HMS Comet (1822)
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name: | Comet |
| Builder: | Deptford Dockyard[1] |
| Laid down: | 21 November 1821[1] |
| Launched: | 23 May 1822[1] |
| In service: | 1822-1869[1] |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 239 long tons (243 t)[1] |
| Length: |
35.1 m (115 ft 1.9 in) overall[1] 30.8 m (101 ft 0.6 in) PP[1] |
| Beam: | 3.7 m (12 ft 1.7 in)[1] |
| Propulsion: | Steam engine with paddle wheels[1] |
| Speed: | 7.5 knots (13.9 km/h; 8.6 mph)[1] |
HMS Comet was the first wooden paddle-steamer built for the Royal Navy.
Comet was built at the yards in Deptford by Boulton, Watt & Co, which was at the time just outside London, in 1822.[1][2] She was ordered as a tug, for towing ships out of harbour when the wind was not enough to allow them to move by themselves, specifically "to be employed in towing HM ships in the Thames and Medway".[2]
The ship was designed by Oliver Lang, the master shipwright at Woolwich Dockyard. She was fitted with a two-mast schooner rig, as well as a twin cylinder side-lever engine, which produced 80 nominal horsepower.[2]
Humphry Davy travelled on the Comet to Norway to test his zinc protectors for ships' copper bottoms in the summer of 1824.[3]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Comet (223943)". Miramar Ship Index. Retrieved 23 March 2016. (subscription required (help)).
- 1 2 3 Winfield, Rif (2014-04-30). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1817-1863: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. p. 294. ISBN 9781473849624.
- ↑ Letter from Davy to the Navy Board, 29 June 1824, National Archives, ADM106/1504, f.126