HMS Fawn (1856)

Miranda (left) and Fawn (right) during the Regatta of January 1862 ("the race of the Maori war canoes")
History
Name:	HMS Fawn
Ordered:	27 March 1852
Builder:	Deptford Dockyard
Laid down:	4 May 1854
Launched:	30 September 1856
Commissioned:	26 November 1859
Decommissioned:	1884
Fate:	Survey ship from 1876 Sold in 1884
General characteristics
Class and type:	Cruizer-class screw sloop
Displacement:	1,045 tons [1]
Tons burthen:	747 51/94 bm[1]
Length:	160 ft (49 m) (gundeck) 140 ft 1.75 in (42.7165 m) (keel)
Beam:	31 ft 10 in (9.70 m)[1]
Draught:	11 ft (3.4 m)
Depth of hold:	17 ft 6 in (5.33 m)[1]
Installed power:	100 nominal horsepower 434 ihp (324 kW)[1]
Propulsion:	Two-cylinder horizontal single-expansion steam engine Single screw[1]
Sail plan:	Barque-rigged
Speed:	8.7 kn (16.1 km/h)
Armament:	One 32-pdr (56cwt) pivot gun Sixteen 32-pdr (32cwt) carriage guns

HMS Fawn was a Royal Navy 17-gun Cruizer-class sloop launched in 1856. She served on the Australia, North America and Pacific stations before being converted to a survey ship in 1876. She was sold and broken up in 1884.

Construction

Fawn was launched on 30 September 1856 from Deptford Dockyard.^[2]

Australia station

She was commissioned at Sheerness on 30 October 1859 and until 1863 served on the Australia Station.^[3]

North America station

She refitted at Sheerness in 1863, and from 1864 to 1868 served on the North America and West Indies Station.^[3]

Pacific station

After a second refit at Sheerness in 1869 she went to the Pacific Station, where she remained until 1875.^[3]

Survey ship

In 1876 she was converted to a survey ship, and in this role she surveyed areas of the east coast of Africa, the Sea of Marmara and the Mediterranean. She was under the command of Commander William Wharton from 1 June 1876 to 1 January 1880 and then under the command of Commander Pelham Aldrich until paying off.^[3]

Fate

On 6 April 1883 she paid off, and she was sold for breaking the next year.^[1]

References

1. Winfield (2004), pp.213-215
2. Bastock, p.33.
3. "HMS Fawn". William Loney website. Retrieved 2010-03-17.

• Winfield, Rif & Lyon, David (2004). The Sail and Steam Navy List: All the Ships of the Royal Navy 1815–1889. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-032-6. OCLC 52620555.