HMS Sans Pareil was a 70-gun screw propelled ship of the line

Ship of the line

A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed from the 17th through the mid-19th century to take part in the naval tactic known as the line of battle, in which two columns of opposing warships would manoeuvre to bring the greatest weight of broadside guns to bear...

 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...

.

Planning and construction

Sans Pareil was initially designed as an 80-gun second rate, to the lines of the earlier HMS Sans Pareil

HMS Sans Pareil (1794)

HMS Sans Pareil was an 80-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She was formerly the French ship Sans Pareil, but was captured in 1794 and spent the rest of her career in service with the British.-French service:...

, a French prize captured in 1794. She was ordered on 27 February 1843 and laid down on 1 September 1845 at Devonport Dockyard

HMNB Devonport

Her Majesty's Naval Base Devonport , is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy . HMNB Devonport is located in Devonport, in the west of the city of Plymouth in Devon, England...

. The rapid development of naval technology during this period led to fears that she would be obsolete before she could be launched, and work was suspended on 2 October 1848. A new design was drawn up utilising steam power, which was approved on 18 May 1849, and the conversion was duly carried out. She was eventually launched on 18 March 1851, having cost a total of £126,432 to build, with the machinery costing another £30,888. The conversion had lengthened her by 7 ft (2.1 m), while the extra weight of the machinery necessitated a reduction in the number of guns, from 80 to 70.

Career

Sans Pareil was commissioned at Plymouth

Plymouth

Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...

 on 12 November 1852, under the command of Sydney Dacres

Sydney Dacres

Admiral Sir Sydney Colpoys Dacres GCB was an officer of the Royal Navy who saw service during the Crimean War. Born into a substantial naval dynasty during the Napoleonic Wars, he eventually rose to the rank of Admiral and became First Naval Lord.-Family and early life:Dacres was born in 1805,...

. She was initially at Lisbon

Lisbon

Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...

, but by 1853 was serving with the Channel Fleet

Channel Fleet

The Channel Fleet was the Royal Navy formation of warships that defended the waters of the English Channel from 1690 to 1909.-History:The Channel Fleet dates back at least to 1690 when its role was to defend England against the French threat under the leadership of Edward Russell, 1st Earl of...

. The outbreak of the Crimean War

Crimean War

The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...

 led to her being reassigned to the Black Sea

Black Sea

The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...

, and on 22 November 1854 Sans Pareil came under the command of Acting Captain Leopold Heath

Leopold Heath

Vice Admiral Sir Leopold George Heath KCB was a Royal Navy officer who went on to be Commander-in-Chief, East Indies Station.-Naval career:...

. He commanded her until February 1855, when Captain Woodford John Williams took over. In September 1855 Sans Pareil was used to transport mortars to the Baltic

Baltic Sea

The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...

. Captain Astley Cooper Key

Astley Cooper Key

Admiral Sir Astley Cooper Key, GCB, ADC, FRS was a Royal Navy officer who became First Naval Lord.-Naval career:Born the son of Charles Aston Key , a well-known surgeon, Key joined the Royal Navy in 1833...

 took over on 9 January 1856, and was placed in charge of a division of gunboat

Gunboat

A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.-History:...

s. After the end of the war Sans Pareil was used to return troops from the Crimea

Crimea

Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...

, and by March 1857, had been sent to the Far East. Key and the Sans Pareil were present in China during the Second Opium War

Second Opium War

The Second Opium War, the Second Anglo-Chinese War, the Second China War, the Arrow War, or the Anglo-French expedition to China, was a war pitting the British Empire and the Second French Empire against the Qing Dynasty of China, lasting from 1856 to 1860...

, with Key commanding the naval brigade at the capture of Canton

Guangzhou

Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...

 on 28 December 1857. Key was invalided back to Britain in April, and was replaced by Captain Julian Foulston Slight. He was in turn replaced by Captain Rochfort Maguire

Rochfort Maguire

Commodore Rochfort Maguire was a Royal Navy officer who served as Captain of HMS Plover from 1852 to 1853 during the Franklin Search Expedition.-Biography:...

, who remained in command until her return to Plymouth at the end of 1859.

Sans Pareil was recommissioned on 5 June 1862 under the command of Captain Arthur Parry Eardley-Wilmot, replacing HMS Nile as the Queenstown

Cobh

Cobh is a seaport town on the south coast of County Cork, Ireland. Cobh is on the south side of Great Island in Cork Harbour. Facing the town are Spike Island and Haulbowline Island...

 guardship. In November 1861 she was used to transport troops to Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

, along with HMS Donegal

HMS Donegal (1858)

HMS Donegal was a 101-gun screw-driven first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 23 September 1858 at Devonport Dockyard....

 and HMS Conqueror

HMS Conqueror (1855)

HMS Conqueror was a a 101-gun Conqueror class screw propelled first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1855, but spent only six years in service before being wrecked on Rum Cay in the Bahamas in 1861....

. Her final captain was George Le Geyt Bowyear, and Sans Pareil spent 1863 conveying marines

Royal Marines

The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...

to China, and returning invalids home.

Sans Pareil was reduced to 66 guns in 1866 and was sold to C. Marshall in March 1867. She was broken up at Plymouth.