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| Name | Bacchante (1876) | Explanation | |
| Type | Corvette | ||
| Launched | 19 October 1876 | ||
| Hull | Iron | ||
| Propulsion | Screw | ||
| Builders measure | 2679 tons | ||
| Displacement | 4130 tons | ||
| Guns | 16 | ||
| Fate | 1897 | ||
| Class | Bacchante | ||
| Ships book | ADM 135/34 | ||
| Note | |||
| Snippets concerning this vessels career | |||
| Date | Event | ||
| 15 July 1879 - 31 August 1882 | Commanded (from commissioning at Portsmouth until paying off at Portsmouth) by Captain Charles Thomas Montague Douglas Scott, Detached squadron, and bearing the royal cadets, Albert Victor, duke of Clarence and Avondale, and his younger brother George (later King George V), who made their first cruise in her (September 1879 - May 1880: to Gibraltar and the Mediterranean, Madeira, the Canaries, the West Indies and Bernuda; August 1880 - August 1882: to Ferrol, Madeira, the Cape Verde Islands, the River Plate, the Falkland Islands, the Cape of Good Hope, Australia, Fiji, Japan, Shanghai, Cabton, the Straits Settlements, Ceylon, Cairo, Palestine, Athens, Crete, Corfu, Sicily and Gibraltar) | ||
| 30 March 1885 - 25 February 1888 | Commanded (from commissioning at Portsmouth) by Captain Arthur William Moore, flagship of Rear-Admiral Frederick William Richards, East Indies | ||
| 25 February 1888 | Commanded by Captain Reginald Friend Hannam Henderson, flagship of Rear-Admiral Edmund Robert Fremantle, returning from the East Indies | ||
| Extracts from the Times newspaper | |||
| Date | Extract | ||
| Ma 3 March 1873 | The ships to be in hand at Chatham Dockyard during the year 1873-4 will be — the Rupert, 3, armour-plated ram, to complete; the Superb, 12, armour-plated broadside, to advance, 37-100ths; the Téméraire, armour-plated broadside, to advance 21-100ths; the Raleigh, 22, iron frigate sheathed with wood, to complete; the New Bacchante, 22, iron corvette, covered battery, wood sheathed, to commence; the Ariel and the Zephyr, composite gun-boats, each of 4 guns, to complete; the Albatross, 4, composite sloop, to complete; and the Flying Fish, 4, composite sloop, to advance 34-100ths. The number of men to be employed on these ships is 1,865; while for repairs, manufactures, and yards and harbour services, &c., 1,109 men will be employed. | ||
| Tu 22 April 1873 | Five vessels for the Royal Navy have been completed during the past quarter, and there are 22 others in course of construction at the various Government dockyards and private firms. The vessels completed are the Encounter, screw corvette of 1,890 (1,405) tons, 2,149 (350) horse-power, which has been built at Sheerness; the iron-screw frigate Raleigh of 22 guns, of 4,653 (3,210) tons, 4,000 (800) horse-power, sheathed with wood, which has been completed at Chatham; the Seaflower, a brig for two guns of 454 (425) tons, built at Pembroke; and two four-guns composite gun-boats, the Ariel and Zephyr, of 408 (303) tons, 360 (60) horse-power, launched at Chatham. The new vessels ordered or under construction consist of the composite steam sloop Flying Fish, of four guns, 727 (879) tons, 120 (720) horse-power, building at Chatham; a 14-gun iron screw corvette of 3,451 tons, and 4,750-horse power, and to be named the Rover, building by the Thames Shipbuilding Company at Blackwall; the Superb, a double screw iron armour-plated ship, for 12 guns, of 9,400 tons, and 9,000-horse-power, under construction at Chatham; and four one-gun double screw iron gunboats, of 245 (254) tons, 28 (168) horse-power, to be named the Gadfly, Griper, Pincher, and Tickler, all building at Pembroke. The other vessels under construction are four composite screw sloops of four guns, 804 (727) tons, and 720 (120) horse-power engines — viz., the Albatross, building at Chatham; the Egeria and Fantome, building at Pembroke, and the Daring at Messrs. Money Wigram and Co.'s, Blackwall; two 14-gun screw corvettes, the Amethyst and Modeste, both building at Devonport; the Assistance, an iron steam troopship, of 2,038 tons, and 1,409-horse