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| Name | Perseus (1861) | Explanation | |
| Type | Sloop (1862: Corvette) | ||
| Launched | 21 August 1861 | ||
| Hull | Wooden | Length | 185 feet |
| Propulsion | Screw | Men | 180 |
| Builders measure | 955 tons | ||
| Displacement | 1365 tons | ||
| Guns | 17 | ||
| Fate | 1931 | Last in commission | 1869 |
| Class | Camelion | ||
| Ships book | |||
| Career | |||
| Date | Event | ||
| 21 August 1861 | Launched at Pembroke Dockyard | ||
| 24 September 1862 - 12 September 1864 | Commanded (from commissioning at Plymouth) by Commander Augustus John Kingston, China (including the bombardments of Kagoshima and Simonoseki) | ||
| 13 September 1864 - 20 November 1864 | Commanded by Acting Commander William Henry Cuming, China | ||
| 21 November 1864 - 22 March 1865 | Commanded by Commander William Henry Cuming, China | ||
| 29 January 1866 - 13 October 1869 | Commanded (from commissioning until paying off) by Commander Charles Edward Stevens, China | ||
| (1879) | Used for scrubbing hammocks &c. for Cambridge, Devonport | ||
| (1890) | Attached to Defiance for torpedo instructional purposes, Devonport | ||
| 1904 | Renamed Defiance II | ||
| 26 June 1931 | Sold | ||
| Extracts from the Times newspaper | |||
| Date | Extract | ||
| We 4 December 1861 | In addition to the Orlando, 51, nearly ready, the following ships of war at Devonport are ordered to be prepared for sea:- The screw steam frigate Phoebe, 51, in the second division, not rigged; the new screw steam sloop Perseus, 17, machinery in; the paddlewheel steam sloop Magicienne, 16, at present under the crane at Keyham steam-yard receiving her machinery, and expected to be ready in a month; and the paddlewheel steam vessel Styx, 6, in No. 1 dock at Keyham, repairing, and likely to be ready in about three weeks. It was intended to bring the Orlando yesterday afternoon from the northern part of Hamoaze to the vicinity of the dock-yard, to facilitate her despatch; she will probably be docked to have her bottom cleaned. The Phoebe is receiving coal, and is already getting her masts on end. The Perseus, 17, is to be armed with short 40-poundcr Armstrong guns; she was placed yesterday in No. 3 dock at Keyham to be coppered and have her propeller adjusted. The Admiralty have now advertised for the following additional artisans and others for the public establishments at Devonport:- 150 shipwrights, 23 joiners, 14 smiths, 14 caulkers, 17 other trades, and 150 labourers, in all 368 men, to be entered at once. Notwithstanding the shortness of the notice, by 10 o'clock yesterday morning there were between 300 and 400 applicants for employment at the gates of the dockyard. | ||
| We 18 December 1861 | The artisans of the Devonport dockyard continue busily occupied in forwarding the Orlando, the Phoebe, the Magicienne, the Styx, the Satellite and the Perseus. | ||
| (various) | this gets replaced | ||
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