Mid-Victorian RN vessel HMS Queen

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William Loney RN - Background

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Browse mid-Victorian RN vessels: A; B; C; D; E - F; G - H; I - L; M; N - P; Q - R; S; T - U; V - Z; ??

Name	Queen	Explanation
Type	1st rate	Type	Two-decker
Launched (Sail)	15 May 1839	Converted to screw	5 April 1859
Hull	Wooden	Length	216 feet
Propulsion	Sail	Men	830
Builders measure	3104 tons	Builders measure (as screw)	3249 tons
Displacement		Displacement (as screw)	3930 tons
Guns	110	Guns (as screw)	86
Fate	1871	Last in commission	1863
Class
Ships book	ADM 135/380
Snippets concerning career prior to conversion
Date	Event
12 April 1839	= Queen (laid down as Royal Frederick).
15 May 1839	Launched as 1st rate sailing ship at Portsmouth Dockyard.
(January 1840)	Out of commission at Portsmouth
1 October 1840 - 13 March 1841	Commanded by Captain John William Montagu, flagship of Admiral Edward Codrington, Portsmouth
13 March 1841 - 30 September 1841	Commanded by Captain Henry John Codrington, flagship of Admiral Edward Codrington (his father), Portsmouth
30 September 1841	Commanded by Captain George Frederick Rich, flagship of Vice-Admiral Edward William Campbell Rich Owen, Mediterranean
(May 1842) - 14 February 1843	Commanded by Acting Captain Hastings Reginald Henry, flagship of Vice-Admiral Edward William Campbell Rich Owen, Mediterranean
16 January 1843 - 21 April 1844	Commanded by Captain George Frederick Rich, flagship of Vice-Admiral Edward William Campbell Rich Owen, Mediterranean
22 April 1844 - 11 July 1844	Commanded (until paying off at Portsmouth) by Captain Charles Sullivan, Mediterranean
19 July 1844 - 31 January 1845	Commanded (until paying off) by Captain William Fanshawe Martin, flagship of Vice-Admiral John Chambers White, Sheerness
16 April 1845 - October 1845	Commanded (from commissioning at Chatham) by Captain Baldwin Wake Walker, flagship of Admiral John West, Devonport (and 1845 experimental squadron)
18 October 1845 - 26 November 1847	Commanded by Captain Henry John Leeke, 1845-1846 experimental squadrons, then flagship of Sir John West, Devonport
26 November 1847 - 26 May 1849	Commanded (until paying off at Plymouth) by Captain Henry William Bruce, Mediterranean
22 June 1849	Commanded by Captain Charles Wise, flagship of Vice-Admiral William Parker, Mediterranean
3 July 1852 - 11 July 1855	Commanded (from commissioning at Plymouth) by Captain Frederick Thomas Michell, Mediterranean
11 July 1855 - 15 August 1856	Commanded (until paying off at Portsmouth) by Captain Robert Fanshawe Stopford, Mediterranean
Career as unarmoured wooden screw vessel
Date	Event
5 April 1859	Undocked as screw at Sheerness Dockyard.
17 November 1859	Commanded (from commissioning at Portsmouth until paying off at Portsmouth) by Captain Charles Farrell Hillyar, Mediterranean
1871	Sold to Castle for breaking up at Rotherhithe.
*Extracts from the Times* newspaper**
Date	Extract
(various)	The 1844 Experimental squadron.
(various)	The 1845 Experimental squadron.
(various)	The 1846 Experimental squadron.
(various)	The 1853 Royal Naval review.
Th 23 February 1860	The screw steam frigate Diadem, 32, Capt. James H. Cockburn, arrived at Portland on Tuesday from Portsmouth. A portion of the Channel fleet is expected to leave that harbour in a few days for the Tagus. The vessels now in port are the Royal Albert, 121; Edgar, 91; Queen, 91; Algiers, 91: Donegal, 101; Hero, 91; Trafalgar, 91; Melpomene, 51; Mersey, 40; Diadem, 32; Blenheim, 60; Mutine, 17; Greyhound, 17; Biter, 2; and the Partridge, 2.
Fr 24 February 1860	We learn by electric telegraph that the Channel fleet, consisting of the Royal Albert, Edgar, Donegal, Algiers, Trafalgar, Queen, Mersey, Melpomene, and Diadem, left Portland at noon yesterday, under sail, for Lisbon.
Fr 2 March 1860	A letter dated Torbay, Tuesday, received at Plymouth, from one of the officers of the Channel squadron, says that off the Lizard the ships were taken all aback, and could not again form a line. The Edgar, Queen, and Donegal remained out. Besides the casualties to the Queen, Diadem, Algiers, and Mersey, already reported in The Times, the letter states that the Aboukir lost her cross-jack yard and starboard quarter-boats, the Royal Albert pitched her jib-boom under at times, and the Trafalgar lost her jib-boom; she will probably call at Plymouth before proceeding to the Tagus.