power, ordered of Messrs. Green, of Blackwall; two iron screw corvettes, of 14 guns each, cased with wood, 3,912 (2,679) tons, 5,250 (700) horse-power, both under construction at Portsmouth, and to he named the Bacchante and Boadicea; the Blonde, of 26 guns, an iron screw frigate, cased with wood, of 5,696 (4,039) tons, and 1,000-horse power, also building at Portsmouth; the armour-plated turret-ship Fury [renamed Dreadnought prior to launch], to carry four guns, 10,464 (5,030) tons, 7,000 (1,000) hone-power, being built at Pembroke; a composite steam sloop, of four guns, 894 (727) tons, 720 (120) horse-power, to be named the Sappho, building at Blackball by Messrs. Money Wigram and Co.; and three double screw iron gunboats, carrying one gun each, of 254 (245) tons, 168 (28) horse-power, named the Cuckoo, Hyæna, and Weasel, all being built by Messrs. Laird, of Birkenhead. | ||
| Th 28 August 1873 | In addition to the ships lately ordered to be constructed for Her Majesty's Navy, which appeared in The Times on Thursday last, the following are at present under construction at the various Government dockyards and by private firms:— Three composite screw sloops of 894 (727) tons and 720 (120)-horse power engines, to carry four guns each, to be named the Albatross, just launched at Chatham Dockyard; the Daring, building at Messrs. Money Wjgram and Sons', Blackwall; and the Egeria, under construction at Pembroke Dockyard. An iron steam troopship of two guns, 2,038 tons and 130-horse power engines, being built by Messrs. R. and H. Green, of Blackwall, to be named the Assistance. Two 14-gun iron screw corvettes, cased with wood, of 3,906 (2,679) tons, and 5,230 (700)-horse power engines, both being built in Portsmouth Dockyard, and to be called the Bacchante and the Boadicea; an iron screw frigate, cased with wood, of 5,696 (4,039) tons and 4,500 (l,000)-horse power engines, designed to carry 26 guns, to be named the Shah, and to be launched at Portsmouth early next month; the Flying Fish, a composite screw sloop, for four guns, of 727 (879) tons and 120 (720)-horse power engines, building at Chatham; an armour-plated turret ship, of 10,886 (5,030) tons and 7,000 (l,000)-horse power engines, to be named the Fury [renamed Dreadnought prior to launch], and designed to carry four "Woolwich Infants," 35-ton guns, being built at Pembroke Dockyard; a 14-gun iron screw corvette, of 3.451 tons and 4.750-horse power engines, to be named the Rover, and building by the Thames Shipbuilding Company, at Blackwall; a composite steam sloop for 4 guns, of 894 (727) tons, and 720 (120)-horse power engines, building by Messrs. Money Wigram and Sons, at Blackwall, to be named the Sappho; a double screw iron armour-plated ship for 12 guns, to be called the Superb, of 9,400 tuns, and 9,000-horse power engines, under construction at Chatham Dockyard; and eight double-screw iron gunboats, to carry one gun each, of 254 (245) tons, and 168 (23)-horse power engines, to be named the Ant, Cuckoo, Gadfly, Griper, Hyaena, Pincher, Tickler, and Weasel, four building at Pembroke Dockyard, and four by Messrs. Laird, of Birkenhead. | ||
| We 26 November 1884 | The unarmoured corvette Bacchante went out of Portsmouth harbour yesterday morning for a full-power trial of her machinery. After the engines had been worked up to the requisite number of revolutions, so dense a fog settled upon the water that it was not deemed advisable to make the intended runs upon the measured mile in Stokes Bay. During the day the opportunity was taken advantage of to try the effect of the fire of the breechloading guns upon their Vavassour mountings. Although the improved armament of the Bacchante comprises 21 guns, varying from 7-inch to 6-pounders, only four are breechloaders, As in the case of the Active, these consist of 6-inch Armstrongs, two being fitted on each broadside. The four guns were each fired with a 7lb. scaling charge, a full charge of 17lb., and a battering charge of 34lb. The result of the test was satisfactory, and the impression has become general that the neglect of the scaling charge caused the explosion on board the Active. The Bacchante returned into harbour in the evening. The engine trial will be resumed to-morrow. | ||
