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| Name | Sappho (1837) | Explanation | |
| Type | Brig-sloop | ||
| Launched | 3 February 1837 | ||
| Hull | Wooden | ||
| Propulsion | Sail | ||
| Builders measure | 428 tons | ||
| Displacement | |||
| Guns | 16 | ||
| Fate | 1858 | ||
| Class | |||
| Ships book | |||
| Note | Foundered on Australian station | ||
| Snippets concerning this vessels career | |||
| Date | Event | ||
| 28 February 1837 - 23 November 1841 | Commanded by Commander Thomas Fraser, West Indies | ||
| 18 March 1843 - 25 October 1845 | Commanded by Commander George Hope, Cape of Good Hope | ||
| 15 August 1845 - 31 October 1846 | Commanded by Commander Robert Fitzgerald Gambier, Cape of Good Hope | ||
| 13 February 1849 - 16 March 1850 | Commanded by Commander Reynell Charles Michell, North America and West Indies (until Michell was dismissed by court-martial after Sappho struck on a reef off the coast of Honduras; see 'HMS Sappho 1849', ISBN 978-1-0369-3575-7, available here) | ||
| 18 March 1850 - 11 April 1851 | Commanded by Acting Commander Arthur Auckland Leopold Pedro Cochrane, North America and West Indies | ||
| 12 April 1851 - 2 November 1852 | Commanded (until paying off at Chatham) by Commander Arthur Auckland Leopold Pedro Cochrane, North America and West Indies | ||
| 8 January 1856 | Commanded by Commander Fairfax Moresby, West coast of Africa, then left England late in 1857 and disappeared, with all hands, on the final stages of a voyage from the Cape of Good Hope to Sydney in February 1858 | ||
| Extracts from the Times newspaper | |||
| Date | Extract | ||
| We 14 February 1849 | Portsmouth, Tuesday The Sappho has been ready some time for the pendant, having been rigged by the extra riggers of the dockyard. It is supposed Commander Graham Ogle, nephew of the late Commander-in-Chief at this port, will command her. | ||
| Fr 16 February 1849 | Portsmouth, Thursday The Sappho has not had the pendant hoisted yet. | ||
| Sa 17 February 1849 | Portsmouth, Feb. 16. The Sappho, 12, was commissioned to-day by Commander Reynell C. Michell, who paid off the Devastation steam sloop at this port in September last. She has 125 men. | ||
| We 21 February 1849 | Portsmouth, Tuesday The Sappho, 16, Commander R.C. Michell, is nearly ready for sailing orders. Her commander has lost no time since he took up his commission, and would have had her at Spithead in 48 hours after, had the service needed it. She has stowed her hold, and will be very speedily "reported" officially ready to sail. | ||
| Ma 26 February 1849 | Portsmouth, Sunday The Sappho, 12, Commander R.C. Michell was docked yesterday, as soon as the Arrogant was removed, to have her copper cleaned. | ||
| We 28 February 1849 | Portsmouth, Tuesday The Sappho, 12, Commander R.C. Michell bent sails this morning while in dock, and was undocked at noon. | ||
| Sa 3 March 1849 | Portsmouth, March 2. The Sappho, 12, Commander Michell, hauled off from the hulk this morning, and will be ready to drop out to Spithead to-morrow. | ||
| Ma 5 March 1849 | Portsmouth, Sunday The Superb, 80, Captain E. Purcell, and Sappho, 12, Commander R.C. Michell, are to leave the harbour for Spithead to-morrow. | ||
| We 7 March 1849 | Portsmouth, March 6. The Sappho, 12, Commander R.C. Michell, was towed to Spithead at 7 15 a.m. to-day by the Echo steam-tug. Her crew were mustered and inspected by Admiral the Hon. Sir Bladen Capel, K.C.B., in the afternoon.After safely depositing the Sappho at Spithead, the Echo returned into harbour, and, in conjunction with the Janus, took the Superb, 80, Captain E. Purcell, out. In proceeding down the harbour the Superb took a slight shear, which brought her in contact with a collier brig, the lo, of Sunderland, which vessel was lying too near the fairway, and the loss of the brig's main topmast and fore topgallant mast was the result — the spars snapping off like pipe stems. | ||
| Th 8 March 1849 | Portsmouth, Wednesday The Sappho, 12, Commander R.C. Michell, was paid two months' wages in advance to-day, and both that vessel and the Superb took on board their powder. | ||
| Sa 10 March 1849 | Portsmouth, March 9. The Sappho, 12, Commander R.C. Michell, got under weigh at sunset last night, and proceeded to St. Helen’s, where she anchored for the night. She sailed this afternoon for the North America and West India station. | ||
| Ma 23 April 1849 | Portsmouth, April 22. The Sappho, 12, Commander Michell arrived at Madeira on the 20th ult., from this port, and sailed for the West India station. | ||
| Th 26 April 1849 | The Sappho, 16, Commander Michell, put in at Madeira on the 20th ult., having encountered a gale of wind off the Western Islands. The sea ran so heavy she worked considerably, and the rigging all being new, settled down at the mastheads, and gave out. The lower masts and bowsprit were nearly going by the board. Having secured her masts, she put to sea in 24 hours afterwards for Bermuda. | ||
| Fr 6 July 1849 | Her Majesty’s ship Imaum, with the broad pendant of Commodore Bennett, was at Port Royal, Jamaica. The Sappho, 12, Commander Mitchell, was on the Spanish Main. The Helena (brig), Commander de Courcy, was daily expected at Port Royal from Vera Cruz, which port she left on the 16th of May. The Hound, 8, was also expected from St. Domingo. The Viper (schooner), 6, was at Barbadoes, and the Wellesley (flag), Trincomalee, Vixen, and Bermuda at Halifax. | ||
