HMS Pique (1834)

HMS "Pique" was a wooden fifth rate warship of the Royal Navy, launched on 21 July 1834 at Devonport. She was of 1633 tons and had 36 guns.

During Captain Edward Boxer's captaincy (3 August 1837 - August 1841), she travelled to North America, the West Indies and (in 1840) to the Mediterranean (including operations on the coast of Syria, as part of the squadron led by HMS "Cambridge", and also including HMS "Zebra" and HMS "Vesuvius").

Between 14 November 1841 and 1 August 1842 (commanded by Captain Henry Forbes) she went to the West Indies, returning in 1 August 1842 - 1846 (under Captain Montagu Stopford), and also travelling to North America on that occasion. With HMS "Blake", in 1845 she also acted as cable ship for experiments in laying telegraph cable in Portsmouth Harbour. [ [http://www.atlantic-cable.com/Cables/CableTimeLine/index1850.htm atlantic-cable.com] ] From 26 December 1853 she was commanded by Captain Frederick William Erskine Nicolson in the Pacific, and participated in the 1854 Anglo-French squadron sent to the Russian War and Second Anglo-Chinese War). Here she was present at the Siege of Petropavlovsk.

From 1872 she was a Receiving Ship, and from 1882 rented as hospital hulk to Plymouth Borough Council to quarantine sailors who fell victim to a cholera epidemic [ [http://www.plymouthdata.info/Hospitals.htm From plymouthdata.info] ] . In 1910 she was finally broken up.

References

*Colledge
* Lavery, Brian, "The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850, 1983, ISBN 0-85177-252-8

External links

*http://www.nmm.ac.uk/collections/prints/viewPrint.cfm?ID=PAG7142
*http://www.nmm.ac.uk/collections/prints/viewPrint.cfm?ID=PAD6161
*http://www.pdavis.nl/ShowShip.php?id=1895
*http://www.plymouthdata.info/Hospitals.htm