| Fr 28 November 1884 | The Bacchante, unarmoured corvette, after undergoing a thorough overhaul of her hull, fittings, and machinery at Portsmouth, went out of harbour yesterday morning for a measured mile trial of her engines, The wind was blowing strongly at the time from the westward, and consequently up the course in Stokes Bay. The trim of the ship was light, her draught forward being 19ft. 4in. and aft 22ft. 6in. Four runs with and against the wind and tide were made with the following satisfactory results: - Steam in boilers 72lb.; revolutions, 74 per minute; horse-power, high, 2,288∙8, low, 2,838∙5; total indicated, 5,127∙3 horses. The mean speed realized was 14∙47 knots. There was an abundance of steam, the safety valves lifting at 70lb., and from the gross result it will be perceived that the power developed was only 292 horses less than at the trial when everything was new. The engines are by Messrs. Rennie. After having been underway three hours the Bacchante returned into harbour, and will be pushed forward in readiness for her second commission, when she will relieve the Euryalus as flagship on the East India Station. | ||
| Ma 30 March 1885 | The Bacchante, unarmoured corvette, is to be commissioned by Captain Moore on the 14th, but with respect to her there is no mystery, as she is intended to relieve the Audacious [shoud be: Euryalus] on the East India station and to hoist the flag of Admiral Sir Frederick Richards. | ||
| Ma 30 March 1885 | The Bacchante, unarmoured corvette, will he commissioned at Portsmouth on the 14th prox. by Captain Moor, last in command of the Firefly, as the flagship of Admiral Sir Frederick Richards in the East Indies. The Euryalus, which was recommissioned at Malta in January, 1882, will return to England on being relieved by the Bacchante. | ||
| Tu 14 April 1885 | Admiral Sir F. Richards made an inspection of his flag ship, the Bacchante, at Portsmouth, yesterday morning. She is to be commissioned this morning for the East India station. | ||
| We 15 April 1885 | The Bacchante, unarmoured corvette, has been commissioned at Portsmouth as the flagship of Rear-Admiral Sir F. Richards, who succeeds Admiral Sir William Hewett in the command of the East India station. The Euryalus, which was re-commissioned at Malta on the 27th January, 1882, will return to England on being relieved. | ||
| Fr 17 April 1885 | At Portsmouth the work of preparation goes briskly forward. In addition to the multitude of hired artificers who have been engaged under the extra grant of money, pensioners are being pressed into the service, and between 300 and 400 men have been transferred from the Steam Reserve, and 100 bluejackets from the Excellent, to the dockyard departments, to accelerate the completion of ships of war. Considerable progress has been made in the provision of the new breech-loaders to the unarmoured ships of the Bacchante, Gem, and Comus class fitting out, and the men employed at the torpedo workshops are working extra hours, in replenishing our stock of an instrument of warfare, which, though it has not before been tried on an extensive scale, is expected to play a part no less terrible than prominent in all future naval operations. | ||
| Th 23 April 1885 | The Bacchante will leave the harbour on Monday and take in her powder and shell at Spithead previous to leaving for China. She was moored in the stream yesterday morning to prevent desertions among her crew, seven having run away. It is not the intention of Admiral Richards to hoist his flag on board the Bacchante at Portsmouth, as he purposes proceeding to his station by overland route. | ||