| Th 26 July 1849 | PORT ROYAL, Jamaica, June 22. Her Majesty’s sloop Sappho arrived here on the 18th inst. from a cruise in the Spanish Main and the coast of Gojira. She has been on the latter coast to assist and give protection to the English merchant vessel Mary Elizabeth, which was stranded and perfectly wrecked there on the 4th of May, at 2 a.m. She was of 840 tons burden, and had a valuable cargo, estimated at 60,000l. sterling. After she struck she kept forging on the shore, and as daylight broke they found themselves not more than a quarter of a mile from the beach, where a tremendous surf was rolling. Shortly afterwards the beach became lined with Indians, who are the most warlike tribes of South America, and have never been subdued by any European Power. They live by feeding and grazing vast herds of cattle, and by plunder and rapine: they have no laws, nor fixed habitations, wander about in tribes subject to their chief, and they have the odious habit of selling their women for small sums of money. Their great passion is drinking, which they are dreadfully addicted to. The crew abandoned the Mary Elizabeth on the first day; these savages swam off to her and congregated in vast numbers on board, so that the captain and crew were in dread of their lives. Commander Michell, of the Sappho, armed and anchored that vessel on the 30th of May close to the wreck, and immediately sent boats, manned and armed, to examine into her state. She was lying on her broadside, bilged and broken-backed, close to the shore, with seven or eight feet water in her hold; a little of the cargo has been got out, but the rest was past recovery and already destroyed, The commander of the Sappho, with the greatest zeal, used all his power to save either the vessel or portions of the cargo, but finding both impossible he considered it no longer safe to expose his ship on an open and unprotected coast, so after taking the captain and crew away he sailed for Carthagena. The Sappho sails hence for the Gulf of Mexico on the 24th inst., no man of war being there at present.The Helena, 16, Commander de Courcy, sailed on the 21st for the Mosquito shore. She had been lying here only five days, having last arrived from Vera Cruz. The Hound, 10, Commander Wood, is at St. Domingo, where a civil war is going on. The Wellesley, 72, with the Admiral Earl Dundonnald, is at Halifax, with the Vixen steam sloop, Commander Jenner. The Trincomalee, 25, Captain Warren, has gone to Newfoundland. The Bermuda schooner, Lieutenant-Commander Jolly, is at Barbadoes. The squadron are generally healthy. | ||
| Th 23 August 1849 | The Helena, 16, Commander De Courcy; Hound, 10, Commander Wood; and the Sappho, 16, Commander Michell, were at Vera Cruz on the 15th of July; the only men-of-war at that part of the station, which is so extensive. The Hound was previously at St. Domingo, where a civil war was going on. The Commander of the Sappho had a narrow escape of his life on the 30th of June, on which day, as he was exercising hia crew at the great guns firing at a target at sea, after the men had fired several tlmes, he laid one of the guns himself and fired it; the recoil of the gun took one of the handspikes, and it flew sgainst him with great violence, knocking him down senseless and breaking his left arm. On the Sappho arriving at the Havannah the Captain-General of Cuba heard of the accident, and sent his aide-de-camp to proffer the comforts and hospitalities of the place, but Captain Michell could not leave his cot. He was, however, doing well at the date of our advices. | ||
| Th 23 August 1849 | The West India squadron generally was healthy. Her Majesty's brig Sappho was at Vera Cruz on the 16th of July. The Imaum and Helena were at Jamaica on the 23d. The screw-steamer Plumper arrived at Port Royal on the 12th of July, in 32 days from Plymouth. She was at Port au Prince. The Viper was laid up at Antigua tor the hurricane months. The schooner Scorpion was surveying in the Gulf of Para. The French steamer Amazon, 8 guns, was at Demerara, haring her engines repaired. The Commander-in-Chief in the Wellesley, with the Trincomalee, Vixen, and Bermuda, was at Halifax. | ||
| Fr 28 September 1849 | The Persian, 16, Commander Wodehouse [according to his Admiralty service record Archibald Gibson Bulman was Commander at this time], arrived at Halifax on the 13th uit., after a boisterous passage of 23 days from Plymouth. She encountered a gale off the Western Islands, and met with a large merchant ship water logged, which they boarded, but found her quite deserted. The Persian would sail for Jamaica in about 10 days. The Wellesley, 72, Vice-Admiral the Earl of Dundonald, was at Halifax. The Sappho, 12, Commander Michell, at Vera Crux. She has been very sickly, and has lost one of her lieutenants (Mr. Dashwood). The Trincomalee, 25, Captain Warren, would be at Halifax in about three weeks from Newfoundland. The Wellesley was the only man-of-war at Halifax at the date of our letter. | ||
| Th 29 November 1849 | PORT ROYAL, Oct 24. The West India Squadron In Harbour.—The Imaum, 72, Commodore Bennett; the Persian, 16; Commander Bulman; the Helena, 16, Commander de Courcy; and the Plumper, 10, Commander Nolloth.The Wellesley, 72, Captain Goldsmith, bearing the flag of Vice-Admiral the Earl of DundonaId, G.C.B., and the Vixen steam sloop, Commander Jenner, are at Halifax, expected at Bermuda the beginning of next month. The Sappho, 16, Commander Michell, is daily expected from the Havannah. The Viper schooner is at La Guayra. The Bermuda schooner, Lieutenant Commander Jolly, is at the Gulf of Florida. The Helena has had many severe cases of fever; the Sappho has also been sickly; the Plumper, too. has suffered similarly. The Helena is about to proceed to Turk's Island, to ascertain the proper site for a lighthouse there. The Persian was about to sail for Port-au-Prince and St. Domingo. The Admiral is expected here towards the end of December. The Plumper, just before leaving this part of the station, had taken Fort Truxillo, and obtained part of a debt owed by Honduras to the English Government. Truxillo town has 2,000 or 3,000 inhabitants. Commander Nolloth landed with nearly the whole of his ship’s company. The heat has been very great here lately. The inhabitants and the ships’ crew generally are suffering much with large and painful boils. The Plumper has sent several cases of fever to the Naval Hospital since her arrival at Port Royal. This is not to be wondered at, considering that when her steam is up the thermometer sometimes stands as high as 126° on the lower deck, an amount of heat greater than is shown when the instrument is exposed to the direct rays of the sun. | ||
