HMS Driver (1840)
| 300px | |
| Career (UK) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | HMS Driver |
| Ordered: | 12 March 1840 |
| Builder: |
Portsmouth Dockyard (Machinery by Seaward & Capel) |
| Laid down: | June 1840 |
| Launched: | 24 December 1840 |
| Commissioned: | 5 November 1841 |
| Fate: | Wrecked on 3 August 1861 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Driver class wood paddle sloop |
| Displacement: | 1,590 tons |
| Tons burthen: | 1,055 bm |
| Length: | 180 ft (55 m) (gundeck) |
| Beam: | 36 ft (11.0 m) |
| Draught: | 21 ft (6.4 m) |
| Propulsion: |
2-cylinder direct-acting 280 nhp Sails |
| Sail plan: | Sloop |
| Complement: | 149 (later 160) |
| Armament: |
As launched:
|
HMS Driver was a Driver class wood 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.[1]
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. Her hull cost £19,433, with the machinery costing another £13,866. After she had completed fitting out 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[2] and was involved in the New Zealand Wars. At the time of her visit she is described as a brig-rigged 6-gun warship displacing 1,058 tons with engines rated 280 horsepower.[3] Elsewhere she is described as a 12-gun paddle sloop.
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.[4]
She was wrecked on 3 August 1861 on Mayaguana Island in the West Indies.
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. ISBN 9781861762818. OCLC 67375475.
- David Lyon & Rif Winfield (2004). The Sail & Steam Navy List: All the Ships of the Royal Navy 1815-1889. London. ISBN 1-86176-032-9.
