HMS Ganges (1821)

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HMS Ganges was an 84-gun 2nd rate of the Royal Navy launched on November 10, 1821 at Bombay Dockyard. She is notable for being the last sailing ship of the Navy to serve as a flagship, and was the second ship to have borne the name.

Admiralty orders of June 5th 1816 directed her to be built as a facsimile of HMS Canopus (the ex-French ship Franklin, which had fought at the Battle of the Nile). Building began in May 1819, under the direction of master shipbuilder Jamsetjee Bomanjee Wadia. She was constructed from teak, with a length of 196 ft (59.7 m), and breadth of 52 ft (15.8 m). She had a ships company of 800.

She was commissioned at Portsmouth in 1823, and served in several locations over the following decades. Notable events included a period as flagship of the South America Station for three years, during which she landed Royal Marines in Rio de Janeiro after a mutiny by Brazilian soldiers. She also saw action in the Mediterranean in 1838—40, bombarding Beirut and blockading Alexandria. She was paid off during the Crimean War, and saw no action.

From 1857—61, she was the flagship of the Pacific Squadron, based in Vancouver, after which she returned to be converted into a training ship; she began service as a training ship in 1865 at Falmouth; in 1899, she was moved to Harwich.

In 1905, she became part of RNTE (Royal Naval Training Establishment) Shotley, which also included the ships HMS Caroline and HMS Boscawen III.

In 1906, she was renamed HMS Tenedos III, then moved to Devonport to become part of the HMS Indus training establishment; on August 13th, 1910, she was renamed HMS Indus V. In October 1922, she was renamed as HMS Impregnable III and transferred to the HMS Impregnable training establishment, also at Devonport. In 1923, she was finally taken out of service and transferred to the dockyard, and in 1929she was sold for breaking up. In 1930, after over a century in service, she was finally broken up at Plymouth. The captain's cabin in the stern was used in the construction of the art-deco hotel on Burgh Island in Devon, where it still remains to this day.

See HMS Ganges for other ships of the Royal Navy with this name.

[edit] External link

• The HMS Ganges Association Website has a detailed timeline of the activities of the Ganges.