HMS Gorgon (1837)
HMS Gorgon by Sir Oswald Walters Brierly.
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| History | |
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 United Kingdom
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| Name: | HMS Gorgon |
| Ordered: | 10 July 1834 |
| Builder: | Royal Dockyard, Pembroke Dock |
| Laid down: | July 1836 |
| Launched: | 31 August 1837 |
| Commissioned: | 30 August 1838 |
| Decommissioned: | 11 February 1864 |
| Fate: | Sold for breaking on 17 October 1864 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Steam vessel (later, first-class sloop) |
| Displacement: | 1,610 long tons (1,640 t) |
| Tons burthen: | 1108 67/94 bm |
| Length: |
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| Beam: | 37 ft 6 in (11.4 m) |
| Draught: | 16 ft (4.9 m) |
| Depth of hold: | 23 ft (7.0 m) |
| Installed power: | 800 ihp (600 kW) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Sail plan: | Schooner (later brig) |
| Speed: | 9.5 kn (17.6 km/h) |
| Complement: | 160 |
| Armament: |
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HMS Gorgon was a wooden steam paddle sloop of 6 guns, launched in 1837. In 1840 she took part in the bombardment of Acre, and in 1843 was part of the Royal Navy squadron stationed in the River Plate during the Uruguayan Civil War. She was converted to a troopship and in 1858 assisted Agamemnon in the laying of the first transatlantic telegraph cable. She was sold for breaking in 1864.
Gorgon was designed by Sir William Symonds and was the first vessel to be fitted with direct-acting engines (in which the engine's cylinders are placed under the crankshaft), the engines being built by Seaward and Company. In addition to saving space over previous side-lever engines, they weighed 60 tons less. She was teak built with oak main beams, had a displacement of 1,610 long tons (1,640 t), and her paddle wheels were 27 feet (8.2 m) in diameter. She was laid down at Pembroke Royal Dockyard in July 1836 and launched on 31 August 1837.
In 1840 Gorgon saw action with three other paddle sloops, Vesuvius, Stromboli and Phoenix, in the bombardment of the city of Acre under the command of Admiral Robert Stopford. At the height of the battle either Gorgon or her sister ship HMS Benbow fired the shell that destroyed Acre's powder magazine, causing an explosion that greatly weakened the city's defences.
In 1843, during the Uruguayan Civil War, Gorgon arrived in the River Plate to join the Royal Navy squadron commanded by Commodore John Purvis. She anchored in the bay as a deterrent to potential attackers. She ran aground on 10 May 1844 but was subsequently refloated.
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