Name | Ringdove (1856) | Explanation | |
Type | Gunvessel | ||
Launched | 22 February 1856 | ||
Hull | Wooden | ||
Propulsion | Screw | ||
Builders measure | 674 tons | ||
Displacement | |||
Guns | 4 | ||
Fate | 1866 | ||
Class | Vigilant | ||
Ships book | ADM 135/400 | ||
Note | |||
Snippets concerning this vessels career | |||
Date | Event | ||
27 February 1856 - 3 November 1856 | Commanded (from commissioning at Portsmouth until paying off at Portsmouth) by Commander Isaac Newton Thomas Saulez, Portsmouth | ||
20 September 1859 - 15 September 1862 | Commanded by Commander Robert George Craigie, China (including British involvement in Taiping rebellion), until he died | ||
16 September 1862 - 10 November 1864 | Commanded (until paying off at Portsmouth) by Commander Ralph Abercrombie Otho Brown, East Indies and China | ||
Extracts from the Times newspaper | |||
Date | Extract | ||
Th 6 March 1856 | The Comet steamvessel towed the Ringdove despatch gunboat from Cowes to Portsmouth yesterday. | ||
Ma 16 April 1860 | The Third China War.— Preparations have commenced at Hongkong and Shanghai in good earnest. The four vessels from Shanghai which are announced as having sailed under sealed orders comprise Her Majesty’s ships Sampson, Actaeon, Dove, and gunboat Algerine; two of these vessels are well-known surveying vessels, and it is given on good authority that this small expedition is intended to reconnoitre in the Gulf of Pecheli and the mouth of the Peiho. and to take possession of some convenient slip of land which will be serviceable to our troops. A statement is also current that they were despatched to capture some trading junks which had left Shanghai for the Peiho, and supposed to be loaded with arms and ammunition. It is also stated that the Chinese Government are casting heavy guns, and using large quantities of American anthracite coal for this purpose. Guns of the largest calibre have also been imported from the United States. Her Majesty’s ship Impérieuse, 51 guns, bearing the flag of Rear-Admiral Jones, C.B., second in command, left Hongkong for Shanghai on the 22d of February; she took up six boats, each capable of landing 100 men, a large number of tents, and a bridge or pier, which could be made available for landing troops over the mud. She also had on board field-carriages for mounting her 32-pounders, and a large quantity of ammunition and war stores. The British and French naval commanders are engaged at Hongkong in chartering vessels and steamers, organizlng a Chinese coolie corps, and other necessary measures. General Montauban, the French military Commander-in-Chief, had also arrived from France, and the Quartermaster-General of the British Army. From these active operations it may be augured that it is intended to push the expedition north during the present month, in perfect readiness for the decision of Lord Elgin and his French colleague, Baron Gros. The delay in their departure will consequently be a source of great disappointment and anxiety. Nothing of a reliable nature has been heard of the action or intentions of the Court of Pekin, nor of our Ambassador, Mr. Bruce, It Is rumoured that the Taku forts have been dismantled in order to strengthen those at Tien-tin. There have been no further reinforcements from India. The detachment of the 44th Queen’s Regiment, which was announced in our last as having arrived at Singapore, has left that place for Hongkong, in Her Majesty's ship Pearl, and transport Cressy. A portion of the 99th Regiment had arrived at Singapore from Calcutta in the Octavia, towed by the Reynard. The Simoom, with the troops as originally embarked at Portsmouth, had also arrived, and proceeded on to Hongkong with the transports Mars, Octavia, and Jessamine. The Ringdove, Magicienne, Hooghly, and Fury were engaged in towing vessels from the Straits of Malacca up to Singapore. — London and China Telegraph. |