.gif)
HMS Calliope (1884)
Encyclopedia
HMS Calliope was a Calypso-class corvette
Calypso class corvette
The Calypso class comprised two steam corvettes of the Royal Navy. Built for distant cruising in the heyday of the British Empire, they served with the fleet until the early twentieth century, when they became training ships...
of the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
which served from 1887 until 1951. Like all the remaining frigates and corvette extent in 1887, she was re-classified as a third-class cruiser
Cruiser
A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...
in the year she was completed, and exemplified the transitional nature of the late Victorian navy. She was a sailing corvette — one of the last — but supplemented her sail rig with powerful engines. Among the first of the smaller cruisers to be given all-steel hulls, she was cased with timber and coppered below the water line, as were wooden ships.
She was known for "one of the most famous episodes of seamanship in the 19th century", where she was the only ship to avoid being sunk or stranded in the tropical cyclone
1889 Apia cyclone
The 1889 Apia cyclone was a Pacific tropical cyclone, which swept across Apia, Samoa on March 15, 1889 during the Samoan crisis. The effect on shipping in the harbour was devastating, largely because of what has been described as 'an error of judgement that will forever remain a paradox in human...
that struck Samoa
Samoa
Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...
in 1889. After retirement from active service, she served as a training ship until 1951, when she was sold for breaking
Ship breaking
Ship breaking or ship demolition is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships for scrap recycling. Most ships have a lifespan of a few decades before there is so much wear that refitting and repair becomes uneconomical. Ship breaking allows materials from the ship, especially...
.
Design and construction
Calliope and her sister shipSister ship
A sister ship is a ship of the same class as, or of virtually identical design to, another ship. Such vessels share a near-identical hull and superstructure layout, similar displacement, and roughly comparable features and equipment...
Calypso
HMS Calypso (1883)
HMS Calypso was a corvette of the Royal Navy and the name ship of her class. Built for distant cruising in the heyday of the British Empire, she served as a warship and training vessel until 1922, when she was sold.As originally classified as a screw corvette, Calypso was one of the Royal Navy’s...
made up the Calypso class of corvettes designed by Nathaniel Barnaby
Nathaniel Barnaby
Sir Nathaniel Barnaby, KCB was Chief Constructor of the Royal Navy from 1872 to 1885....
. These vessels were part of a long line of cruiser classes built for protecting trade routes and colonial police work. The two Calypso-class vessels were among the last sailing corvettes ever built for the Royal Navy. They differed from prior ships in having an all-metal hull, of both steel and iron, although the metal plating of the hull was timber-cased and coppered below the waterline. The only armour was a 1.5-inch (38-mm) armoured deck covering the machinery spaces, but additional protection was provided by coal bunkers along the sides.
Calypso and Calliope differed from their nine predecessors of the Comus class in armament; they were also slightly longer, had a deeper draught
Draft (hull)
The draft of a ship's hull is the vertical distance between the waterline and the bottom of the hull , with the thickness of the hull included; in the case of not being included the draft outline would be obtained...
, and displaced 390 tons more. Originally planned as a ten-gun corvette, Calliope was completed with four 6 inches (152.4 mm) breechloaders in sponson
Sponson
Sponsons are projections from the sides of a watercraft, for protection, stability, or the mounting of equipment such as armaments or lifeboats, etc...
s fore and aft on each side, twelve 5 inches (127 mm) breechloaders in broadside
Broadside
A broadside is the side of a ship; the battery of cannon on one side of a warship; or their simultaneous fire in naval warfare.-Age of Sail:...
between the 6-inch guns, and six quck-firing Nordenfelts
Nordenfelt gun
The Nordenfelt Gun was a multiple barrel machine gun that had a row of up to twelve barrels. It was fired by pulling a lever back and forth. It was produced in a number of different calibres from rifle up to 25 mm...
.
Calliope's engines were of 4023 ihp, over 50% more powerful than those of her predecessors, which gave her one more knot of speed, a difference that would be crucial in the event that made her famous. These compound engines could drive Calliope at 13¾ knots, or 14¾ knots with forced draught. She nevertheless was a fully rigged sailing ship
Full rigged ship
A full rigged ship or fully rigged ship is a sailing vessel with three or more masts, all of them square rigged. A full rigged ship is said to have a ship rig....
, enabling her to serve in areas where coaling stations were rare. Calliope was well-suited to distant cruising service for the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
at its Victorian
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
peak.
Although laid down in 1881, Calliope was not launched until 1884. Before completion she was placed in reserve at Portsmouth. The ship was not activated until 25 January 1886, when she was placed in commission for the Australian Station, the sort of distant service for which she had been designed.
