HMS Pelorus (1808)

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HMS Pelorus was a 385 ton, 18 gun brig-sloop of the Royal Navy, constructed in Itchenor, England and launched on June 25, 1808. It took part in the Napoleonic Wars, primarily as a blockade ship in the waters around Guadaloupe. In the early 1830s, when William Wilberforce's anti-slavery act went into effect, the HMS Pelorus became an anti-slaver ship. Tasked with patrolling the west coast of Africa. At some point during this time she was given a third mast, while most brig-sloops only had two. This probably gave her a speed advantage. In 1837 the ship was tasked to survey areas of southern Australia, New Zealand and the island of Tasmania. The Pelorus River and Pelorus Sound of New Zealand were both named in honor of the ship's survey of the region. On November 25, 1839, while anchored off of Port Essington, Australia the ship was struck by a hurricane and was wrecked with the loss of 12 crew. The remainder were rescued by HMS Britomart. Owen Stanley painted several pictures of the Pelorus lying on its side on a beach after the wreck. After repairs, the Pelorus was dispatched from Sydney in 1840 with HMS Herald to take part in the first Opium War. In 1842 the ship was sold out of the Royal Navy in Singapore, and was sunk when it struck a shoal on December 25, 1844 off the coast of Borneo in the South China Sea.