History
Royal Navy EnsignUnited Kingdom
NameHMS Psyche
Ordered1861
Builder
Laid down8 January 1861
Launched29 March 1862
Commissioned1862
Fate
  • Wrecked on 15 December 1870
  • Wreck blown up in February 1871
General characteristics
Class and typePsyche-class paddle despatch vessel
Displacement985 long tons (1,001 t)
Tons burthen835 bm
Length220 ft (67 m)
Beam28 ft 2 in (8.59 m)
Depth of hold14 ft 6 in (4.42 m)
Installed power1,440 ihp (1,070 kW)
Propulsion2-cylinder oscillating steam engine
Armament2 × 20 pdr (9.1 kg) guns

HMS Psyche was a wooden Psyche-class paddle despatch vessel built to an 1860 design by Isaac Watts. She was ordered from Pembroke Dockyard in and launched on 29 March 1862, having cost c. £43,000 to build.

She was at Suez for the opening ceremonies of the canal in 1869.[1]

She was wrecked on 15 December 1870 off Catania, Italy, while carrying a party including George Howard Darwin to observe the solar eclipse from Sicily. Her wreck was blown up in February 1871.

References

  1. ^ https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/HN3100080601/ILN?u=wes_ttda&sid=bookmark-ILN&xid=3bcd7311 Opening of the Suez Canal Date: Saturday, 11 December 1869. Publication: The Illustrated London News. Volume: 55 , Issue: 1570
  • Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
  • 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.


Categories