HMS Victoria (1855)

HMS "Victoria" (also referred to with the prefix HMVS - Her Majesty's Victorian Ship or HMCSS - Her Majesty's Colonial Steam Sloop) was a 580-ton combined steam/sail sloop-of-war built in England in the 1850s for the colony of Victoria, Australia.cite web |url=http://www.gunplot.net/colonialnavy/colonialnavy1.html |title=Colonial Navies of Early Australia |accessdaymonth=23 August |accessyear=2008] Frame, "No Pleasure Cruise", p 60]

She was the second warship to be built for an Australian colonial navy, the first British-built ship to be given to a colony of the British Empire, and the first Australian warship to be deployed overseas.

Construction and acquisition

"Victoria" was the first warship to be built in England for one of the British colonies. She was the second ship ordered for an Australian colonial navy, after the Australian-built gunboat "Spitfire" for the New South Wales colony. She was launched in London on 30 June 1855."Victoria" arrived in her namesake colony on 31 May 1856.

The ship was equipped with eight 32-pounder guns.Frame, "No Pleasure Cruise", p 54]

Operational history

1856-1860

"Victoria"’s main duties were to protect the colony of Victoria, conduct hydrological surveys, recover passengers and crew from stricken ships, and serve as a lighthouse tender. During her career, the sloop was involved in the search for the Burke and Wills expedition, and the delivery of the first trout eggs to the colony of Tasmania.

Maori War deployment

In 1860, the colonial government of Victoria decided to send the sloop to New Zealand, to support British colonists fighting in the Taranaki Maori War. On 19 April 1860, "Victoria" sailed to Hobart, embarked 134 troops from the 40th Regiment of Foot, and transported them to New Zealand. Prior to her departure, the colonial government passed an Act giving the ship legal status, but this law was overturned by Britain as an attempt to create a naval force independent of the Royal Navy.

After delivering the solders to Auckland, "Victoria" performed shore bombardments and coastal patrols, while maintaining supply routes between Auckland and New Plymouth.

In July, she sailed to Sydney to transport General Thomas Pratt and his staff to New Zealand. "Victoria" was used to evacuate women and children from the town of New Plymouth, following Maori attacks on the town's fortifications. In October, the ship underwent refit in Wellington, and resumed duties by delivering British reinforcements to the combat areas. As the Victorial colonial government required the ship for urgent survey work, her return was requested at the end of the year, with "Victoria" arriving in Melbourne in March 1861.

The Maori War deployment was the first time an Australian warship had been deployed to assist in a foreign war. The legal hazards of having a colonial warship operating outside her territorial limits was rectified by declaring that all Australian warships in international or foreign waters had to be commissioned into the Royal Navy.

1861 onwards

In 1867, "Victoria" was present for the visit of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh—the first member of the British Royal Family to visit Australia.cite web |url=http://cas.awm.gov.au/TST2/cst.acct_master?surl=589152133ZZZOARXUPVPII54924&stype=3&simplesearch=&v_umo=&v_product_id=&screen_name=&screen_parms=&screen_type=RIGHT&bvers=4&bplatform=Microsoft%20Internet%20Explorer&bos=Win32 |title=Australian War Memorial Collections Database - 300060 |publisher=Australian War Memorial |accessdaymonth=23 August |accessyear=2008]

By 1877, "Victoria"’s armament had been altered to include one 10-inch gun, two 13-pounders, and two 3-pounders.

In 1885, "Victoria" was in Malta on a return voyage to Australia when news of General Charles Gordon's death at Khartoum reached the British Empire.Frame, "No Pleasure Cruise", p 67] "Victoria" and the Victorian gunboat "Albert", which was also in Malta, were immediately offered for service in the Sudan Campaign. Although accepted, by the time the two ships reached their destination at Suakin, the conflict had moved too far inland for warships to be of any assistance.

At the end of her career, "Victoria" was decommissioned and sold. She was purchased by a civilian firm, who used her as a towing vessel.Frame, "No Pleasure Cruise", p 70]

References

*cite book |last=Frame |first=Tom |authorlink=Tom Frame (bishop) |title=No Pleasure Cruise: the story of the Royal Australian Navy |year=2004 |publisher=Allen & Unwin |location=Crows Nest, NSW |isbn=1741142334 |oclc=55980812 |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=YY6CN8wAk4AC&pg=PA54&dq=steam+sloop+Victoria&sig=ACfU3U1MWlyy38T3-cgrH8fHswuNiv8p9g |format=Google Books