► Royal Navy ► Vessels
Browse RN vessels: A; B; C; D; E - F; G - H; I - L; M; N - P; Q - R; S; T - U; V - Z; ??
| Name | Briton (1869) | Explanation | |
| Type | Corvette | ||
| Launched | 6 November 1869 | ||
| Hull | Wooden | Length | 220 feet |
| Propulsion | Screw | Men | 220 |
| Builders measure | 1331 tons | ||
| Displacement | 1831 tons | ||
| Guns | 10 | ||
| Fate | 1887 | Last in commission | 1887 |
| Class | Briton | ||
| Ships book | ADM 135/65 | ||
| Career | |||
| Date | Event | ||
| 6 November 1869 | Launched at Sheerness Dockyard. | ||
| 28 November 1871 - 4 October 1872 | Commanded (from commissioning at Sheerness) by Captain Charles Trelawney Jago, East Indies and Persian Gulf (until Jago invalided) | ||
| 4 October 1872 - 2 January 1874 | Commanded by Captain George John Malcolm, East Indies (including Frere mission to Zanzibar) | ||
| 13 November 1873 - 12 April 1876 | Commanded (until paying off at Plymouth) by Captain Lindesay Brine, East Indes | ||
| 29 March 1881 - 6 June 1884 | Commanded (from commissioning at Plymouth) by Captain Andrew James Kennedy, Cape of Good Hope | ||
| 21 March 1884 - 14 July 1887 | Commanded (until paying off at Bombay) by Captain Rodney Maclaine Lloyd, East Indies (and Sudan campaign) | ||
| 1887 | Sold at Bombay. | ||
| Extracts from the Times newspaper | |||
| Date | Extract | ||
| Tu 9 November 1869 | On Saturday afternoon last two vessels of war were launched from Sheerness dockyard in the presence of a large concourse of spectators, including the chief naval and military authorities of the port and garrison. The vessels were the Briton, a wooden 10-gun corvette, of 350-horse power, and 1,322 tons, and the Vulture, a wooden twin-screw gun vessel, of 3 guns, 160-horse power, and 663 tons. The Briton was built from the designs of Mr. Reed, Chief Constructor, and is in form and build nearly the same as the Eclipse, the only difference being that she is 8ft. longer. The dimensions of the Briton are as follows:- Length between perpendiculars, 220ft.; length of keel for tonnage, 193ft, 11?in.; extreme bReadth, 36ft. 1in.; ditto (for tonnage), 35ft. 11in.; ditto (moulded), 35ft. 3in.; depth in hold, 19ft. 7¼in.; burden in tons, 1,330 59-94. The dimensions of the Vulture are:- Length between perpendiculars, 170ft.; length of keel for tonnage, 151ft. 7?in.; extreme breadth, 29ft.; ditto (for tonnage), 28ft. 8in.; ditto (moulded), 28ft. 2in.; depth in hold, 12ft. 5in,; burden in tons, 662 65-94. Both vessels are now under the shears in the large steam basin at Sheerness, to be masted and fitted. Their boilers are lying alongside. The engines of the Vulture are being manufactured by Messrs. Rennie and Co. | ||
| Th 22 January 1874 | Letters have been received here from Her Majesty's surveying ship Shearwater, dated off Pungami River, Zanzibar, Dec. 7, by which we learn that she was still going on with the survey, and that every day disclosed new shoals and reefs that were not known to be in existence. The weather was beginning to be exceedingly warm, and the north-east monsoon had well set in. It changed about the beginning of November. The survey of the island of Zanzibar was nearly completed, and Pemba was to be commenced soon. There was a talk of sending the Shearwater to Bombay or the Cape of Good Hope, should she not be ordered back to the Mediterranean, as soon was expected. The officers had made excursions up the rivers Wami and Pungami. Dr. Kirk, the Consul General, accompanied the captain and one or two offices up the former river, and has also been on a short cruise on board the Shearwater. The steam launch was found of great use for river use. The explorers brought back five heads of the hippopotami they had slain, besides a whole animal, a rather young one, weighing about one and a half or two tons, all of which trophies they succeeded in hoisting on board. Her Majesty’s ships Briton, Daphne, Vulture, and Shearwater were the only cruisers on the East Coast. They generally looked in about the end of each month at Zanzibar for mails. | ||
