View source for HMS Prometheus (1839)

{{short description|Sloop of the Royal Navy}}
{{other ships|HMS Prometheus}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2022}}
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|Ship country=United Kingdom
|Ship flag=[[File:Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg|60px|RN Ensign]]
|Ship name=HMS ''Prometheus''
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|Ship ordered=25 February 1839
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|Ship builder=[[Royal Navy Dockyard|Royal Dockyard]], [[Sheerness]]
|Ship original cost=£29,433
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|Ship laid down=July 1839
|Ship launched=21 September 1839
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|Ship completed=20 February 1840
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|Ship commissioned=21 November 1839
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|Ship honours=Crimea/Black Sea 1855
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|Ship fate=Sold for breaking 5 March 1863
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{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Ship type=*Steam Vessels (SV3)
*Third Class Sloop
|Ship tons burthen={{frac|795|87|94}} [[Builder's Old Measurement|bm]]
|Ship displacement=1,283 tons
|Ship length=*{{convert|164|ft|0|in|m|abbr=on|1}} gundeck
*{{convert|141|ft|8|in|m|abbr=on|1}} keel for tonnage
|Ship beam=*{{convert|32|ft|8|in|m|abbr=on|1}} maximum
*{{convert|32|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on|1}} for tonnage
|Ship draught=*{{convert|6|ft|0|in|m|abbr=on|1}}forward
*{{convert|7|ft|7|in|m|abbr=on|1}} forward
|Ship hold depth=*{{convert|18|ft|7|in|m|abbr=on|1}}
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|Ship power=200 [[nominal horsepower]]
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*2-cylinder VSE direct acting steam engine
*Paddles
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|Ship armament=
*2 × 32-pdr (42 cwt) MLSB guns on pivot mounts
*2 × 32-pdr (25 cwt) MLSB guns on broadside trucks
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'''HMS ''Prometheus''''' was an [[Alecto-class sloop]] designed by Sir [[William Symonds]], [[Surveyor of the Navy]]. Originally classed as a steam vessel (SV3), her classification would be changed to a Third Class Sloop.<ref>Winfield</ref> She initially served mainly on the west coast of Africa on the anti-slavery patrol except for a brief period on particular service in the Black Sea in late 1855. She was sold on 5 March 1863 for breaking.<ref>Winfield</ref>
''Prometheus'' was the second named vessel since it was used for an 18-gun fireship, Launched by Thompson of Southampton on 27 March 1807, assigned to harbour service in May 1819, then renamed ''Veteran'' on 2 May 1839 and broken in August 1852.<ref>Colledge, Prometheus</ref>
==Construction==
She was ordered on 25 February 1839 from Sheerness Dockyard with her keel laid in July.<ref>Lyon Winfield, page 159</ref> She was launched about two months later on 21 September. Following her launch she was towed to Limehouse to have her boilers and machinery fitted.<ref>Winfield</ref> She returned to Sheerness and was completed for sea on 20 February 1840 at an initial cost of £29,433 including the machinery cost of £10,700.<ref group=Note>A total cost accounting for inflation of approximately £{{formatnum:{{Inflation|UK|27268|1839|r=-2}}}} in today's money.</ref>
==Commissioned service==
===First commission===
Her first commission started on 21 November 1839 under the command of Lieutenant Thomas Spark, RN for service in the Mediterranean. Lieutenant Frederick Lowe, RN took command on 23 February 1843 for particular service. She was paid off on 27 March 1844. She was refitted and reboilered at a cost of 9,248 at Woolwich and Limehouse.<ref>Winfield</ref>
===Second commission===
She was commissioned on 15 May 1844 under the command of Lieutenant John Hay, RN for service on the west coast of Africa.<ref>Winfield</ref> Her first two years on the anti-slavery patrol were eventful. She took slavers ''Marinero'' on 13 September 1844, slaver ''Audaz'' on 23 October, ''Alberia'' on 18 April 1845, ''Tentador'' on 3 June, ''Suspiro'' on 6 July, ''Belmira'' on 11 November, ''Recuperador'' on 27 November, ''San Domingo'' and ''Eugrazia'' on 25 December and ''San Lorenzo'' on the 26th. She returned to Home waters to pay off on 2 September 1847.<ref>Winfield</ref> She underwent repairs at Woolwich and Deptford during 1848 and 1850 at a cost of 14,010.<ref>Winfield</ref>
===Third commission===
She commissioned under Commander Henry Richard Foote, RN for service on the west coast of Africa. She returned to Home Waters paying off at Woolwich on 3 January 1853.
===Fourth commission===
Prior to commissioning ''Prometheus'' was moved to Devonport.<ref>Winfield</ref> She commissioned at Devonport on 25 February 1854 under the command of Commander Edward Bridges Rice, RN for service on the west coast of Africa.<ref>The Navy List, January 1855, page 165</ref> She was in action against Rif tribesmen off Cape Treforeas on 26 June 1854. Commander Jasper Henry Selwyn, RN took command on the 12 of September 1854. By June 1855 she was in Home Waters.<ref>The Navy List, July 1855, page 167</ref> By September she had been assigned to particular service in the Black Sea during the Russian War.<ref>The Navy List, October 1855, page 167</ref> Commander Charles Webley Hope, RN took command on 19 January 1856. By June 1856 she was back on the west coast of Africa.<ref>The Navy List, July 1856, page 166</ref> She captured the slaver ''Adams Gray'' on 16 April 1857. She returned to Home Waters to pay off on 15 September 1857 at Woolwich.<ref>Winfield</ref> She was refitted at Woolwich at a cost of 14,520 form 1858 to 1859.<ref>Winfield</ref>
===Fifth commission===
Her last commission started on 19 October 1859 under Commander Sidmouth Stowell Skipwith, RN for service on the west coast of Africa. on 13 November 1860,<ref>The Navy List July 1860, page 173</ref> Commander Norman Bernard Bedingfeld, RN took command.<ref>The Navy List, January 1862, page 187</ref> On 27 May 1861 she took the slaver ''Jacinta''. She returned to home Waters paying off at Woolwich on 21 June 1862.<ref>Winfield</ref>
==Disposition==
She was sent to Chatham Dockyard for repairs but found to be exceedingly rotten and deemed not economical to repair. She was sold to Henry Castle & Sons for £1,525 to be broken at Charlton.<ref>Winfield</ref>
==Notes==
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==Citations==
{{reflist}}
==References==
* Lyon Winfield, The Sail & Steam Navy List, All the Ships of the Royal Navy 1815 to 1889, by David Lyon & Rif Winfield, published by Chatham Publishing, London © 2004, {{ISBN|1-86176-032-9}}
* Winfield, British Warships in the Age of Sail (1817 – 1863), by Rif Winfield, published by Seaforth Publishing, England © 2014, e{{ISBN|9781473837430}}, Chapter 11 Steam Paddle Vessels, Vessels acquired since November 1830, Alecto Class
* Colledge, Ships of the Royal Navy, by J.J. Colledge, revised and updated by Lt Cdr Ben Warlow and Steve Bush, published by Seaforth Publishing, Barnsley, Great Britain, © 2020, e {{ISBN|978-1-5267-9328-7}} (EPUB)
* The New Navy List, conducted by Joseph Allen, Esq., RN, London: Parker, Furnivall, and Parker, Military Library, Whitehall, MDCCCXLVII
* The Navy List, published by His Majesty's Stationery Office, London
{{Alecto class Sloop}}
{{Royal Navy paddle sloops}}
[[Category:Paddle sloops of the Royal Navy]]
[[Category:Sloop classes]]
[[Category:1839 ships]]