| Th 30 April 1885 | The unarmoured corvette Bacchante, Captain Moore, made a satisfactory three hours’ full-power trial of her machinery on Tuesday morning previous to starting for her station. Her sea trim showed her to have a draught of 22ft. 4in. forward, and 24ft. 2in. aft. The mean pressure of steam in the boilers was 73lb. and the revolutions 72. Under these conditions the engines developed 4,655∙4-horse power and a mean speed of 14∙268 knots an hour was realized. The Bacchante is expected to leave Spithead, where she now remains, to-morrow for the East Indies to relieve the Euryalus as flagship. | ||
| Sa 2 May 1885 | The Bacchante, Captain Moore, sailed from Spithead yesterday morning for the East India Station, where she will hoist the flag of Rear-Admiral Richards. | ||
| Th 14 May 1885 | A Reuter telegram, dated Malta, May 13, says: - Her Majesty’s Ironclad Téméraire left to-day for Port Said. Her Majesty’s turret ship Neptune has arrived here from Portsmouth. Her Majesty’s corvette Bacchante sailed hence to-day for Port Said. | ||
| Th 18 June 1885 | Rear-Admiral Sir F.W. Richards, K.C.B., Commander-in-Chief on the East Indies Station, sailed on Tuesday last from Aden in the Bacchante, flagship, with the Reindeer, for Colombo and Trincomalee. A Reuter telegram, dated Gibraltar, June 17, says:- "Her Majesty’s frigate Euryalus passed here to-day, going west. The armed cruiser Oregon has arrived." | ||
| Th 25 June 1885 | The Euryalus, Capt. Hastings, having been relieved on the East India Station by the Bacchante, and the Boadicea. Capt. Church, which has been relieved at the Cape by the Raleigh, are shortly expected at Spithead. The former will be paid out of commission at Sheeness and the latter at Portsmouth. | ||
| We 1 July 1885 | Rear-Admiral Sir Frederick W. Richards, K.C.B., Commander-in-Chief in the East Indies, in the Bacchante with the Reindeer, arrived at Trincomalee from Aden on Sunday last. | ||
| We 23 September 1885 | Letters received at the Admiralty from Rear-Admiral Sir F.W. Richards, K.C.B., Commander-in-chief on the East Indies station, up to the 29th ult, state that the Bacchante, flagship, would start from Colombo on the 5th inst. on a cruise and would visit Diego, Garcia, Mauritius, Tamatave, Johanna, Zanzibar, and Seychelles, arriving at Bombay on the 19th of November. The Turquoise was to return to Trincomalee in the course of a few days, and would assume the duties of senior officer’s ship in the Bay of Bengal on the departure of the Bacchante. The Philomel, at Colombo, would leave on the 3d inst. for Bombay and the Persian Gulf. The Briton, at Trincomalee, would leave for Zanzibar about the 5th inst. to assume the duties of senior officer’s ship on the East Coast of Africa. The Woodlark, at Thayetruyo, was to leave on the 25th of August, and return to Rangoon. | ||
| We 21 October 1885 | Rear Admiral Sir F.W. Richards, K.C.B., Commander-in-Chief on the East Indies Station, arrived in the Bacchante, flagship, at Zanzibar, on Monday last. | ||
| Ma 26 October 1885 | BURMAH. RANGOON, Oct. 24. The preparations for war continue. The police garrison the stockades on the British frontier beyond Thayetmyo, while the Goorkha police hold the Aeng Pass, through the Youma mountains, in Arrakan. The Burmese army, under Bandula, crossed the Aeng Pass in the first Burmese war. | ||
| Th 12 November 1885 | Rear-Admiral Sir Frederick W. Richards, K.C.B., Commander-in-Chief on the East India Station, in the Baccchante, arrived at Trincomalee yesterday, and is to pro ceed to Rangoon to-morrow. | ||
| Sa 21 November 1885 | Rear-Admiral Sir Frederick W. Richards, K.C.B., Commander-in-Chief on the East Indies Station, arrived at Rangoon in the Bacchante, flagship, onThursday last. | ||
| Th 31 December 1885 | The commander-in-chief on the East Indies stations, Rear-Admiral Sir Frederick W. Richards, K.C.B., was in the Bacchante at Rangoon on the 29th ult. The Turquoise, the Woodlark, the Sphinx, and the Mariner were at Rangoon. | ||
