HMS Africa (1862)

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

HMS Africa
History
United Kingdom
NameHMS Africa
NamesakeAfrica
BuilderDevonport Dockyard
Launched14 February 1862
Acquired29 March 1862 (Completed)
FateSold, 13 August 1862
Lay-Osborn Flotilla
Name
  • China
  • I T'ung
NamesakeChina
Acquired13 August 1862
FateSold, 30 December 1865
General characteristics
Class and typeRosario-class sloop
Displacement913 long tons (928 t)
Tons burthen669 bm
Length160 ft 0 in (48.76 m)
Beam30 ft 3 in (9.23 m)
Draught16 ft 0 in (4.87 m)
Installed power
  • Steam engine, 2 boilers
  • 530 ihp (400 kW)
PropulsionSingle shaft
Speed9.5 knots (17.6 km/h; 10.9 mph)
Complement140
Armament

HMS Africa was a Victorian screw sloop launched in 1862 and sold to China later that year.

History

[edit]

HMS Africa was purchased by Horatio Nelson Lay, Inspector General of the Qing Dynasty Chinese Maritime Customs Service, on 13 August 1862, as part of an effort to bolster the Qing Dynasty naval force in response to the ongoing Taiping Rebellion.[1][2] Thereafter she was renamed China (Chinese: 中國; pinyin: Zhōngguó; Wade–Giles: Chung Kuo), and became part of the Lay-Osborn Flotilla commanded by Sherard Osborn.[1] She was put under the command of Lieut. Noel Osborn.[3] Upon her arrival in China, the Qing government ordered the ship to be renamed as I T'ung (Chinese: 一統; pinyin: Yītǒng; lit. 'Unification').[1][4]

However, disagreements between the Qing government and Lay over the command and composition of the Lay-Osborn Flotilla arose soon after her arrival, and during negotiations Osborn took China and Thule to Taku to get away from the Chinese treatment. The disagreements eventually led to its disbandment, and China returned to the United Kingdom. She was originally intended for sale, but an embargo on sales, due to the concurrent American Civil War and fear of the vessel joining the Confederate States Navy, prevented any sales.[5] When the American Civil War ended in 1865, she, along with Pekin and Tientsin, were sold in an auction to Egypt on 30 December 1865 for £20,500.[1][4]

Citations

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d Chen 2013, p. 11.
  2. ^ Wright 2000, p. 16.
  3. ^ Clowes 1903.
  4. ^ a b Chen 2002, p. 142.
  5. ^ Wright 2000, pp. 18–19.

References

[edit]
  • Chen, Zhenshou (2002). Túshuōzhōngguóhǎijūnshǐ: Gǔdài-1955 图说中国海军史: 古代-1955 [A Pictorial History of the Chinese Navy: Antiquity-1955]. Fujian Education Publishing House. ISBN 978-7-5334-3536-3. Archived from the original on 12 January 2019. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
  • Chen, Yue (2013). Zhōngguójūnjiàntúzhì 1855-1911 中國軍艦圖誌1855-1911 [Album of Chinese Warships 1855-1911] (in Chinese). Hong Kong: The Commercial Press (Hong Kong). ISBN 9789620703614.
  • Clowes, Sir William Laird (1903). The Royal Navy a History from earliest times to the death of Queen Victoria: Volume 7. London, England: Sampson Low Marston and Company. pp. 138–150.
  • Davis, Peter. "Mid-Victorian RN vessel Africa". William Loney RN. Peter Davis. Retrieved 30 December 2019.
  • Wright, Richard (2000). The Chinese Steam Navy, 1862-1945. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 9781861761446.
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