Service with the fleet
Pax Britannica
Pax Britannica was the period of relative peace in Europe when the British Empire controlled most of the key maritime trade routes and enjoyed unchallenged sea power...
was kept. The global reach of the Royal Navy included the western Pacific Ocean, patrolled by the Australia Station. In 1887 Captain Henry Coey Kane
Henry Coey Kane
Admiral Sir Henry Coey Kane, KCB, was a Royal Navy officer.He was the second son of Sir Robert Kane, the Irish chemist, and entered the Royal Navy as a cadet in 1853 having been educated at St. Vincent's College, Castleknock, County Dublin -...
took Calliope to the Pacific. At first assigned to the China Station
China Station
The China Station was a historical formation of the British Royal Navy. It was formally the units and establishments responsible to the Commander-in-Chief, China....
, Calliope was reassigned to the Australia Station later in 1887. She was in New Zealand at the end of that year, and was the first vessel to enter the new Calliope Dock
Calliope Dock
The Calliope Dock is a historical stone drydock on the grounds of the Devonport Naval Base, in Devonport, Auckland, New Zealand. It was built in 1888 to service ships of the British Royal Navy, and is still in use today.- History :...
. In early 1888 she was sent north to watch over a looming diplomatic crisis and potential military confrontation in Samoa
Samoa
Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...
.
This crisis had its roots in the Great Power
Great power
A great power is a nation or state that has the ability to exert its influence on a global scale. Great powers characteristically possess military and economic strength and diplomatic and cultural influence which may cause small powers to consider the opinions of great powers before taking actions...
s' competition for colonies in the last decades of the 19th century. The German Empire
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
, invigorated by its victory over France
Second French Empire
The Second French Empire or French Empire was the Imperial Bonapartist regime of Napoleon III from 1852 to 1870, between the Second Republic and the Third Republic, in France.-Rule of Napoleon III:...
in the Franco-Prussian War
Franco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and...
and by its unification
Unification of Germany
The formal unification of Germany into a politically and administratively integrated nation state officially occurred on 18 January 1871 at the Versailles Palace's Hall of Mirrors in France. Princes of the German states gathered there to proclaim Wilhelm of Prussia as Emperor Wilhelm of the German...
under the Prussian monarchy
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
, had newfound imperial ambitions that stretched beyond Europe. It had shared in the division of Africa
Scramble for Africa
The Scramble for Africa, also known as the Race for Africa or Partition of Africa was a process of invasion, occupation, colonization and annexation of African territory by European powers during the New Imperialism period, between 1881 and World War I in 1914...
, and in the 1880s looked to the Pacific as well. Ships of its Imperial Navy
Kaiserliche Marine
The Imperial German Navy was the German Navy created at the time of the formation of the German Empire. It existed between 1871 and 1919, growing out of the small Prussian Navy and Norddeutsche Bundesmarine, which primarily had the mission of coastal defense. Kaiser Wilhelm II greatly expanded...
were sent to Apia in Samoa, where German agents had fomented rebellion against the indigenous government. They were countered there by the Asiatic Squadron
Asiatic Squadron
The Asiatic Squadron was a squadron of United States Navy warships stationed in East Asia during the latter half of the 19th century, it was created in 1868 when the East India Squadron was disbanded...
of the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
. The United States had nearly completed establishing control over its territories on the North American continent, leading American ambitions to stretch beyond its shores. The squadron was at Samoa to assert US interests in the Pacific and to watch the Germans.
The barometer began to fall that day and a tropical cyclone
Tropical cyclone
A tropical cyclone is a storm system characterized by a large low-pressure center and numerous thunderstorms that produce strong winds and heavy rain. Tropical cyclones strengthen when water evaporated from the ocean is released as the saturated air rises, resulting in condensation of water vapor...
began to form. The 1889 Apia cyclone
1889 Apia cyclone
The 1889 Apia cyclone was a Pacific tropical cyclone, which swept across Apia, Samoa on March 15, 1889 during the Samoan crisis. The effect on shipping in the harbour was devastating, largely because of what has been described as 'an error of judgement that will forever remain a paradox in human...
increased in ferocity over the next two days. Rain fell in sheets, cutting visibility. Winds of 70 to 100 knots (130–185 km/h) blew directly into the anchorage, trapping the ships in the V-shaped harbour. The harbour bottom was scoured by currents and anchors lost their purchase. Operating their engines at full speed to resist the wind and waves, ships nevertheless dragged their anchors and were inexorably driven landward. Vessels collided and were thrown on the reefs or ashore, and some sank. By 09:00 on the 16th, Calliope, although still riding at anchor, had been hit by one ship and narrowly missed by another, and Captain Kane decided to attempt to escape. In order to relieve the strain on her five anchor cables, Calliope's boilers were producing maximum pressure; her engines were being worked "red hot", and her propeller was making 74 revolutions per minute
Revolutions per minute
Revolutions per minute is a measure of the frequency of a rotation. It annotates the number of full rotations completed in one minute around a fixed axis...