| Tu 4 December 1849 | JAMAICA, Nov, 6. The Wellesley, 72, flag of Vice-Admiral the Earl of Dundonald G.C.B., is expected here in January.The Trincomalee, 20, Captain Warren, is expected here daily from the northward. The Sappho, 16, Commander Mitchell, arrived here two days since from the Gulf of Mexico, where she has been stationed for the last four months. She was employed a great portion of that time on the coast of Yucatan, in which there is a civil war raging, the natives having suffered from their masters (the Creole Spaniards) the greatest oppressions and cruelties. It is likely the natives will gain the upper hand, and if the white population is not assisted by other Powers with money and force, they will be exterminated. From a constant state of warfare the country is in a wretched condition. The Sappho has been very sickly. She has been visited by yellow fever, and has lost seven fine healthy men. Amongst the number dead is the Second Lieutenant, Mr. Dashwood. Many others have been sent to the hospital. The Sappho arrived here with no other commissioned officer than her Commander, and he has had his arm broken and wears it in a sling; for a long time she has been without officers, all having been sent to the hospital or died. She sailed from Cuba about three weeks since; the inhabitants there were on the qui vive about a hostile aggression on its shores, a report to that effect having arisen, the aggressors being the inhabitants of the United States. It is openly said this Power can possess itself of the island at any moment, and that there is a great feeling in favour of that Republic amongst the coloured population; that even many thousands are enrolled and secretly sworn to favour any landing of an expedition from America. Mr. Palmer, midshipman of the Sappho, having passed his examination before the Commander, the latter gave him an acting order as Lieutenant the next day, which I believe, as senior officer in the Gulf of Mexico, he was empowered to do. Mr. Palmer has been the only one assisting in the duty of the ship for some time. | ||
| Ma 24 December 1849 | S0UTHAMPT0N, Monday Morning, 4 o’clock a.m. The Royal mail steamer Dee, Captain W. Allan, arrived off this port at 2 o’clock, bringing the usual West India and Mexican mails in charge of Lieutenant South, R.N., Admiralty agent.... Her Majesty’s ship Wellesley, Admiral Dundonald, and Her Majesty’s steamer Plumper, were at Bermuda. Her Majesty's ships Trincomalee, Sappho, and Helena were at Barbadoes, preparing to sail for Gray Town, Mosquito Shore, to protect British interests relative to the Nicaragua dispute [regarding intensifying competition for control over a potential transisthmian canal route, primarily between the United States and Great Britain]. | ||
| Fr 11 January 1850 | S0UTHAMPT0N, Thursday, Jan. 10. The Royal Mail Steam-packet Company’s ship Avon, Lieutenant Phillip Hast, R.N., commander, arrived here at 9 o’clock this morning with the usual British and foreign West India mails, in Charge of Lieutenant Joseph Ray, R.N. Admiralty agent.... Her Majesty’s ships Imaum, Helena, and Vixen were at Jamaica. The Sappho had sailed for Grey Town, Mosquito. The Trincomalee, Alarm, Persian, and Bermuda were on a cruise to Grey Town. | ||
| Ma 21 January 1850 | From Belize, Honduras, we learn that on the 16th of December the purser of Her Majesty’s sloop-of-war Sappho arrived on that day with intelligence that his ship had struck on Seal Reef (46 miles south-west of Belize), on her way to Omoa, State of Honduras. It was stated by the purser that the false keel of the Sappho was knocked off, rudder unshipped, and the guns thrown overboard, and that she was making two feet of water per hour. The commander had got her into deep water, and some hopes were entertained of saving the vessel. A schooner was instantly despatched from Belize to her assistance. The Sappho had suffered much from sickness. | ||
| Ma 4 March 1850 | SOUTHAMPTON, Sunday, March 3. The Royal Mail Steam-packet Company’s ship Severn, Captain W. Vincent, arrived off Southampton at 11 o’clock last night, bringing the usual British and foreign West India mails, in charge of Lieutenant Mills, R.N., Admiralty agent.... Her Majesty’s ship Wellesley, Admiral Earl Dundonald, with the Alarm and Plumper steamers, were at Trinidad on the 6th of February, the latter having arrived that day from Bermuda with despatches for the Admiral. The Vixen was at Jamaica on the 7th of February, waiting the arrival of the Admiral. The schooner Bermuda arrived from Havannah, on the 24th of January, at Jamaica. The Dutch brigantine Ternante, 6, arrived from Carthagena on the 30th of January, and sailed on the 6th of February for Curaçoa. Her Majesty’s ship Sappho, having repaired damages at Belize, left that port for Jamaica on the 1st of January, and had not arrived when the Severn left. Great anxiety was felt on her account. | ||
| Th 28 March 1850 | S0UTHAMPT0N, Wednesday, March 27. The Royal Mail Steam-packet Company’s ship Thames, Captain George Abbott, arrived here at 9 o’clock this morning, bringing the usual British and foreign West India and Mexican mails, in charge of Lieutenant John Hay, R.N., Admiralty agent.... Her Majesty’s brig Sappho, 16, Commander Michell, arrived at Jamaica on the 16th uit. from the coast of Honduras. She was preparing to be hove down to estimate the extent of injury received by striking on a reef near Belize. The schooner Brenda, [should be Bermuda], 2, Lieutenant Jolly, arrived from Grey Town on the 16th, and the Trincomalee, 26, Captain R.L. Warren, arrived on the 17th from the coast of Cuba. The Imaum, 72, with broad pendant of Commodore Bennett, and the Vixen, 6, Commander Jenner, were also in Port Royal harbour on the 22d ult. The Alarm was hourly expected. Her Majesty’s ship Wellesley, with the flag of Rear-Admiral Lord Dundonald, and the screw steamer Plumper, were at Trinidad on the 20th of February, about to leave for Chagres and the Spanish Main. | ||