| Ma 8 November 1875 | (By Indo-European Telegraph, viâ Theran.) BOMBAY, Sunday, Nov. 7. 3 45 P.M. ... A considerable military and naval force is to be assembled in Bombay to take part in the reception of the Prince. Two squadrons of the 3d Hussars have arrived from Mhow and two regiments of British infantry, the 2d and the 7th, and a body of Artillery has also been brought into the city. The native troops consist of the Bodyguards of the Viceroy and Governor, the Poona Horse, a regiment of Lancers, and two or three regiments of infantry. An imposing fleet is anchored in the harbour, under the command of Rear-Admiral Macdonald, the Naval Commander-in-Chief in India. Her Majesty’s ships Undaunted, Briton, Daphne, Philomel, and Nimble, of the East Indian squadron, the Narcissus, Newcastle, Raleigh, Doris, Topaze, and Immortalité, of the Flying Squadron, the troopship Euphrates, and the two ironclads Abyssinia and Magdala are all ready to salute the Serapis on her arrival to-morrow.Some days ago there seemed likely to be a difficulty in the matter of salutes. The Naval Regulations direct that no other Standard shall be saluted in the presence of that of the Queen or Prince of Wales, and Admiral Macdonald had some doubts as to whether he could show any mark of honour to the Viceroy on his proceeding on board the Serapis. Reference was made by telegraph to the Admiralty, and it is now said that the Admiral has been instructed to salute the flag of the Viceroy as well as that of the Prince. The Serapis and Osborne are expected to enter the harbour to-morrow afternoon. A Royal salute will be fired by the men-of-war and the batteries on shore, while the merchant vessels in port will be dressed out with flags. At 3 p.m. the Viceroy will go on board, and will be followed alter a few minutes by the Governor of Bombay. After Sir Philip Wodehouse has been presented to the Prince, he will return to shore. At 4 p.m., the Prince, accompanied by the Viceroy and suite, will leave the Serapis in the Royal barge, under a Royal salute from the men-of-war, and will proceed to the Dockyard, where he will be received by the Governor, the Members of Council, the Commander-in-Chief, and other principal officials of the Presidency, and will land under a Royal salute from the battery of artillery. The news of his disembarkation will be immediately telegraphed all over India, and a Royal salute will be fired at every fort and cantonment throughout the country. | ||
| We 23 September 1885 | Letters received at the Admiralty from Rear-Admiral Sir F.W. Richards, K.C.B., Commander-in-chief on the East Indies station, up to the 29th ult, state that the Bacchante, flagship, would start from Colombo on the 5th inst. on a cruise and would visit Diego, Garcia, Mauritius, Tamatave, Johanna, Zanzibar, and Seychelles, arriving at Bombay on the 19th of November. The Turquoise was to return to Trincomalee in the course of a few days, and would assume the duties of senior officer’s ship in the Bay of Bengal on the departure of the Bacchante. The Philomel, at Colombo, would leave on the 3d inst. for Bombay and the Persian Gulf. The Briton, at Trincomalee, would leave for Zanzibar about the 5th inst. to assume the duties of senior officer’s ship on the East Coast of Africa. The Woodlark, at Thayetruyo, was to leave on the 25th of August, and return to Rangoon. | ||
| Sa 30 January 1886 | Rear-Admiral Sir Frederick W. Richards, K.C.B., Commander-in-Chief of the East India station, in the Bacchante, at Rangoon, up to the 1st inst., supplies the Admiralty with the following movements of Her Majesty’s ships on that station:- The Commander-in-Chief was to leave Rangoon in the Sphinx on the 5th of January, and visit Akyab, Chittagong, and Calcutta, arriving there on the 13th inst. The Turquoise, the Woodlark, and Ranger were at Rangoon, the last-named vessel having arrived at Trincomalee with a draft of supernumeraries from the British India steamer Rena. The Mariner, at Rangoon, would shortly proceed to Moulmein. The Briton, senior officer’s ship, on the East Coast of Africa division, at Zanzibar, on the 29th of December, was placed at the disposal of Col. Kitchener, Boundary Commissioner, to convey him to the various ports on the East Coast if desired. The Dragon, at Mauritius, would return to Zanzibar about the end of January; the Osprey was at Bushire; and the Philomel at Bussorah. | ||
Top↑
 |