HMS Medway (1812)

For other ships of the same name, see HMS Medway.

History

UK
Name:	HMS Medway
Ordered:	19 August 1807
Builder:	Pitcher, Northfleet
Laid down:	December 1808
Launched:	19 November 1812
Fate:	Sold, 1865
General characteristics ^[1]
Class & type:	Vengeur-class ship of the line
Tons burthen:	1768 bm
Length:	176 ft (54 m) (gundeck)
Beam:	47 ft 6 in (14.48 m)
Depth of hold:	21 ft (6.4 m)
Propulsion:	Sails
Sail plan:	Full rigged ship
Armament:	74 guns: Gundeck: 28 × 32 pdrs Upper gundeck: 28 × 18 pdrs Quarterdeck: 4 × 12 pdrs, 10 × 32 pdr carronades Forecastle: 2 × 12 pdrs, 2 × 32 pdr carronades Poop deck: 6 × 18 pdr carronades

HMS Medway was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 19 November 1812 at Northfleet.^[1]

Commander Augustus Brine, whilst in command of the Medway captured the United States, 18 gun, Brig of War Syren with a complement of 137 men in July 1814.

Medway was converted to serve as a prison ship at the Royal Naval Dockyard on Ireland Island in Bermuda in 1847. The colony had been selected for development as the primary British naval and military base in the North American and West Indian region following the loss of all British ports between Nova Scotia and the West Indies with American Independence. Bermuda's manpower was entirely devoted to shipbuilding and seafaring, and the shortage of cheap manual labour led the Admiralty to import convicts from British and Irish prisons, who were housed in hulks like the Medway. Conditions for the convicts were harsh, and discipline was draconian.

In 1849, convict James Cronin, on the Medway, was placed in solitary confinement from the 25th to the 29th for fighting. On release, and being returned to work, he refused to be cross-ironed. He ran onto the breakwater, brandishing a poker threateningly. For this, he was ordered to receive punishment (presumably flogging) on Tuesday, the 3rd of July, 1849, with the other convicts aboard the hulk assembled behind a rail to witness. When ordered to strip, he hesitated. Thomas Cronin, his older brother, addressed him and, while brandishing a knife, rushed forward to the separating rail. He called out to the other prisoners in Gaelic and many joined him in attempting to free the prisoner and attack the officers. The officers opened fire. Two men were killed and twelve wounded. Punishment of James Cronin was then carried out. Three-hundred men of the 42nd Regiment of Foot, in barracks on Ireland Island, responded to the scene under arms.^[2]

The Medway was sold out of the Navy in 1865.^[1]

An 1848 woodcut of HMD Bermuda, Ireland Island, Bermuda, with hulks, including the Medway.

Notes

1 2 3 Lavery, Ships of the Line vol.1, p189.
↑ Bermuda Sampler 1815-1850, by William Zuill. Publisher: The Bermuda Book Store. 1 January 1937

References

Hannings, Bud. (2012). The War of 1812: A Complete Chronology with Biographies of 63 General Officers. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-6385-5
Lavery, Brian (2003) The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850. Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-252-8.

Vengeur-class ships of the line

Ajax Berwick Rodney Poictiers Vigo Cressy Egmont Armada America Vengeur Conquestador Edinburgh Barham Hogue Duncan Asia Stirling Castle Mulgrave Cornwall Dublin Gloucester Scarborough Clarence Anson Pembroke Rippon Devonshire Medway Indus Benbow Cornwallis Blenheim Vindictive Redoubtable Defence Hercules Pitt Hero Agincourt Russell

Preceded by: Swiftsure class Followed by: Black Prince class

List of ships of the line of the Royal Navy

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, January 01, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.