| Tu 2 April 1850 | We have dates from Kingston, Jamaica, to the 1st of March. A Protectionist meeting, convened by the mayor, failed in consequence of the scanty attendance. Her Majesty’s ships Trincomalee, Imaum, Sappho, and Vixen were in Port Royal harbour. | ||
| Sa 6 April 1850 | SOUTHAMPTON, Friday. The Royal Mail Steam-packet Company's ship Teviot, Captain R. Rivett, arrived here this morning, bringing the usual British and foreign West India mails, in charge of Lieutenant Dennehy, Admiralty agent.... Her Majesty's brig Persian, Commander Bullman, arrived at Port Royal, Jamaica, on the 4th ult., in 13 days from Havannah. The schooner Bermuda, Lieutenant Jolly, sailed on the 8th for Falmouth (Jamaica). The Teviot left the following ships of war at anchor in Port Royal harbour, viz.:— Imaum, 12; Trincomalee, 26; Helena, 18; Sappho, 16; Persian, 12; and steamer Vixen, 6, waiting the intended court-martial on the commander of the Sappho. The Wellesley, with the Admiral, was daily expected. | ||
| Ma 22 April 1850 | Her Majesty’s ship Wellesley, 72, Captain Goldsmith, with the flag of Vice-Admiral Earl Dundonald, arrived at Jamaica, from Margarita (Venezuela), on the 12th of March, and, with the Vixen, Commander Jenner sailed on the 22d for Bermuda. The brig Helena, commander de Courcey, arrived on the 10th, in eight days, from Boco del Toro; and the schooner Bermuda, Lieutenant Jolly, on the 17th from Falmouth, Jamaica. The following ships of war were in Port Royal harbour when the packet sailed:—The Imaum, 72, Commander Sandom, with broad pendant of Commodore Bennett; Trincomalee, 26, Captain R.L. Warren; Helena, 16, Commander De Courcey; Sappho, 12, Commander the Hon. Lieutenant Cochrane; Persian, 12, Commander A.G. Bullman; steamer Plumper, 6, Commander R.S. Nolloth; the Bermuda, 2, Lieutenant Jolly, Commander. The American frigate Raritan, 60, Captain Page, with flag of Commodore Parker, arrived on the 15th from Port-au-Prince, Hayti, and sailed a few days afterwards for Havannah, where she was left by the Avon on the 28th ult. The Wellesley, 72, and the Vixen, 6, were at Bermuda on the 7th inst. The Spanish ship of the line Soberano, 74, corvette Colon, and brig Isabel the Second, and the schooner Flirt, 8, were at Havannah on the 28th of March. The Luis Ferdinand, 24, sailed from Havannah on the 27th of March. Her Majesty’s sloop Alarm was at Barbadoes. | ||
| Tu 23 April 1850 | THE WEST INDIA SQUADRON. A court-martial was held at Port Royal, on the 16th ult., to try Commander Michell, of Her Majesty's sloop Sappho, and the other officers and ship's company of that vessel, for running the Sappho on shore on the Seal Cays, one of the innumerable reefs at the entrance of the Gulf of Honduras, on the night of the 25th of December last.The Court was composed of Commodore Bennett, president; Captain Goldsmith, of the Wellesley; Captain Warren, of the Trincomalee; Commander De Courcey, of the Helena, and Commander Bulman of the Persian. Commander Michell was sentenced to be dismissed his ship. the Court considering that negligence had been shown in the navigation of the sloop. The officer of the watch, Lieutenant Malcolm, was censured for not seeing the lead constantly hove by the man placed in the chains by Commander Michell's written night orders, and admonished to be more careful in future. Mr. Mugford, the second-master (acting as master), was considered to have shown negligence, and was consequently sentenced to be reduced to the rank of master’s-assistant, and to remain in that rank two years. Great praise was given to the commander for his unwearied exertions (notwithstanding his weak state from long sickness, broken arm, &c.,) in getting off the ship and recovering all the guns (which had been thrown overboard) and stores. Objections were made by Lieutenant Malcolm, Mr. Mugford, second-master; Mr. Charlea Palmer, acting-mate; and Mr. Alexander Burniston to some portions of the address of defence made by Commander Michell, but the Court declared them "frivolous and malicious." Commander Michell produced some of the highest testimonials an officer can receive, eminently characterising his conduct as an officer and a seaman during a period of 28 years' service. This officer was in the Burmese war, and produced affidavits from all the pilots on that coast testifying to the strength of the currents, and of their having been more powerful than usual about the time of the accident. They also testified to the fact that of 12 vessels which had been driven on those destructive shoals, Her Majesty's sloop Sappho was the only one which had been recovered. Owing to the thickness of the weather no observation that could be depended on could be obtained. A court of inquiry was previously held on board the Imaum on the First Lieutenant (Glynn) for disrespect to his Commander (Michell), which resulted in his censure, and being compelled to make Commander Michell a public apology on the quarter-deck of the Imaum. | ||
| Sa 20 July 1850 | Her Majesty's ship Trincomalee, Captain Warren, 19 days from Grey Town, reached Port Royal, Jamaica, on the 18th of June, and, with the Imaum, was left in that harbour on the 22d ult. The Alarm was at Barbadoes, the Scorpion surveying off Nassau, the schooner Bermuda on a cruise, and the Persian in the Gulf of Mexico. The Wellesley (flag), the sloops Helena and Sappho, and the steamer Plumper at Halifax. | ||