We 4 April 1860	A portion of the Channel Fleet, consisting of the screw steamships Royal Albert, 121, Capt. Henry J. Lacon, bearing the flag of Admiral Sir Charles Fremantle, K.C.B.; the Donegal, 101, Capt. Henry Broadhead; the Aboukir, 90, Capt. Charles F. Schomberg; and the screw steam-frigate Melpomene, 51, Capt. Charles J.F. Ewart, hove in sight at Plymouth about 6 o'clock yesterday (Tuesday) morning, with the wind from the westward, a smart breeze. They came in from sea under their three topsails, and on reaching the west end of the breakwater took in all canvas, and proceeded under steam to the anchorage ground, the flagship taking her position well to the westward. At 8 o'clock the flag of Port Admiral Sir Barrington Reynolds, K.C.B., was honoured by a salute, which was acknowledged by the Impregnable, 104, Capt. Stewart, in Hamoaze. This portion of the Channel fleet left Lisbon on Friday, March the 23d, in company with the screw steamships Edgar, 91, Capt. James E. Katon; Algiers, 91, Capt. George W.D. O'Callaghan; Queen, 86, Capt. Charles F. Hillyar; Mars, 80, Capt. James N. Strange; and the screw steam-frigate Mersey, 40, Capt. Henry Caldwell, C.B. The Edgar carried away her main topsailyard on Sunday morning, when crossing the Bay of Biscay. The Edgar and Mersey have lost a man each overboard. On Monday night, off the Lizard, the Edgar, Algiers, Queen, Mars, and Mersey parted company, and proceeded up Channel for Portsmouth. Very fine weather was experienced at first, but within the last four days strong gales from west-north-west have prevailed, with extraordinary heavy seas. All the ships are reported leaky; the Royal Albert will require a thorough caulking. Two Dutch ships of war were in the Tagus.
Th 5 April 1860	The Second Division of the Channel fleet, comprising the Edgar, 91, screw, Capt. James E. Katon, bearing the flag of Rear-Admiral of the Blue John E. Erskine; the Queen, 86, screw, Capt. C.F. Hillyar; the Algiers, 91, screw, Capt. G.W.D. O'Callaghan; the Mars, 80, screw, Capt. J.N. Strange; and the Mersey, 40, screw, Capt. H. Caldwell, C.B., steamed into Spithead from the Channel yesterday morning by the eastern entrance in the order named. The Edgar having anchored, each succeeding ship steamed to the westward of the flagship, and, rounding to, proceeded to their respective positions. The Queen took up the eastern berth of the line, a-head of the Edgar. To the westward of the Edgar the Algiers anchored, and the Mars took up the western berth. The four liners are thus moored in a line from south-east to north-west. The Mersey frigate brought up in deeper water on the outside of the line. Soon after the ships came in sight the customary salutes were exchanged between the Edgar, flagship of Rear-Admiral Erskine, and the Victory, flagship of the Commander-in-Chief, Vice-Admiral Bruce. The Sprightly and Pigmy steam tenders were despatched from the harbour to Spithead on the fleet's arrival. Sails were unbent on Tuesday on board that portion of the Channel squadron which arrived in Plymouth Sound the same day from Lisbon, and measures are in progress for their immediate refitment. Those ships previously in the Sound sent up topgallantmasts and yards, and loosed sails to dry. The Conqueror, 101, Capt. Sotheby, steamed into Hamoaze and brought up off Keyham; she was appointed to go into dock yesterday (Wednesday).
We 11 April 1860	The portion of the Channel fleet anchored at Spithead, under the command of Rear-Admiral John E. Erskine, and consisting of the Edgar, the Algiers, the Queen, the Mars, and the Mersey, has been inspected by the officials of the steam and shipwright departments, and their report of defects of the different ships, and the repairs recommended to be carried out, has been forwarded to the Admiralty. The whole of the five vessels, as we before stated, are in need of repairs to both hull and machinery. The Mersey's required repairs in the last-named department are likely to prove of a very extensive character, and necessarily involve a large outlay before she can be again pronounced fit for foreign service. The Queen's repairs have been taken in hand by the Steam Factory Department. The Algiers, it is expected, will proceed to Keyham, where she will be placed in dock to repair the defects in her stern, &c. It is rumoured that the Duke of Wellington, 131, screw, in the first-class steam reserve in Portsmouth harbour, will be commissioned to receive the flag of the Admiral commanding the Channel Fleet, the Royal Albert's defects requiring remedy. The Duke may be pronounced fit for 18 months, or, perhaps, two years' service, if worked carefully and no accident occurring; but at the end of that time she would require new boilers and very extensive repairs to both hull and engines. As she is not in a sufficiently healthy condition of hull, boilers, and engines, to be sent on a foreign station for a three years' cruise, it is very probable that the rumour concerning her may be verified, and that she may carry Admiral Fremantle's flag in the Channel Fleet.

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