HMS Thisbe was a 46-gun modified Leda-class fifth-rate frigate built for the Royal Navy during the 1820s. The ship was never commissioned and spent her entire career in reserve or on third-line duties. She was converted into a depot ship in 1850 and then into a floating church in 1863. Thisbe was replaced by a shore-based establishment, All Souls Chapel, in 1891 and sold for scrap the following year.
;_Hamadryad_(1823);_Thisbe_(1824)_RMG_J3898.jpg) Thisbe
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | Thisbe |
| Namesake | Thisbe |
| Ordered | 23 July 1817 |
| Builder | Pembroke Dockyard |
| Laid down | November 1820 |
| Launched | 9 September 1824 |
| Completed | 12 September 1821 |
| Commissioned | Never |
| Reclassified | As depot ship, 1850 |
| Fate | Sold for scrap, 11 August 1892 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Modified Leda-class frigate |
| Tons burthen | 1082 67/94 bm |
| Length | |
| Beam | 40 ft 4 in (12.3 m) |
| Draught | 15 ft 4 in (4.7 m) |
| Depth | 12 ft 9 in (3.9 m) |
| Sail plan | Full-rigged ship |
| Complement | 315 |
| Armament |
|
Description
editThisbe had a length at the gundeck of 151 feet 9 inches (46.3 m) and 127 feet (38.7 m) at the keel. She had a beam of 40 feet 4 inches (12.3 m), a draught of 15 feet 4 inches (4.7 m) and a depth of hold of 12 feet 9 inches (3.9 m). The ship's tonnage was 1082 67⁄94 tons burthen.[1] The modified Leda-class frigates were armed with twenty-eight 18-pounder cannon on her gundeck, fourteen 32-pounder carronades on her quarterdeck and a pair of 9-pounder cannon and two more 32-pounder carronades in forecastle. The ship had a crew of 315 officers and ratings.[2]
Construction and career
editThisbe, the second ship of her name to serve in the Royal Navy,[3] was ordered on 23 July 1817, laid down in August 1820 at Pembroke Dockyard, Wales, and launched on 9 September 1824.[4] She was completed for ordinary at Plymouth Dockyard on 5 October 1824 and the ship was roofed over from the mainmast forward. Thisbe was converted for service as a depot ship from 1850–63 and was loaned to the Missions to Seamen on 13 August of that year as a floating church;[1] Lord Bute paid for the necessary modifications. The ship spent almost the next 30 years berthed at the Bute West Dock in Cardiff.[5] Thisbe was taken out of service in 1891 and sold to W. H. Caple for £1,005 on 11 August 1892.[1] All Souls Chapel was built nearby in 1892 as a replacement.
Another redundant Leda-class frigate, HMS Hamadryad, was also moored in Cardiff and used as a hospital ship from 1866 to 1905.
Notes
editReferences
edit- Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
- Phillips, Lawrie; Lieutenant Commander (2014). Pembroke Dockyard and the Old Navy: A Bicentennial History. Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK: The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7509-5214-9.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Winfield, Rif (2014). British Warships in the Age of Sail, 1817-1863 (epub). Barnsley, UK: Seaforth. ISBN 978-1-47383-743-0.
- Winfield, R.; Lyon, D. (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.