| We 4 September 1850 | The Nova Scotian states that during the recent cruise of Her Majesty’s sloop Sappho, 12, Commander the Hon. A.A. Cochrane, son of the Earl of Dundonald, in the Bays of Fundy, when in the vicinity of St. Andrews, one of the first class boys belonging to the ship fell overboard, and was to all appearance irretrievably lost. But the young commander of the Sappho, notwithstanding the tide was running like a mill race, threw off his coat, plunged into the water, and succeeded in saving the lad’s life, to the admiration of the whole ship's company. | ||
| We 26 February 1851 | Her Majesty’s ship Wellesley, Vice-Admiral Lord Dundonald (Commander-in-Chief), and Her Majesty’s brig Sappho, Commander Cochrane, were at Trinidad on the 31st of January, and would proceed in a few days to Jamaica, where the squadron was about to assemble for the purpose of holding a court-martial on Commander Dyke, of the Inflexible. Her Majesty’s ship Alarm and the steamer Alban were at Port Royal. The schooner Bermuda at Greytown. The Scorpion at Tortola. Her Majesty’s brig Helena arrived at St. Thomas’s on the 2d of February, and sailed the following day for Jamaica. | ||
| Ma 10 March 1851 | Her Majesty’s ship Wellesley, 72, Captain Goldsmith (bearing the flag of Vice-Admiral Lord Dundonald), and the Sappho, 12, were at Trinidad on the 14th of February, about to proceed to Jamaica. The Imaum, 72, Persian, 12, and Plumper and Alban steamers were at Port Royal on the 14th ult. The Helena, 16, was at Porto Rico on the 18th, the Bermuda at Greytown on the 3d, and Scorpion at St. Thomas’s on the 19th ult. The Alarm was cruising off Cuba, but was expected daily at Port Royal. The Inflexible was spoken on the 15th of February by the Royal mail steamer Great Western, having left Port Royal on the 13th of February with the 2d West India Regiment on board for Demerara. The Inflexible was to call at Barbadoes. The screw steam-sloop Plumper was refitting at Jamaica to join the Brazil station. The squadron was particularly healthy, there being only 12 persons in hospital at Jamaica, all convalescing. | ||
| Ma 6 October 1851 | Her Majesty’s brig Sappho, 12, Commander A.A. Cochrane, was paid off at Chatham on the 2d inst. | ||
| Ma 30 August 1852 | Her Majesty’s brig Daring, 12, Commander H. Lacon, fitting at Chatham, is destined for service in North America and the West Indies. Her complement of officers and men will be 130. She will relieve the Sappho, 12, Commander the Hon. Arthur A. Cochrane, that vessel having been upwards of three years in commission. | ||
| Ma 6 September 1852 | The Sappho, 12, Commander the Hon. A. Cochrane, arrived at Forteau on the 25th of July; and the Buzzard, 8, steam-sloop, on the 7th of August, from St. John’s, Newfoundland. | ||
| We 6 October 1852 | SHEERNESS, Tuesday, 8 a.m. Her Majesty’s brig Daring, 12, Commander Gerard Napier, arrived here on Sunday afternoon, in tow of the African and Adder steam-vessels, and took up moorings abreast the fitting-basin. She was swung yesterday, for the purpose of having her compasses adjusted, under the direction of Mr. Noddall, master of the London, 90, who was ordered on that duty in consequence of the indisposition of Mr. Tonkin, master of the flag-ship. The Daring will forthwith proceed to the Little Nore anchorage, to take in her powder, and thence sail for Spithead, en route to the West Indies, to relieve the Sappho, 12, Commander the Hon. Arthur A. Cochrane. | ||
| Sa 23 October 1852 | PORTSMOUTH, Oct. 22. The Sappho, 12, Commander the Hon. A. Cochrane, arrived at Spithead this afternoon, from the West Indies, to be paid off. She has no news. | ||
| Ma 25 October 1852 | The Sappho, 16, Commander the Hon. A. Cochrane, was inspected, and her crew mustered by the Port-Admiral, and exercised in. gunnery by Captain Chads, C.B., yesterday, prior to her sailing in the evening to be paid off at Chatham. | ||
| We 27 October 1852 | SHEERNESS, Tuesday, 8 a.m. Her Majesty’s brig Sappho, 12, Commander the Hon. A. A. Cochrane, arrived yesterday forenoon from Spithead, and hove to at the Nore middle ground. She saluted the flag of Vice-Admiral the Hon. Josceline Percy, C.B., Commander-in-Chief, with 17 guns, which was immediately returned by the Waterloo with seven guns. The Sappho then came into harbour and anchored off the South end of the west shore. She is one of the brigs built from designs of the ex-Surveyor of the Navy, Sir W. Symonds, and was launched at Woolwich 19 years ago. Her present commission has extended to 3 years and 8 months, during which period she has been employed in North America and the West Indies. Her present commander was appointed to her in June, 1851. She is under orders to proceed to Chatham, for the purpose of being dismantled and paid off. | ||
| Sa 30 October 1852 | SHEERNESS, Oct. 29, 8 a.m. Her Majesty’s brig Sappho, 12, Commander A.A. Cochrane, is reported ready for paying off to-morrow (Saturday). None of her bulkheads or internal fittings are to be disturbed. | ||
| We 3 February 1858 | THE AFRICAN SLAVE TRADE. The following is an extract from a letter dated from Her Majesty's ship Sappho, Sept. 20, 1857, off Loando:—"Since my last letter to you in August circumstances have happened of the most stirring kind; never on this notorious coast has humanity been more outraged or the energy and compassion of British seamen more called for or shown. We continued cruising, looking in at the different stations, until the 10th, when at daylight we saw a schooner at anchor; we made sail for her, she slipped her cable and steered along the beach. We followed in the Sappho as near as the depth of water would allow. The wind was light, so the commander took to the boats and soon came up with her; she proved to be a schooner of fully 150 tons, quite prepared for the reception of slaves, and had arrived the preceding day on the coast. The captain had landed — probably with the specie for the purchase of his cargo, as only 28 doubloons were found, rolled