HMS Growler (1841)

HMS Growler was a paddle-driven Driver-class sloop, built in 1841 and broken up in 1854. In 1847 she carried liberated Africans to Sierra Leone for resettlement.

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Growler.

Sister-ship, HMS Driver
History
United Kingdom
NameHMS Growler
BuilderChatham Dockyard[1]
Cost£39,461[1]
Laid downJanuary 1841[1]
Launched20 July 1841[1]
Commissioned9 March 1842[1]
FateBroken up at Portsmouth by January 1854[1]
General characteristics [1]
Class and typeDriver-class wooden paddle sloop
Displacement1,590 tons
Tons burthen1,05562⁄94 bm
Length180 ft (54.9 m) (gundeck)
Beam36 ft (11.0 m)
Depth of hold21 ft (6.4 m)
Installed power280 nhp
Propulsion
  • Seaward & Capel 2-cylinder direct-acting steam engine
  • Paddles
Sail planBrig-rigged
Complement149 (later 160)
Armament
  • As built:
  • 2 × 10-inch/42-pounder (84 cwt) pivot guns
  • 2 × 68-pounder guns (64 cwt)
  • 2 × 42-pounder (22 cwt) guns
  • After 1856:
  • 1 × 110 pdr Armstrong gun
  • 1 × 68-pounder (95 cwt) gun
  • 4 × 32-pounder (42 cwt) guns

Construction and commissioning

Growler was ordered under PW1840 along with other Driver-class paddle sloops,[2] laid down at Chatham Dockyard and launched on 20 July 1841.[1] She was completed at Chatham and commissioned on 9 March 1842.[1][3]

Service history

On 31 March 1842, Growler was assigned to the South East Coast of America Station to combat the slave trade.[4] She was re-assigned to the West Africa Squadron in September 1844.[3]

On 21 July 1844 Growler captured the Spanish brigantine Veterano. Then on 23 September 1844 Growler captured the Spanish slave schooner Concepcion.[Note 1]

In February 1845 she took part in Commodore William Jones's destruction of several barracoons at Dombocorro and elsewhere.[6]

The ship was involved in a scheme to relocate liberated Africans from Sierra Leone to the Caribbean, arriving in Trinidad in December 1847.[7] One hundred and fifty men, 37 women and 254 children former captives survived the journey, although 45 Africans died on the journey.[8]

Fate

Growler was broken up at Portsmouth, which was completed by 17 January 1854.[1]

Notes
  1. A first class share of the bounty money for Veterano was worth £59 1s 0½d; a sixth-class share was worth £3 18s 8½d. For Concepcion a first-class share was worth £6 17s 11d; a sixth-class share was worth 9s 2d.[5]

Citations
  1. Winfield (2004), p.160
  2. Friedman, Norman (2012). British Cruisers of the Victorian Era. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 9781473853126. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  3. "HMS Growler". www.pbenyon.plus.com. pbenyon.plus.com. Archived from the original on 10 August 2017. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  4. "HMS Growler at the William Loney R.N. website". Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  5. "No. 20505". The London Gazette. 5 September 1845. p. 2740.
  6. "Commodore Jones' destruction of the barracoons at Dombocorro and elsewhere in February 1845 (3: Jones' report of a subsequent conference with the Chiefs) at the Loney R.N. website". Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  7. Adderley, Rosanne Marion (2006). "New Negroes from Africa": Slave Trade Abolition and Free African Settlement in the Nineteenth-century Caribbean. Indiana University Press. ISBN 0253347033. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  8. Charles Day, Williams (1852). Five Years' Residence in the West Indies Vol. 1. Colburn and co. Retrieved 9 November 2018.

References
  • Winfield, R.; Lyon, D. (2004). The Sail and Steam Navy List: All the Ships of the Royal Navy 1815–1889. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-032-6. OCLC 52620555.


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