, sufficient for 15 knots (28 km/h). In spite of this titanic effort, the ship was barely able to make headway against the winds and the seas in the harbour, and her anchor cables began to part.
On her port and only 20 feet (6 m) away was the coral reef. Ahead were the American ships Vandalia
USS Vandalia (1876)
The second USS Vandalia was a screw sloop in the United States Navy. She was laid down at the Massachusetts Boston Navy Yard in 1872 and was commissioned there on 10 January 1876.-European Squadron, 1876–1878:...
and Trenton
USS Trenton (1876)
|...
; to starboard were other warships. There was only a narrow opening between the vessels to one side and the ground to the other. Hemmed in by these obstacles and with her rudder at times within 6 feet (2 m) of the reef, Calliope manoeuvred while still attached to her cables, which began to give way. When Captain Kane saw an opening, he slipped the anchors and drove forward. Avoiding the helpless USS Vandalia, he approached the sinking Trenton, coming so close that Calliope’s fore yard-arm was over the American's deck, which it cleared only because Calliope rolled to port which lifted the yard over the Trenton. The crew of the helpless and doomed American ship cheered Calliope as the corvette slipped past. This attempt was called by the American commander on the scene "one of the grandest sights a seaman or anyone else ever saw; the lives of 250 souls depended on the hazardous adventure."
Overspeed (engine)
Overspeed is a condition in which an engine is allowed or forced to turn beyond its design limit. The consequences of running an engine too fast vary by engine type and model and depend upon several factors, chief amongst them the duration of the overspeed and by the speed attained...
to destruction. Green seas were boarding the ship and running the length of her deck. There were ten men on her wheel and more below handling relieving tackle
Relieving tackle
Relieving tackle is one or more lines attached to a vessel's steering mechanism, to assist or substitute for the whipstaff or ship's wheel in steering the craft...
on her tiller to assist in maitaining control of the rudder. Taking two hours to travel four cables
Cable length
A cable length or cable's length is a nautical unit of measure equal to one tenth of a nautical mile or 100 fathoms, or sometimes 120 fathoms. The unit is named after the length of a ship's anchor cable in the age of sail...
, the corvette finally escaped the anchorage into the open sea, an achievement not known to Calliope's crew for some time, as sea spray and spume had reduced visibility to zero.
The storm kept Calliope at sea the next two days. Re-entering the harbour on the 19th to search for her anchor, her crew discovered that all of the other ships—twelve in all—had been wrecked or sunk. and nearly every crew had been diminished by the loss of men killed by the storm. Unable to find the anchor amidst the wreckage, and his ship having sustained significant damage, Captain Kane decided to return to Australia. He turned over Calliope’s diving outfit to the US Navy to assist it in salvage, and received in return boats from the wrecked American ships to replace the boats which had been stripped from her by the storm.
Captain Kane then took the ship to Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, where she and her officers and crew received a hero's welcome. The narrowness of Calliope's escape; the excellence of her engines and the dedication of her crew, who kept the power plant in operation for many hours during the ordeal; the seamanship of her captain and officers; their bravery in letting go of their anchor and facing the storm, trusting only in their ship and themselves; and the respect and encouragement given to her by the crew of the Trenton; made Calliope famous.
The Engineer of the Calliope, Henry George Bourke, was specially promoted from Staff Engineer to Fleet Engineer on 28 May 1889, "for his services in Her Majesty's ship 'Calliope,' during the recent hurricane at Samoa." He attributed his success to the superior properties of West Coast coal from New Zealand used to fire the ship's boilers; this statement attracted the custom of the British Admiralty.
Captain Kane was made Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in the 1891 Queen's Birthday Honours
Queen's Birthday Honours
The Queen's Birthday Honours is a part of the British honours system, being a civic occasion on the celebration of the Queen's Official Birthday in which new members of most Commonwealth Realms honours are named. The awards are presented by the reigning monarch or head of state, currently Queen...
. He was cited by the Admiralty for his "nerve and decisions", given the command of HMS Victory
HMS Victory
HMS Victory is a 104-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, laid down in 1759 and launched in 1765. She is most famous as Lord Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805....
in 1892, and in 1897 was promoted to rear-admiral
Rear-Admiral of the United Kingdom
The Rear-Admiral of the United Kingdom is a now honorary office generally held by a senior Royal Navy admiral. Despite the title, the Rear-Admiral of the United Kingdom is usually a full admiral...