up in a man's garters, who looked foolish enough when the master at arms hauled them off. We took the schooner to Loando to land the slave crew, then, finding her not seaworthy, we made a target of her to exercise our men, and burnt her. This gave us something to talk about until we returned to Loando on the 15th; there we found the Castor, with the Admiral [Rear-admiral Frederick William Grey] on board, from the Cape; he sailed for Shark’s Point, where the ships were collected for courts-martial. We left the following day; at 9 in the morning on the 18th, in a thick mist with rain, we closed with a schooner; while boarding her the weather cleared, and a large ship was seen close to the land. Directly our boats returned we made all sail in chase, the ship making all sail to avoid us, and the chase became very exciting. The captain said we were gaining, and so they must have thought on board the ship, as he tacked in shore and we after him; then he bore away, running along the edge of the surf, and by help of his large sails was drawing ahead. By this time we were sure he was one of the large American slave ships, and we feared he would escape if he got searoom, so the captain took a boat well manned and armed and pulled to windward to cut him off, when he would be obliged to tack offshore; another boat was sent to leeward, the master, the only officer on board, being left in charge. The ship was not more than a mile and a half distant, close to the surf. Seeing the trap laid for him, and that he could not escape, he ran his ship a shore. We anchored in four fathoms; the master took the whale-boat close to the ship, and was soon joined by the other boats. The ship was rolling in the breakers with all her sails flapping about, and appeared to be full of slaves; the master and crew had abandoned her with their boats, leaving the American colours flying. Then we all beheld a dreadful scene; the slaves forced their way from below, jumped overboard, and soon disappeared in the rollers; it was terrible to see them. Our officers and men, regardless of their own lives, pulled through the surf to leeward of the ship, but her heavy lurching for some time prevented their boarding; when they succeeded the scene was horrifying, the slaves still forcing their way up from the slave decks with loud yells, running to and fro, and continuing to throw themselves overboard. All attempts to pacify them were useless, force was necessary to drive them below until preparations could be made for their safety. We were told by one of the slaves who could speak Portuguese, that they were told the English would cut all their throats. As soon as the boats could be attended to the cutter was backed under the [stern?] and a rope thrown her; then three of the slaves were permitted up at a time and lowered into the boat, the whale-boat conveying them through the rollers to the large boat, and so on to the Sappho; this continued until 8 p.m. The surf increased, and it was impossible to save more that night; 180 were rescued. The master was left with a guard on hoard; it was an anxious and a sleepless night for all, as death was rapidly decreasing the number of the poor negroes, who, starving and naked, died from utter misery, — men, women, boys, and girls, more than 200 on board the Sappho, and, as they ceased to breathe, we were obliged to throw them overboard. Poor negroes! I hope conscious in their last moments that English seamen came to save them and now made a silent prayer over them. Fortunately, we had plenty of rice from the schooner captured, which we fed them with, and placed them as best we could under cover of sails. As food and warmth restored them, in various ways they signified their sense of kindness. There was one poor creature with an infant at her breast, naked, cold, and exhausted, apparently dying; a little wine was given her, then some rice, which she forced from her own to her baby's mouth. A sheet was given to cover her; she wrapped her baby in it and pressed it to her heart with that look of maternal love which God has given to the dark as well as the pale-face race. On board the schooner the master and guard were with the remaining negroes in a perilous state; the former passed the night in the forecastle and bowsprit, drenched by the spray of the heavy rollers. At dawn on the 19th the wind and surf had increased; the ship had driven closer to the beach; numbers of armed people were collected; a signal for assistance was made; the captain went with all the boats manned and armed, when the natives on the beach, led on by the white men, apparently the crew of the ship, commenced firing with the intention of preventing the rescue of any more negroes. This continued an hour before we could clear the beach, some of our shots apparently telling well. On again boarding the wreck she was found breaking up, with her hold full of water. On the tide receding, her hull was nearly dry, and there was no time to spare. The large boats were stationed to keep the beach clear with their guns; the cutter was anchored at the back [off?] the surf, and by watching the rollers they succeeded in throwing her a rope, when the negroes were lowered and hauled through the surf, and conveyed as before to the Sappho, 200 more being rescued; then the wreck was set fire to and our people withdrawn. "We were in such a state, with 380 negroes crowding our decks; the stench was putrefying, and it was impossible to work the ship. In this state the second day closed upon us. We were 40 miles from Sharks Point; the captain resolved to go in his boat and ask for assistance. They pulled all night in heavy rain, and at daylight on the 20th fortunately met the Vesuvius, Commodore Wise, with whom the Captain returned. Commodore Wise took the negroes on board the Vesuvius, to be sent to Sierra Leone in the Alector prize. Having the slaves on hoard has caused much sickness; it is passing without any fatal case. We are ordered to the Cape, we suppose to cruise in the Mozambique Channel; if so it is probable our bones will be left there; its effects, after what we have been through for 20 months on this coast, will be finishing. I have given you the history of one of the many American ships employed in the slave trade; six, I think, have been taken. We seized the Panihita 30 miles up the coast, and sent her to New York; we do not know whether the American Government will condemn her. | ||
