HMS Otter (1837)
HMS Otter (1837)


Royal NavyVessels

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NameOtter (1837)Explanation
TypePacket   
Acquired1837
HullWooden
PropulsionPaddle
Builders measure237 tons
Displacement 
Guns 
Fate1893
Class 
Ships bookADM 135/344
NoteLaunched 1827.
Transferred from Post Office, ex-Wizard.
1854 gunvessel.
1865 tug.
1878 c.h
Snippets concerning this vessels career
DateEvent
1826
- 1844
Commanded by Lieutenant Henry Paget Jones, Holyhead
8 June 1844Commanded by Lieutenant Edward Wylde, Holyhead
21 April 1854Commanded by Lieutenant William Andrew James Heath, the Baltic during the Russian War
10 March 1855
- 25 February 1857
Commanded by Lieutenant John Hawley Glover, transporting troops to Heligoland, then (July 1856) mail to the Cape of Good Hope
(25 February 1857)Commanded by Lieutenant Cortland Herbert Simpson, fishery protection duty in the North Sea
Extracts from the Times newspaper
DateExtract
Fr 9 September 1864The paddlewheel steamer Adder, 2, 100-horse power, Master-Commander W.J. Blakey, having undergone a complete repair to both hull and machinery, has resumed her station at Chatham as tender to the flagship Wellesley, 72, at that port, and is now employed almost exclusively in conveying the officials and workmen to and from the dockyard to the iron-clad frigate Achilles at Gillingham Reach. During the time the Adder was in the shipwrights' hands she was fitted with Lumley's patent rudder, which by direction of the Admiralty had been previously applied to the paddlewheel steamer Otter, 2, employed in Chatham harbour to test the value of the invention when fitted to steamers required for river service. The results of the trials made with the patent rudder on board that vessel have been in the highest degree satisfactory, and such as to justify the Admiralty in directing the application of the principle to other steamvessels. In a crowded and somewhat confined harbour like that at Chatham it is obviously most essential that steamers should be able to answer every touch of their helm instantaneously, while, on the other hand, the steamer should be capable of being steered under such circumstances that the helm should possess the maximum amount of power over the vessel with a minimum amount of resistance, both of which essentials are secured in the patent rudder. The experimental trials made during the last few days with the Adder show that vessels fitted with Lumley's rudder possess steering advantages not possessed by those furnished with the ordinary description of steering apparatus.
Tu 11 October 1864Yesterday the officers, seamen, and Royal Marines belonging to the iron frigate Achilles, 20, 1,250-horse power, Capt. E.W. Vansittart, who have been berthed on board the sailing frigate Gloucester, 50, in Chatham harbour, during the time the ironclad vessel has been fitting for sea, were turned over to the Achilles, the paddlewheel steamers Adder and Otter being employed in the work of conveying the officers and seamen from the one vessel to the other. Only a few mechanics now remain employed on board the iron ship, nearly the whole of the workmen having again resumed their duties at the dockyard, the ironclad frigates Lord Warden and Bellerophon employing the whole resources of the establishment. The Achilles was to be ready to take her departure from Chatham to-day; but late yesterday it was announced that she was not likely to get away from her moorings until to-morrow or the following day, when, according to existing arrangements, she proceeds to the Nore. There she will remain for a few days for the adjustment of her compasses and other matters, proceeding thence to Plymouth for the customary docking before leaving for her first cruise.


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