.
Calliope returned to service on the Australian station after repairs were complete. At the end of 1889 she was recalled to the United Kingdom.
In reserve
Arriving back home in early 1890, Calliope was placed in reserve, where she remained for the next seven years. In June 1897 she was present at Queen VictoriaVictoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....
's Diamond Jubilee
Diamond Jubilee
A Diamond Jubilee is a celebration held to mark a 60th anniversary in the case of a person or a 75th anniversary in the case of an event.- Thailand :...
Review of the Fleet at Spithead
Spithead
Spithead is an area of the Solent and a roadstead off Gilkicker Point in Hampshire, England. It is protected from all winds, except those from the southeast...
. That same year she became a tender to , an older and larger armoured cruiser
Armored cruiser
The armored cruiser was a type of warship of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Like other types of cruiser, the armored cruiser was a long-range, independent warship, capable of defeating any ship apart from a battleship, and fast enough to outrun any battleships it encountered.The first...
used as seagoing training ship for boys.
Calliope was relieved of that duty in 1905, returned to reserve, and promptly stricken from the effective list. She was laid up at Portsmouth
Portsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
, and in 1906 was listed for sale for a time. The next year she was moved to North East England
North East England
North East England is one of the nine official regions of England. It covers Northumberland, County Durham, Tyne and Wear, and Teesside . The only cities in the region are Durham, Newcastle upon Tyne and Sunderland...
for a new career.
Training ship
On 29 October 1907 Calliope became a drill ship at Newcastle upon TyneNewcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
for the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve
Royal Naval Reserve
The Royal Naval Reserve is the volunteer reserve force of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. The present Royal Naval Reserve was formed in 1958 by merging the original Royal Naval Reserve and the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve , a reserve of civilian volunteers founded in 1903...
, Tyne Division, where she served for over four decades. She surrendered her name to another ship between 1915 and 1931, and became the Helicon. After her namesake
HMS Calliope (1914)
HMS Calliope was a British C class light cruiser of the Royal Navy under construction at the outbreak of World War I. Both Calliope and her sister ship Champion were based on HMS Caroline. They were effectively test ships for the use of geared turbines which resulted in the one less funnel. They...
of 1914 was paid off in the 1930s, Helicon took back her former name of Calliope, which she kept until sold in 1951. When finally scrapped in 1953, her steering wheel was presented to the government of Western Samoa.
Her name also lives on in the Royal Navy. Upon her 1951 retirement, her successor as training ship on the Tyne took her name, and now the shore establishment itself bears the name and honours the memory of HMS Calliope
HMS Calliope (shore establishment)
HMS Calliope is a training centre and 'stone frigate' of the Royal Naval Reserve, located in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear.-History:A Tyne-based division of the Royal Naval Reserve was established in 1905, and used the old Calypso class third class cruiser HMS Calliope as its drill ship...
.
Sources
(A. H. McLintock, ed.). ISBN 978-0-478-18451-8. Retrieved 1 February 2010. Retrieved 1 February 2010. Descriptions of photographs are reached at this search page by entering Calliope in the search field and selecting CALLIOPE 60.30 1884 Steel screw corvette (HMS) from the results.- Colledge, J.J.J. J. ColledgeJames Joseph Colledge was a British naval historian, author of Ships of the Royal Navy, the standard work on the fighting ships of the British Royal Navy from the 15th century to the 20th century....
; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969] Ships of the Royal NavyShips of the Royal NavyShips of the Royal Navy is a naval history reference work by J. J. Colledge ; it provides brief entries on all recorded ships in commission in the British Royal Navy from the 15th century, giving location of constructions, date of launch, tonnage, specification and fate.It was published in two...
(Rev. ed.) London: Chatham. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8. - Lyon, David and Winfield, Rif (2004), The Sail and Steam Navy ListThe Sail and Steam Navy ListThe Sail and Steam Navy List: All the Ships of the Royal Navy 1815–1889 by Rif Winfield and David Lyon is a historical reference work providing details of all recorded ships in commission or intended to serve in the Royal Navy from 1815 to 1889...
1815-1889. Chatham Publishing. ISBN 1-86176-032-9.
External links
. Comprehensive website of descendant of a petty officer of HMS Calliope, with sections devoted to background, ship, officers and crew, hurricane and aftermath, and bibliography.. Photographs of HMS Calliope in port and in dock, and activities on deck.