HMS Providence
| career |
.svg){kind=small}
|
|---|---|
| Shipyard: | Perry, Blackwall (London) |
| Launch: | April 23, 1791 |
| Commissioning: | 1791 |
| Fate: | Sinking on May 16, 1797 near Formosa |
| General data | |
| Tonnage: | 406 tons , builders measurement |
| Length: | 107 feet , 10.25 inches (32.87 m) on deck |
| Width: | 29 feet , 2.5 inches (8.90 m) on bulkhead |
| Draft: | 12 feet , 3.25 inches (3.74 m) in load |
| Drive: | sail |
| Crew: | 100 men (officers and men) nominal strength |
| Armament: | 10–18 4-pounder guns 14 rotating guns |
The HMS Providence ( German foresight / provision ) was a British naval ship that was used by Captain William Bligh for the second breadfruit expedition (1791-1793) .
history
The Providence was classified as a sloop 6th rank expedition ship, she was built at W. Perry's shipyard in Blackwall (London), where it was bought by the Royal Navy in February 1791 during construction and was launched on April 23, 1791 .
On the first voyage it had a crew of 134 men, including 20 marines.
After the disaster with the HMS Bounty, William Bligh was to make a second attempt at the will of Sir Joseph Banks to bring breadfruit plants from Tahiti to the West Indies. The HMS Assistant was accompanying the ship , commanded by Lieutenant Nathaniel Portlock. Portlock, whose skills were highly valued by Bligh, was also in command of Providence for a time during Bligh's recurrent illness . Among the midshipmen was the young Matthew Flinders , who would later sail around Australia. The expedition was successful and proceeded without major incidents.
The stops of the journey:
- Aug 3, 1791: Departure from Spithead
- Apr 9, 1792: Arrival in Tahiti
- July 19, 1792: departure from Tahiti
- Jan. 22, 1793: Arrival in St. Vincent (West Indies)
- Feb. 5, 1793: Arrival in Jamaica
- 7 Aug 1793: Arrival in Deptford , England
The Providence's second voyage wasn't quite as successful, and it was also her last. In 1795 she was appointed under Capt. William Robert Broughton was ordered to the Pacific coast of North America, where she was to meet the Vancouver expedition. Broughton missed Vancouver and decided to sail to East Asia for further exploration and surveying, including a. before Hokkaidō . In 1797 the Providence was shipwrecked and sank off Miyako-jima Island , southwest of Okinawa . The crew was able to save themselves on an accompanying schooner.
Remarks
- ↑ The armament fluctuates in the sources. George Tobin, 3rd lieutenant on the Providence , wrote in his diary on June 22nd, 1791 of "sixteen four pounders and several swivels", the Navy List gives 10/12 cannons and 1797 18 pieces.
literature
- David Lyon: The Sailing Navy List . Conway Maritime Press, London, ISBN 0-85177-864-X
Web links
- George Tobin: Journal on HMS Providence 1791–1793 ( online version as of June 18, 2008)
- Ian Campbell: Mr. Bligh's bad Health (as of June 18, 2008)
- Information from the National Maritime Museum (as of June 18, 2008)
- Pacific Union College information as of June 18, 2008