HMS Espiegle

HMS Espiegle (1844)

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Name	Espiegle (1844)	Explanation
Type	Brig
Launched	20 April 1844
Hull	Wooden
Propulsion	Sail
Builders measure	443 tons
Displacement
Guns	12
Fate	1861
Class
Ships book
Note
Snippets concerning this vessels career
Date	Event
7 September 1844 - 19 August 1847	Commanded by Thomas Pickering Thompson, East Indies
20 August 1847 - 3 February 1849	Commanded by Commander Frederick Archibald Campbell, East Indies
28 January 1853 - 4 April 1855	Commanded by Commander George Hancock, North America and West Indies
2 February 1855 - 24 October 1856	Commanded by Commander Edward Henry Gage Lambert, North America and West Indies
*Extracts from the Times* newspaper**
Date	Extract
Ma 25 September 1843	PORTSMOUTH, Sept. 23. The Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty have ordered six brigs of a new class to be built. They are to carry 12 guns each, and are to be employed in the suppression of the slave trade instead of the old 10-gun brigs. Their names are to be, — the Flying Fish, Kingfisher, Mutine, Espiegle, Daring, and Osprey. The Kingfisher and Flying Fish are to be built at Pembroke, according to the plan of the Surveyor of the Navy; the Mutine and Espiegle are to be built at Chatham by Mr. Fincham, the Master-builder of the Dockyard there; and the Daring and Osprey are to be built at this dockyard, under the superintendence of Mr. White, of Cowes, the constructor of the Waterwitch. They are all to be of the same tonnage, and to carry the same masts and spars, armament, and stores. They are to be ready for launching by next May; and, as soon as they are completed for sea, they are to have a trial cruise previous to going on a foreign station. Their armament is to consist of 12 32-pounders, medium guns, which they will have instead of the carronades which brigs usually carry.
Ma 31 May 1847	PENANG, April 3. On Monday forenoon the Vernon, 50, Captain Fitzgerald, flag of Rear-Admiral Inglefield, Commander-in-Chief on the East India and China station, and the Acorn, 16, Commander Bingham, were signalled from the Great-hill, coming in to the northward. The Vernon turned the Pulo Tricoose point just at sunset, and saluted the Agincourt, 72, flag of Rear-Admiral Sir T. Cochrane, whose term of service has expired, which the latter returned next morning. On Tuesday morning Admiral Inglefield proceeded to the Government bungalow, on the Great Hill, where Admiral Cochrane is at present residing. The Iris, 26, Captain Munday, is reported to sail for England on Tuesday next. The Vernon, and Dido, 20, Captain Maxwell, were at Penang on the 11 th of April, the latter about proceeding to New Zeeland; the Agincourt, 72, Captain Johnstone, for England; the Daedalus, 20, Captain Quhae, for Hongkong; the Wolf, 18, acting Commander Vansittart, for Lebuan; and the Acorn, 16, Commander Bingham, together with the Hon. Company's steam-sloops Nemesis and Ganges, were in port also at Penang, on the 11th of April. The Vestal, 26, Captain C. Talbot, sailed from China for England on the 4th of March, leaving the Vulture steam-frigate, Captain M'Dougal, senior officer's ship, at Hongkong, until the arrival of Admiral lnglefield, when she will be stationed at Whampoa. The Espiegle, 12, Commander Harris, by the latest advices, was to proceed from Hongkong to Ningpo, after undergoing certain repairs [according to his service record, and his entry in O'Byrnes 1849 'Naval Biographical Dictionary' Thomas Pickering Thompson was in command of this vessel at this time]; the Childers, 16, Commander Pitman, was to proceed to Shanghae; the Ringdove, 16, Commander Clifford, to Amoy; and the Scout, 16, Commander Loring, to Foochowfoo; the last named vessel has captured 39 of the pirates who had been committing so many cruel murders and depredations, the boldness with which they perpetrate which may be judged of from the fact that they do not scruple to openly attack a men of war. The surveying schoonor Young Hebe (ordered to be sold out of Her Majesty's service), whilst at Hongkong under repair and opposite the moorings of the Vestal, 26, was boarded by a pirate boat's crow of nearly 30 men, and was completely gutted. It is said the Scout is to be sent to track the pirates.

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