HMS Driver (1840)
HMS Driver (1840)


Royal NavyVessels

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NameDriver (1840)Explanation
Type1st class sloop   
Launched24 December 1840
HullWooden
PropulsionPaddle
Builders measure1055 tons
Displacement1379 tons
Guns6
Fate1861
Class 
Ships book
Note1861.08 wrecked Mariguana Island
Snippets concerning this vessels career
DateEvent
30 August 1841
- 16 April 1843
Commanded by Commander Samuel Fielding Harmer, East Indies (until he died)
14 June 1843
- 23 May 1847
Commanded (until paying off at Woolwich) by Commander Courtenay Osburn Hayes, East Indies
August 1848
- September 1848
Commanded by Act. Lieutenant commander Edward King Barnard
16 September 1848
- 9 May 1852
Commanded (until paying off at Woolwich) by Commander Charles Richardson Johnson, Pacific
25 February 1852
- 4 December 1854
Commanded by Commander Arthur Auckland Leopold Pedro Cochrane, the Baltic during the Russian War
March 1853Commanded by Master commander Cornelius Fox, Chatham
12 September 1854Commanded by Commander Edward Bridges Rice, particular service
(1 March 1855)
- 10 May 1856
Commanded by Commander Alan Henry Gardner, the Baltic during the Russian War
23 March 1856Commanded by Commander Ennis Chambers, particular service
Extracts from the Times newspaper
DateExtract
Sa 15 May 1847

PORTSMOUTH, May 14.

The Driver steam stoop, Commander C.O. Hayes, arrived at Spithead this afternoon from New Zealand and Rio, having left the former place on the 28th of January and the latter on the 27th of March.
The Driver was commissioned on the 30th of August, 1841, since which period she has been employed on the East India and China station, until September, 1845, when she was ordered to New Zealand, having been employed on that station upwards of 12 months, performing most valuable and important services. She has been in commission longer than any vessel since the peace, surveying vessels perhaps excepted, and is the first steam vessel that has circumnavigated the globe.
She sailed from Auckland, New Zealand, on the afternoon of the 28th of January, having been relieved by the Inflexible steam sloop, Commander Hoseason, on the 25th. She arrived off the entrance of the Straits of Magellan on the 2d of March, but thick hazy weather prevented her attempting them, so she bore up and steamed round Cape Horn, being only 35 days from New Zealand. She arrived at Rio on the 22d of March, at which time the Satellite, 18, Commander Rowley, was beating out round to the river Plate. The Curaçoa, 24, Captain Broughton, was at anchor, expecting relief daily. The Driver completed coal and water, and sailed from Rio on the 27th of March. During her passage home she had four deaths, namely, Mr. J.G. Nops, late master of the Racehorse, on the 12th of February; Mr. Goodman, late carpenter of the Racehorse, on the 5th of March, from the bursting of a blood vessel; James Bothway, stoker of the Driver, found dead under his mess table on the afternoon of the 9th of April, of apoplexy; James Croker, seaman of the Driver, on the 1st of April, from locked jaw, occasioned by a wound received in the foot when assisting in turning the wheel of the engine whilst at Rio. The Driver has lost 32 men by death and 47 by invaliding during the period of her commission; many of the latter died on their passage home from China. She has gone over a distance of 75,696 miles. Commander Maxwell Falcon, late first lieutenant of the Castor, came home passenger. She brings home invalids from the Castor, 26, Captain Graham; Calliope, 26, Captain Stanley; Racehorse,18, Commander Sotheby ; and the Inflexible. At the time of her departure the Calliope and Racehorse were at Wellington, the Castor and Inflexible at Auckland. The only officers who left England in the Driver and returned in her are — the first lieutenant, master, surgeon, and purser. She came into harbour this evening to replenish fuel, prior to going to the eastward to be paid off.
Ma 17 May 1847

PORTSMOUTH, May 16.

The Driver steam sloop, Captain Hayes, having coaled, left the harbour yesterday afternoon and proceeded to Woolwich to be paid off. She took with her the officers and crew of the Amphion screw steam frigate, who have been navigating the Odin during her "relief service." When the Driver left Rio Commodore Herbert's squadron in the river Plate were all well; the crews and marines still ashore, protecting British property — consequently, there are no cruizers to prevent the slave traffic, and slaves were being landed in thousands along the unwatched parts of the coast with the most commercial coolness. She reports that the Inflexible steam sloop, Commander Hoseason, had run from the Cape to Port Jackson, Sydney, a distance of 6,392 miles in 35 days 6 hours.
We 19 May 1847The Driver steam sloop, Commander O. Hays (captain), arrived at Woolwich on Sunday, from Portsmouth and the East India station.
Th 27 May 1847

WOOLWICH, May 26.

The Driver, steam-sloop, Captain C.O. Hayes commander, was paid off yesterday at Woolwich, on het return from the East India and China station.


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