| Ma 8 February 1858 | PLYMOUTH, SATURDAY. The Union Steam Navigation Company's mail packet Celt, Captain Brown, from Table Bay December 30, St. Helena January 8, and Ascension January 12, arrived this morning.The Boscawen, 70, flag of Rear-Admiral the Hon. Sir Frederick W. Grey, K.C.B.; sloop Sappho, 12, Commander Fairfax Moresby; and Seringapatam, coal depôt, were at Simon’s Bay. | ||
| Ma 8 February 1858 | The steam sloop Encounter, 14, Captain O'Callaghan, arrived yesterday afternoon at Plymouth. She left Aden November 21, reached the Cape December 19, and sailed on the 23d, touched at St. Helena January 2, and at Ascension on the 7th. Including stoppages the passage from Aden to Plymouth was accomplished in 78 days. At the Cape she embarked 12 invalids from the Boscawen, five from the Himalaya, five from the Sappho, and two formerly belonging to the Shannon; at St. Helena two distressed merchant seamen, and at Ascension nine invalids from the West Coast squadron. | ||
| Th 11 March 1858 | Her Majesty's ship Boscawen, left Simon's Bay on the 3d of January, on a cruise to St. Helena. Ascension, and the West Coast; the Admiral, Sir F. Grey, on board. The Sappho left on the 8th for Australia. The Hermes left for East London, with the Governor, on the 19th. On the 27th Her Majesty's steamer Simoom arrived from Calcutta, and is now the only vessel of war in Simons Bay. | ||
| Fr 3 December 1858 | Several incorrect statements having recently appeared relative to the alleged loss of Her Majesty's ship Sappho, 12, Commander Fairfax Moresby, the Lords of the Admiralty, in order to allay the fears of the relatives and friends of the officers and men in that vessel, have directed Captain G. Goldsmith, C.E., the Superintendent of Chatham Dockyard, to investigate the accuracy or otherwise of the statements which have been made public, and which have caused a great deal of uneasiness. The Sappho was commissioned in January, 1856, and immediately proceeded to the coast of Africa, where, after remaining for some time, she was sent to join the squadron at the Cape of Good Hope. In the month of January, in the present year, she was directed to proceed from the Cape of Good Hope to the Australian station, and, in obedience to orders, immediately sailed for that destination, since which nothing whatever has been heard of her. From inquiries made at Chatham has been ascertained that a letter has been stated to have been received by a person at Stonehouse, to the alleged effect that the Sappho had been wrecked "on an island at some distance from the coast of Australia," that a portion of the crew were lost, and that others had died on the island. The Lords of the Admiralty have caused the most searching inquiries to be instituted relative to the alleged statements contained in this letter, hut without any satisfactory result. The name of the person at Stonehouse who is stated to have received the information has not been obtained, and from the fact that no name is given to the island on which the Sappho is alleged to have been wrecked and that no confirmatory evidence has been received by any other persons, the Admiralty have written to say that they place no faith whatever in the existence of any such letter as that which is alleged to have been received. Captain Goldsmith has also written to the Secretary of the Admiralty, expressing his opinion that no reliance is to be placed on the statements which have been made public relative to the supposed wreck of the Sappho. It is, however, of no use disguising the fact that from the circumstance of the Sappho not having been heard of since January last very grave doubts are entertained as to the safety of that ship. The following were the officers who sailed from the Cape of Good Hope in the Sappho — viz., Commander Fairfax Moresby; Lieutenant Francis P. Staples; master, Mr. Frederick Wills; surgeon, Mr. William Evans; and paymaster, Mr. Thomas J. Ley. | ||
| We 29 December 1858 | The Union Screw Steamship Company's mail packet Norman, Captain Boxer, has arrived. She left Simon’s Bay, Nov. 20; St. Helena, 30th; and Ascension, Dec. 4. ... Her Majesty's ship Boscawen was at Simon's Bay. The steamship Hermes was preparing to leave Table Bay, in search, of the brig Sappho. The Sardinian ship Malabar, with coal, from London for Aden, was wrecked at Table Bay on the 6th of November; crew saved. | ||
| Ma 17 January 1859 | From Australian, letters and papers which have just been received at Chatham by the friends of officers belonging to Her Majesty's missing ship Sappho, 12, Commander Fairfax Moresby, some intelligence has been obtained relative to the supposed loss of that vessel. A few days previously to the departure of the mail for England a letter had been received at Melbourne by his Excellency the Governor, from Commodore W. Loring, C.B., of Her Majesty's ship Iris, 26, dated Sydney, Oct. 16, 1858, in which the Commodore reports that he had just learnt from a merchant at Sydney that Her Majesty's sloop Sappho, 12, was spoken on the 18th of February last, 20 miles south of Cape Nelson. Further information was promised, but had not been received at the date of the departure of the mail. Commodore Loring states that he believed the information to be correct, and that the inference was that the Sappho had either foundered at sea, or that she had been wrecked in the vicinity of King's Island, which lies