HMS Topaze (1858)
| Career (UK) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | HMS Topaze |
| Launched: | 1858-05-12, Devonport |
| Commissioned: | 1859-06-11 |
| Decommissioned: | 1878-06-28 |
| Fate: | Sold on 14 February 1884 and broken up at Charlton |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Liffey class frigate |
| Displacement: | 3,915 tons |
| Tons burthen: | 2,659 tons |
| Length: | 235 ft |
| Propulsion: | 600 hp steam engine |
| Complement: | 515 |
| Armament: |
24 guns: 3 x 8 in 1 x 68 pdr 20 x 32 pdr |
HMS Topaze was a 24-gun Liffey class wooden screw frigate of the Royal Navy. She was launched on 1858-05-12, at Devonport Dockyard, Plymouth. Her crew assisted in the building of the Race Rocks Lighthouse in British Columbia, Canada, and laid a bronze tablet in 1863 at the Juan Fernández Islands commemorating the stay of marooned sailor Alexander Selkirk.[1] On the same voyage, the band from HMS Topaze played for the dedication of Congregation Emanu-El, now the oldest surviving synagogue building in Canada.[2]
The voyage to Easter Island in 1868 saw the crew remove the Moai Moai Hava and Hoa Hakananai'a and ship them to Britain, where Hoa Hakananai'a can now be seen in the British Museum.
Topaze was sold on 14 February 1884 and broken up at Charlton.
Notes
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.
- Paul Davis. William Loney RN - Victorian naval surgeon, Mid-Victorian RN vessel HMS Topaze Retrieved: 2008.01.21.
- Van Tilburg, Jo Anne, (2006), Remote Possibilities: Hoa Hakananai'a and HMS Topaze on Rapa Nui. British Museum Research Papers. ISBN 0861591585.
- Robert Kraske. (2005). Marooned: The Strange But True Adventures of Alexander Selkirk. Clarion Books. ISBN 0618568433.
