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HMS Rodney (1833)

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For other ships with the same name, see HMS Rodney.

Bombardment Of Sebastopol by HMS Rodney, showing HMS Spiteful – a 6-gun steam sloop on her starboard side[1] (17 October 1854, Crimean War)
History
United Kingdom
NameHMS Rodney
BuilderPembroke Dockyard
Laid downJuly 1827
Launched18 June 1833
Commissioned29 August 1835
FateBroken up, February 1884
General characteristics [2]
Class and typeRodney-class ship of the line
Tons burthen2598 bm
Length205 ft 6 in (62.64 m) (gundeck)
Beam54 ft 5 in (16.59 m)
Depth of hold23 ft 2 in (7.06 m)
PropulsionSails (and steam, after 1860)
Sail planFull-rigged ship
Complement850 men
Armament
  • As second rate, 90 guns:
    • Gundeck: 30 × 32 pdrs, 2 × 68 pdr carronades
    • Upper gundeck: 34 × 32 pdrs
    • Quarterdeck: 26 × 32 pdrs

HMS Rodney was a two-deck 90-gun second-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. Launched in 1833, she was broken up in 1884.

History

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Rodney leaving Barcelona 1837, by Nicolas S. Cammillieri
Rodney and the Allied Fleets anchored in the Bosphorus, late 1853; the prelude to the Crimean war. Amedeo Preziosi

Rodney was launched on 18 June 1833 at Pembroke Dockyard.[2] She was based on a design by Robert Seppings and used his diagonal bracing (short timber) construction.

The majority of her commissions saw active service in the Mediterranean Sea, but she also served in the Black Sea during the Crimean War (1853–1856), and after being converted to a steam and screw propelled vessel, served in China as the flagship of Vice-Admiral Henry Keppel, commanded by captain Algernon Heneage from 21 January 1867.

Rodney was the ship where William Hall, later to become the first Black man and one of the first Canadians to win the Victoria Cross, began his naval career in 1852.[3] On 29 October 1853, she ran aground in the Dardanelles. She was refloated with assistance from HMS Firebrand.[4]

Rodney was fitted with screw propulsion in 1860, completed on 11 January, and was the last unarmoured wooden battleship in full commission. She was broken up in 1882.[2]

Captains who commanded Rodney

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Over the decades after Rodney's launch, eight captains commanded her:

List of Captains
Captain From Until
Captain Hyde Parker 29 August 1835 12 May 1840
Captain Robert Maunsell 13 May 1840 16 October 1843
Captain Edward Collier 4 February 1845 8 March 1849
Captain Charles Graham 6 August 1851 22 November 1854
Captain George St Vincent King 22 November 1854 21 July 1855
Captain Henry Keppel 21 July 1855 24 January 1856
Captain George Knyvett Wilson[5] 24 January 1856 20 August 1856
Captain Algernon Charles Fieschi Heneage 21 January 1867 27 April 1870
The midship section and disposition of Rodney's guns. Notice the amount of tumble-home which the top-sides of the hull possess.

Notes

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  1. ^ http://sites.rootsweb.com/~pbtyc/Hurrah/Chap_03.htm Benyon
  2. ^ a b c Lavery, Ships of the Line vol.1, p190.
  3. ^ David W. States, "William Hall VC of Horton Bluff, Nova Scotia Nineteenth Century Naval Hero", Collections of the Royal Nova Scotia Historical Society Vol. 44, p. 73
  4. ^ "The Combined Fleets of England and France". The Morning Chronicle. No. 27117. London. 21 November 1853.
  5. ^ For more on George Knyvett Wilson see: O'Byrne, William R. (1849). "Wilson, George Knyvett" . A Naval Biographical Dictionary. London: John Murray.

References

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