immediately in her track from the Cape of Good Hope to Bass's Straits. The first supposition — that the vessel had foundered at sea — was not entertained by nautical men in Australia, as none of Her Majesty's ships are ever allowed to go to sea in a sinking state, and from the fact that the missing ship was spoken so near the Australian coast there is little doubt that she has been wrecked on one of the islands, probably the one mentioned. King's Island lies about 90 miles from Port Phillip Head, off Cape Ottway; it has no lighthouse upon it, and is not believed to be inhabited. Hopes are entertained that she might have gone ashore at the spot indicated, and that some of her officers and crew, which numbered 140, were saved. The Governor had given direction for the despatch of a sloop-of-war from Melbourne to search along the shore of King's Island and the adjacent coast for any fragments of the missing ship, and also with the hope of rescuing any of the crew who might be found alive. | ||
| Ma 12 September 1859 | HER MAJESTY'S SHIP SAPPHO. I am, Sir, your obedient servant, Sept. 10. R.S. MOLESWORTH. "Tidings have reached the New Zealand papers of Her Majesty's brig Sappho, which was supposed to have been lost on her voyage to Australia. She stranded off an uninhabited island some distance from Sydney, and became a total wreck. The portion of her crew that was saved formed an encampment on the island. A merchant ship, when passing, found them in a very distressed condition. The few who had survived the exposure were living on the wild cats and seeds which they found on the island. Commander Moresby, from grief at the loss of his brig, had become insane." — Friend of India. July 16. | ||
| We 14 September 1859 | THE LOSS OF THE SAPPHO. The westernmost and weathermost islands in Bass's Straits offer the most dangerous and most likely coast for the loss of a vessel bound for the Australian ports, but they have been thoroughly, though unsuccessfully, searched for some trace of the missing ship; and their position would no more be described with reference to Sydney than that of an island in the Mediterranean would be to England. None of these places, however, afford the kind of provisions upon which this canard asserts the crew were living, neither wild cats nor monkeys being indigenous to Australia or to be found in any of the adjacent islands. This paragraph must have been, I fear, generated in the brain of some sorry wag, on the arrival of his ship in port, to appease the ravenous appetite for news of a colonial newspaper reporter. The originator can have but little idea of the number of hopes he may have raised, only to be disappointed, since his miserable joke first gave rise to these reports; and I think it but due to the friends of those who are lost in the Sappho that they should be spared the pain of having those hopes reanimated which can never be realized in this world. I remain, Sir, yours, &c., G.P. HEATH, Lieutenant, R.N. 20, Glocester-crescent North, Hyde Park, Sept. 12. | ||
| We 22 August 1860 | Her Majesty’s sloop Elk, 12, Commander H. Campion, which was paid off at Chatham yesterday, has been in commission upwards of four years, during which period she has seen a great deal of active service both in China and in other distant parts of the world. She was commissioned at Chatham on the 6th of May, 1856, by Commander J. Hamilton, who was succeeded in August, 1858, by Commander Campion, formerly of the Vulcan, 6, [should be: Falcon] on being promoted. The Elk, on leaving England, proceeded to China, and formed one of the squadron engaged in the Chinese waters until the termination of hostilities. The whole of the crew who could be spared formed a portion of the naval brigade under Commodore Stevens [should be Stewart], of the Nankin, 50, and were present at the capture of Canton, and other places. After the discontinuance of operations in the China seas, the Elk sailed from Hongkong for Australia in the month of April, 1858, and after arriving was employed for several months in making a minute search along the coast and through every part of Bass's Straits for Her Majesty's missing ship Sappho, but without success. The Elk left Sydney on the 1st of March for Auckland, which was reached on the 12th of March, just at the time the insurrection was raging in New Zealand. A portion of the crew and several of the ship's guns were landed to form a part of the naval brigade, and the men volunteering for this service were left behind. On the 26th of April the Elk left Auckland for England, at which time the following vessels of Her Majesty were at New Zealand — viz., the Iris, 26, Commodore W. Loring, C.B.; the Pelorus, 21, screw corvette, Commodore F.B.P. Seymour; the Niger, 13, screw steamer, Capt. P. Cracroft; and the Cordelia, 11, screw steamer, Commander C.E.H. Vernon. During the voyage home, and when near the entrance to the river Plate, the ship was caught in a tremendous typhoon, which raged for 48 hours, during which the vessel suffered severely, and it was only by the very best seamanship that vessel and crew were not lost. The Elk, since she has been in commission, has been constantly employed on service, and has sailed over upwards of 132,000 miles. Upwards of 20 of her crew have died from cholera, dysentery, and other causes, exclusive of a number invalided home. The crew have been exceedingly well-behaved, and the infliction of corporal punishment has been very rare. On the crew being paid off yesterday a silver medal, together with a gratuity of 10l., was awarded by the Admiralty to John Turner, captain of the after-guard, for good conduct and long service. The Elk, which is in very good condition, is to be attached to the reserve ordinary at Chatham. Second Lieut. O'Grady and the boatswain of the ship are under arrest, awaiting their trial by court-martial. | ||
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