from Daniel’s Head, at the west end of Bermuda. She lies in a narrow gap in the coral reef, with the bow just above water. She is well-known locally and is often visited by glass-bottomed boats and divers, having become something of a tourist attraction. The wreck is visible on satellite imagery in position 32°18′21.31″N 64°53′7.88″W.[3]

In 1986, Professor Richard Gould began his investigation of the wreck with volunteers from EarthWatch and support from the Bermuda Maritime Museum. By 1988, they had amassed 13 weeks of diving at the site, and in 1991 Gould published "The Archaeology of HMS Vixen, an early ironclad ram in Bermuda" in The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology, giving a comprehensive account of the construction, history and fate of the ship.

• 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.
• Preston, Antony; Major, John (2007). Send a Gunboat: The Victorian Navy and Supremacy at Sea, 1854–1904 (2nd ed.). London: Conway. ISBN 978-0-85177-923-2.
• 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.

• The wreck of HMS Vixen at ShipWreckExpo, with photographs
• Satellite image of HMS Vixen's final resting place.