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| Name | Vixen (1841) | Explanation | |
| Type | 1st class sloop | ||
| Launched | 4 February 1841 | ||
| Hull | Wooden | ||
| Propulsion | Paddle | ||
| Builders measure | 1054 tons | ||
| Displacement | 1379 tons | ||
| Guns | 6 | ||
| Fate | 1862 | ||
| Class | |||
| Ships book | ADM 135/499 | ||
| Note | |||
| Snippets concerning this vessels career | |||
| Date | Event | ||
| 30 August 1841 | Commanded by Commander Henry Boyes, East Indies (including the first Anglo-Chinese war) | ||
| 31 January 1843 - 11 July 1846 | Commanded (until paying off) by Commander George Giffard, East Indies | ||
| May 1847 | Commanded (from commissioning at Woolwich) by Commander Alfred Phillipps Ryder, Charles Napier's Western Squadron, then taking the Portuguese ambassador, the Duke of Palmella, back to Lisbon, and Percy Doyle (the newly appointed British Minister) to Mexico, then North America and West Indies (until promoted for his service at the capture of Fort Serapaqui on the San Juan River after Colonel Salas of the Nicaraguan army had carried off two British subjects). | ||
| 17 May 1848 - 22 July 1850 | Commanded by Commander Robert Jenner, North America and West Indies | ||
| 27 March 1852 - 4 September 1855 | Commanded (until paying off) by Commander Frederick Lamport Barnard, south-east coast of America | ||
| 4 February 1857 - 17 February 1858 | Commanded by Commander George Frederick Mecham, Pacific (until he died at Honolulu) | ||
| 18 February 1858 - 8 February 1860 | Commanded by Commander Lionel Lambert, Pacific (until Lambert was murdered) | ||
| 9 February 1860 - 20 April 1861 | Commanded (until paying off at Woolwich) by Commander Frederick William Richards, Pacific | ||
| Extracts from the Times newspaper | |||
| Date | Extract | ||
| Fr 14 January 1842 | PORTSMOUTH, Thursday, Jan. 13. The Warspite. 50, Captain Lord John Hay, hauled off from her hulk to moorings yesterday afternoon, preparatory to her going out of harbour, which it was intended she should do this day, but as the wind is right in her teeth and blowing fresh, she will be compelled to postpone her departure for Spithead until the wind moderates or becomes more favourable. A steamer of the first class, with great power, is much wanted here to assist vessels out of harbour, as the Echo Government steam tug, which is usually employed in towing vessels out to Spithead, is not sufficiently powerful to take out a large ship like the Warspite in the face of even a moderate wind. At the time the "Queen" went out of harbour the Vixen steam frigate was sent for specially to assist in taking her out. The Warspite will sail on Saturday. The North Sea Pilots, who are to take her and the Vindictive into the port where His Majesty the King of Prussia will embark, arrived here yesterday, having come round for the express purpose of undertaking the duty. It is not yet known in what particular vessel His Majesty will embark. The Warspite has been ordered to get a Prussian standard from the dock-yard, to be ready in the event of His Majesty preferring a sailing vessel to a steamer.The Vindictive, 50, Captain Toup Nicholas, which is to be the consort of the Warspite in conveying the King of Prussia j to England, has all her running gear up, and will bend her sails to-morrow. Every exertion. is being made to get her ready for sea by Saturday. The Alfred, 50, Commodore Purvis, will not be in a sufficient state of forwardness to form one of the squadron to attend on the King of Prussia, as she will not be ready for sea within three weeks. The squadron will consist of the Warspite, Vindictive, and Formidable. It is expected that Admiral Sir C. Seymour, one of the Lords of the Admiralty, will hoist his flag on board the Formidable and accompany the squadron on this special mission. | ||
| 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 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. | ||
| 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. | ||
| 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. | ||
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