HMS Shannon (1855)

HMS Shannon was a Liffey-class steam frigate of the Royal Navy.

She was originally ordered as a sail driven Leander-class frigate,. but was re-ordered as screw frigate on 4 April 1851. She was built at Portsmouth Dockyard and launched on 24 November 1855. She was completed by 29 December 1856 with her hull having cost £62,759, her machinery £37,325, and a further £27,079 spent on fitting out.

Under the command of Sir William Peel, Shannon played an important role in the Indian Mutiny landing a naval brigade which fought at the Siege of Lucknow, including the Storming of the Sikandar Bagh. Five Victoria Crosses were won by the following crew of HMS Shannon: Lieutenant Thomas Young, Lieutenant Nowell Salmon, Leading Seaman John Harrison, Able Seaman Edward Robinson and Able Seaman William Hall, the first Black person and the first Canadian sailor to be awarded a Victoria Cross. Peel was wounded in the leg during the second relief of Lucknow, and was brought to Cawnpore, where he died of smallpox, having commanded Shannon's naval brigade during the campaign.

HMS Shannon

Nine ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Shannon, after the River Shannon, the longest river in Ireland:

HMS Shannon (1757)

HMS Shannon was a 28-gun Coventry-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy.

Construction

The Shannon was one of five frigates of the class built of fir rather than oak. Fir was cheaper and more abundant than oak and permitted noticeably faster construction, but at a cost of a reduced lifespan; the four fir-built Coventry-class vessels that did not get captured lasted an average of only nine years before being struck off.

References

HMS Shannon (1806)

HMS Shannon was a 38-gun Leda-class frigate of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1806 and served in the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812. She won a noteworthy naval victory on 1 June 1813, during the latter conflict, when she captured the American Navy's USS Chesapeake in a singularly bloody battle.

Career

Construction and commissioning

Josiah and Thomas Brindley built Shannon at Frindsbury in Kent and launched her on 5 May 1806. She was to spend her first seven years under the command of Captain Philip Broke, who was transferred from Druid, and took command of Shannon in June that year.

Home waters

Shannon was quickly put into service. She formed part of a squadron under Commodore Owen that was patrolling off the French port of Boulogne. On 8 October she took part in the bombardment of the town using Congreve rockets.

Her next task was sailing in 1807 with Meleager to protect the whale fishery off Greenland. Despite encountering ice on 7 May 1807, they were able to push through, reaching the southern part of Spitsbergen on 17 June. There the two ships surveyed the Bay of Magdalena, at a latitude of 80°N. They eventually reached a latitude of 80° 6' N before the ice stopped them. They then turned westwards and reached the coast of Greenland on 23 July. The island of Shannon is named after the ship. Shannon spent the early autumn cruising from Shetland. She then left, returning to Yarmouth by the end of September, where she cruised off the Downs. She put into Spithead on 28 September to undergo a refit.