| Sa 30 January 1886 | Rear-Admiral Sir Frederick W. Richards, K.C.B., Commander-in-Chief of the East India station, in the Bacchante, at Rangoon, up to the 1st inst., supplies the Admiralty with the following movements of Her Majesty’s ships on that station:- The Commander-in-Chief was to leave Rangoon in the Sphinx on the 5th of January, and visit Akyab, Chittagong, and Calcutta, arriving there on the 13th inst. The Turquoise, the Woodlark, and Ranger were at Rangoon, the last-named vessel having arrived at Trincomalee with a draft of supernumeraries from the British India steamer Rena. The Mariner, at Rangoon, would shortly proceed to Moulmein. The Briton, senior officer’s ship, on the East Coast of Africa division, at Zanzibar, on the 29th of December, was placed at the disposal of Col. Kitchener, Boundary Commissioner, to convey him to the various ports on the East Coast if desired. The Dragon, at Mauritius, would return to Zanzibar about the end of January; the Osprey was at Bushire; and the Philomel at Bussorah. | ||
| Ma 26 March 1888 | The Admiralty have issued instructions for the Boadicea, 14, second-class screw cruiser, 4,40 tons, 5,130-horse power, to be commissioned the first week in April by Captain the Hon. Assheton G. Curzon Howe, late of the Royal yacht Osborne, for the relief of the Bacchante, cruiser, as flagship of the Commmander-in-Chief of the East Indies station. | ||
| Ma 26 March 1888 | The Admiralty have issued instructions for the Boadicea, 14, second-class screw cruiser, 4,40 tons, 5,130-horse power, to be commissioned the first week in April by Captain the Hon. Assheton G. Curzon Howe, late of the Royal yacht Osborne, for the relief of the Bacchante, cruiser, as flagship of the Commmander-in-Chief of the East Indies station. | ||
| Th 26 April 1888 | The unarmoured corvette Boadicea, has been commissioned at Portsmouth by Captain Curzon Howe, with a crew of 426 officers and men, as flagship for the East India station. During her refit two of her armament of 14 7-inch muzzleloaders have been changed for the same number of 5-inch breechloaders, while the couple of 64 pounders which she formerly carried, have been superseded by four quick-firing guns. She is also provided with 11 machine-guns. It has not been deemed necessary to fit her with torpedo booms as she will take over those of the Bacchante on arriving at her station. | ||
| Fr 11 May 1888 | The Boadicea, Captain Curzon Howe, which is to relieve the Bacchante in the East Indies, left Portsmouth yesterday for her station. | ||
| Ma 14 May 1888 | The Boadicea, which, as already stated, left Portsmouth on Thursday for the East India station, made a very successful six hours’ full-power run of her machinery on her way to Plymouth. As the stokeholds were worked by her ordinary complement of stokers, the mean power developed was less than at the three hours’ trial before starting. The average amounted to 3,500 horses, and the speed realized was 13∙8 knots. There was a little priming, but this would wear off as the boilers get used. She left on Friday for her station, and was expected to meet the Bacchante at the Mauritius. | ||
| Ma 6 August 1888 | Her Majesty’s cruiser Bacchante arrived at Durban on Friday last and sailed the same day. | ||
| Th 9 August 1888 | A Reuter telegram, dated Cape Town, Aug. 7, says Her Majesty’s cruiser Bacchante has arrived in Simon’s Bay. | ||
| Fr 14 September 1888 | Her Majesty's second-class cruiser Bacchante, Capt. E.F.H. Henderson, lately flagship of the Commander-in-Chief on the East Indies Station, arrived at St. Helena on the 27th ult. homeward bound. | ||
| Ma 17 September 1888 | Her Majesty’s ship Bacchante, Captain R.F. Henderson, was to leave St. Vincent, Cape Verd, on Saturday last, homeward bound from the East Indies station. | ||
| Fr 9 November 1888 | The Bacchante, unarmoured cruiser, which has been relieved by the Boadicea on the East India Station, has been paid out of commission at Portsmouth into the second division of the reserve. Under the new regulations the ship was restored by her own crew to nearly the same state as she was in before being dismantled. The men have been granted leave until the 27th prox. It is probable that the Bacchante will take the place of the Devastation at Queensferry, while the latter is having new engines placed on board. | ||
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