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History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Rhadamanthus
Ordered	12 January 1831
Builder	Plymouth Dockyard
Cost	£31,919
Laid down	September 1831
Launched	16 April 1832
Completed	2 November 1832
Commissioned	4 October 1832
Fate	Breaking completed at Sheerness 8 February 1864
General characteristics
Type	Paddle sloop
Displacement	1,086 tons
Tons burthen	813 bm
Length	164 ft 7 in (50.2 m) gundeck 143 ft 2 in (43.6 m) keel for tonnage
Beam	32 ft 10 in (10.0 m) maximum 32 ft 8 in (10.0 m) for tonnage
Draught	11 ft 0 in (3.4 m) (forward) 13 ft 0 in (4.0 m) (aft)
Depth of hold	17 ft 10 in (5.44 m)
Propulsion	220 nominal horsepower 385 ihp (287 kW) 2-cylinder side lever steam engine Paddles
Sail plan	Schooner rig, later changed to barquentine
Speed	10 knots (19 km/h) (under steam)
Complement	135
Armament	1 × 10-inch (84 cwt) pivot gun 2 (later 3) × 32-pounder (25 cwt) guns 2 × 6-pounder (6 cwt) brass guns

HMS Rhadamanthus was one of the initial steam powered vessels built for the Royal Navy. On 10 January 1831 the First Sea Lord gave orders that four paddle vessels be built to competitive designs. The vessels were to be powered by Maudslay, Son & Field steam engines, carry a schooner rig and mount one or two 10-inch shell guns. Initially classed simply as a steam vessel (SV), she was re-classed as a second-class steam sloop in 1846. Designed by Thomas Roberts, the Master Shipwright of Plymouth. She was launched and completed in 1832, She was converted into a transport in 1841 then in 1851 she was a troopship and by the 1860s she was a transport again. Her breaking was completed in February 1864.

Rhadamanthus was the only named vessel in the Royal Navy.

Design and specifications

Her keel was laid in September 1831 at Plymouth Dockyard and launched on 16 April 1832. Her gun deck was 164 feet 7 inches (50.17 metres) with her keel length reported for tonnage calculation was 143 feet 2 inches (43.64 metres). Her maximum breadth was 32 feet 10 inches (10.01 metres) with 32 feet 8 inches (9.96 metres) being reported for tonnage. Her depth of hold was 17 feet 10 inches (5.44 metres). Her light draught was 11 feet 0 inches (3.35 metres) forward and 13 feet 0 inches (3.96 metres) aft. Her builder's measure tonnage was 813 tons though her displacement was 1,086 tons. Upon launch she was sailed to Woolwich to have her machinery fitted.

Her machinery was supplied by Maudslay, Son & Field of Lambeth. She was fitted with two fire-tube rectangular boilers. Her steam engine was a two-cylinder vertical single expansion (VSE) engine rated at 220 nominal horsepower (NHP). During her steam trials the engine generated 385 indicated horsepower (287 kW) for a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h). She originally was to have a schooner sail plan, however, this was changed to a barque or barquentine sail rig.

Her armament would initially consist of one Miller's Original 10-inch 84 hundredweight (cwt) muzzle-loading smoothbore (MLSB) shell gun on a pivot mount and two Bloomfield's 32-pounder 25 cwt MLSB guns and two 6-pounder brass MLSB guns on broadside trucks. The brass guns were later removed and one 32-pounder 42 cwt MLSB was fitted on a pivot mount.

She was completed on 2 November 1832 at an initial cost of £31,919 (building - £18,534, fitting - £2,197 and machinery - £11,188).

Commissioned service

First commission

She was first commissioned on 4 October 1832 for the blockade of the Dutch Coast during the Belgian war of Independence. At the end of the blockade duties she was assigned to the North America and West Indies Station. She returned to Home Water, paying off at Woolwich on 21 April 1835. During 1836 she underwent a major refit at Woolwich Dockyard.

Second commission

She was recommissioned on 23 October 1836 under Commander John Duffill, RN, as a packet vessel for the coast of Spain. On 13 July 1837 Commander Arthur Wakefield took command and assigned to the Mediterranean. She returned to Home Waters to pay off on 20 October 1840. She was refitted as a transport at Sheerness before returning to Woolwich.

Ancillary service

She commissioned on 28 April 1841 under Thomas Laen, Master at Woolwich. On 29 June she was under Jonathan Aylen, Master. She paid off at Woolwich on 13 February 1849. She was fitted as a troopship in March 1851. She recommissioned under John Belam, Master for Particular Service. John E. Perry, master (temporary) took over on 17 November 1855, then on 25 January 1856 Edmund P. Cole, Master was in command, following with Frederick R. Strudee, Master on 29 October 1857 and finally George Raymond, Master on 8 December 1862.

Disposition

She paid off for the last time on 11 June 1863 at Sheerness. Her breaking was completed on 8 February 1864.

Notes

1. "cwt", or "hundredweight" refers to the weight of the gun itself.
2. "32-pounder" refers to the weight of the shot fired.
3. A total cost accounting for inflation of approximately £3,661,000 in today's money.

Citations

1. Winfield
2. Colledge
3. Winfield
4. Lyon Winfield, page 155
5. Lyon Winfield, page 158
6. Lyon Winfield, page 155
7. Winfield
8. Winfield
9. Winfield
10. Winfield
11. Lyon Winfield, page 158
12. Winfield
13. Winfield
14. Winfield
15. Winfield
16. Winfield
17. Lyon Winfield, page 158

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, Part I, Chapter 3, Paddle Steamers (Wooden), Paddle Sloops
• Winfield, British Warships in the Age of Sail (1817 – 1863), by Rif Winfield, published by Seaforth Publishing, England © 2014, eISBN 9781473837430, Chapter 11 Steam Paddle Vessels, Vessels acquired from November 1830, Rhadamanthus
• 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), Section R (Reynard (See Renard) Rhadamanthus)

• 1832 ships
• Ships built in Plymouth, Devon
• Paddle sloops of the Royal Navy
• Victorian-era sloops of the United Kingdom