HMS Inconstant (1868)

HMS "Inconstant" was an iron screw frigate of the Royal Navy. She was launched on 12 November 1868 and became a training ship in 1906, renamed "Impregnable II". She became the Navy's torpedo school ship in January 1922 and was renamed "Defiance IV", and "Defiance II" in December 1930, before being finally scrapped in 1956. She was the first of three steam-assisted but fully masted frigates with iron hulls, sheathed with a double layer of wood, that were built for the Royal Navy.

The "Inconstant" was designed by Sir Edward Reed; she had a displacement of 5,782 tons, a length of 337 ft 4 in (between perpendiculars), a beam of convert|50|ft|4|in|m|abbr=on, and a draught of convert|25|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on On her trials, her 2-cylinder horizontal single expansion trunk engine produced convert|7360|ihp|abbr=on, producing a speed of convert|16.2|kn|km/h. She carried a complement of 600 officers and men.

Building Programme

The following table gives the build details and purchase cost of the "Inconstant" and the other two iron frigates of the Royal Navy: "Raleigh" and "Shah". Standard British practice at that time was for these costs to exclude armament and stores. (Note that costs quoted by J.W. King were in US dollars.)

*Date first commissioned. [ [http://www.pdavis.nl/ShowShip.php?id=1607 HMS "Inconstant"] ] [ [http://www.pdavis.nl/ShowShip.php?id=1945 HMS "Raleigh"] ]

Career

The following information on "Inconstant's" career is fragmentary.

"Inconstant" was first commissioned at Portsmouth on 12 August 1869 by Captain Elphinstone D'Oyly D'Auvergne Aplin, who commanded her until September 1870. During this time "Inconstant" served in the Channel Squadron. [ [http://www.pdavis.nl/ShowShip.php?id=1607 HMS "Inconstant"] ]

"Inconstant's" next captain was Charles Waddilove. She served in the 1871 "Detached Squadron", commanded by Rear Admiral Frederick Beauchamp Paget Seymour, which she joined at Gibraltar and then travelled to Portland (13 Aug) - Copenhagen (23 - 27 Aug) - Carlscrone (1 - 4 Sep) - Christiania (9 - 14 Sep) - Trontheim - Bergen (25 - 27 Sep) - Kirkwall - Firth of Forth (4 - 7 Oct), finally arriving at Spithead on 11 October 1871. The vessels in the squadron were as follows: [ [http://www.pdavis.nl/Flying.htm The Flying Squadron] ]

* HMS "Narcissus" (flag), William Codrington
* HMS "Immortalité", Francis William Sullivan
* HMS "Cadmus", William Henry Whyte
* HMS "Volage", Michael Culme-Seymour
* HMS "Inconstant" (joined at Gibraltar), Charles Waddilove
* HMS "Topaze" (joined at Gibraltar, left at Portland), Radulphus Bryce Oldfield

From 5 February to 11 March 1880, "Inconstant" was commanded by Captain Lord Walter Talbot Kerr, and served as the flagship of Vice-Admiral Frederick Beauchamp Paget Seymour, in the Mediterranean Fleet. [ [http://www.pdavis.nl/ShowShip.php?id=1607 HMS "Inconstant"] ]

From August 1880 to 1882 "Inconstant" was again in the "Detached Squadron", this time as flagship first of Rear Admiral Richard James, 4th Earl of Clanwilliam until he was invalided out at Hong Hong, [ [http://www.pdavis.nl/ShowBiog.php?id=42 Richard Charles Francis Meade on-line biography] ] and then from 6 December 1881 to 17 October 1882 of Rear Admiral Sir Francis Sullivan. [ [http://www.pdavis.nl/ShowBiog.php?id=1319 Sir Francis Sullivan on-line biography] ] "Inconstant's" captain at this time was Charles Cooper Penrose-Fitzgerald. The "Detached Squadron" left Spithead on 17 October 1880 travelling to: Vigo (24 - 31 Oct) - Madeira (6 - 10 Nov) - St Vincent (20 Nov) - Montevideo (22 Dec - 9 Jan 1881) - Falkland Islands (24 - 25 Jan) - Cape of Good Hope (16 Feb - 9 Apr; 1st Boer war) - Melbourne (22 May) - Adelaide (9 Jul) - Sydney (14 Jul - 9 Aug) - Brisbane (16 - 20 Aug) - Fiji (3 - 10 Sep) - Yokohama (21 Oct - 1 Nov) - Kobe (4-12 Nov) - Shimonoseki (14 - 16 Nov) - Shanghai (23 Nov ) - Amoy (15 Dec) - Hong Kong (20 Dec - 11 Feb 1882) - Singapore (2 Mar) - Anjer, Java (6 - 8 Mar) - Capetown (16 May) - St Vincent (20 - 22 June) -Spithead (10 Oct 1882). [ [http://www.pdavis.nl/Flying.htm The Flying Squadron] ] It is claimed that on 11 July 1881, Prince George of Wales (later King George V of England) sighted a phantom ship whilst travelling on the "Inconstant" between Melbourne and Sydney. Two other ships, travelling with the "Inconstant", HMS "Tourmaline" and HMS "Cleopatra", also reported seeing the phantom ship. [ "Strangely Enough", C. B. Colby, Oak Tree Press, Sydney, 1959 ISBN 0-8069-3918-4 p. 44] The "Detached Squadron" consisted of: [ [http://www.pdavis.nl/Flying.htm The Flying Squadron] ]

* HMS "Inconstant" (flag), Charles Cooper Penrose-Fitzgerald
* HMS "Cleopatra" (left at Hong Kong), Francis Durrant
* HMS "Carysfort", Henry Frederick Stephenson
* HMS "Bacchante" (joined at Ferrol, left at Hong Kong), Lord Charles Thomas Montague Douglas Scott
* HMS "Tourmaline" (joined at Ferrol), Robert Peel Dennistoun

In 1898 "Inconstant" was reduced to harbour service. She was renamed "Impregnable III" in 1907, then "Defiance IV" in 1922, and "Defiance II" in 1930. She was scrapped in 1956. [ [http://www.pdavis.nl/ShowShip.php?id=1607 HMS "Inconstant"] ]

References

* Brassey, Lord (ed) The Naval Annual 1887
* Chesnau, Roger and Kolesnik, Eugene (Ed.) "Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1860-1905". Conway Maritime Press, 1979. ISBN 0-83170-302-4
* Colby, C. B., "Strangely Enough", Oak Tree Press, Sydney, 1959 ISBN 0-8069-3918-4
* King, JW, "Warships and Navies of the World", pub A Williams, 1881.
* Lyon, David and Winfield, Rif, "The Sail and Steam Navy List". Chatham Publishing, 2004. ISBN 1-86176-032-9
*
* [http://www.pdavis.nl/ShowShip.php?id=1607 HMS "Inconstant"]
* [http://www.pdavis.nl/ShowShip.php?id=1945 HMS "Raleigh"]
* [http://www.pdavis.nl/Flying.htm The Flying Squadron]
* [http://www.pdavis.nl/ShowBiog.php?id=42 Richard Charles Francis Meade on-line biography]
* [http://www.pdavis.nl/ShowBiog.php?id=87 Frederick Beauchamp Paget Seymour on-line biography]
* [http://www.pdavis.nl/ShowBiog.php?id=1319 Sir Francis Sullivan on-line biography]

Footnotes

External links

* [http://www.battleships-cruisers.co.uk/hms_inconstant.htm Battleships and Cruisers]
* [http://www.pdavis.nl/ShowShip.php?id=1607 HMS "Inconstant"]