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HMS Messenger (1830)

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History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Messenger
In service	1830
Fate	Converted to coal depot 1840 Broken up 1861
General characteristics
Displacement	912 long tons (927 t)
Tons burthen	733 44/94 (bm) initially 759 33/94 after lengthening
Length	155 ft 6 in (47.4 m) 133 ft 4 in (40.6 m) (keel) 159 ft 0 in (48.5 m) (after lengthening) 137 ft3+1⁄4 in (41.8 m) (keel after lengthening)[1]
Beam	32 ft 9 in (10.0 m) 32 ft 3 in (9.8 m) (for tonnage)
Draught	10 ft 3 in (3.1 m) (forward) 10 ft 9 in (3.3 m) (aft)
Installed power	2-cylinder side-lever 80 nhp (originally) 2x Maudslay, Sons and Field engines 200 nhp total (after lengthening)
Propulsion	2-cylinder side lever engines Side paddles
Speed	8.8 mph (7.6 kn; 14.2 km/h)
Armament	1 × 12-pounder carronade

HMS Messenger was a wooden paddle ship, built in 1824 by Benjamin Wallis at Blackwall as Duke of York, and renamed Messenger when purchased by the Royal Navy on 20 August 1830 for £12,481. Initially she was rated as a paddle packet. In 1831, she was re-engined and lengthened by 31⁄2 feet (4.7 m) at a cost of £12,560.^[1] At around this time she was re-rated as a sloop. She passed Gibraltar in 1830, according to Earl of Beaconsfield's letters en route to Cadiz, Spain. It was reported Benjamin Disraeli was on the boat.^[2] She was fitted as a coal depot from May–December 1840, and sold to Henry Castle & Son to be broken up on 22 November 1861.^[3][1]

Her sister ship, George IV, was also purchased by the Royal Navy for a total cost (including Messenger) of £24,977 9s. 4d., and renamed Hermes.^[4]

Propulsion[edit]

The paddle wheels were 20 feet (6.1 m) in diameter and 10 feet (3.0 m) wide. After her lengthening, she was re-engined with 2 engines of 100 nominal horse power each. Her cylinders were 52+3⁄8 inches (1.33 m) in diameter, with a 5 foot (1.5 m) stroke. She obtained a speed of 8.8 miles per hour (14.2 km/h) on trials with 150 short tons (140 t) of fuel loaded. Fuel consumption was about 16 long hundredweight (810 kg) of coal per hour at an average speed of 5+1⁄2 knots (10.2 km/h). Her fuel capacity was 240 long tons (240 t) of coal, and with this load her displacement was 935 long tons (950 t).^[5]

Commissions[edit]

• 1830: under Lieutenant William Frederick Lapidge
• 20 May 1830: under Lieutenant Benjamin Aplin, as a Falmouth packet
• May 1834: under John King as a transport
• 27 July 1840: as a coal depot^[1]

References[edit]

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