Frigate of the Royal Navy
HMS
Dolphin
at Tahiti 1767
|
History
|
Great Britain
|
Name
| HMS
Dolphin
|
Ordered
| 26 September 1747
|
Builder
| Woolwich Dockyard
,
England
|
Laid down
| 3 August 1748
|
Launched
| 1 May 1751
|
Commissioned
| June 1752
|
Out of service
| Paid off in September 1776
|
Fate
| Broken up, January 1777
|
General characteristics
|
Class and type
| Sixth-rate
frigate
|
Tons burthen
| 511
2
⁄
94
(
bm
)
|
Length
|
- 113 ft (34 m) (gundeck)
- 93 ft 4 in (28.45 m) (keel)
|
Beam
| 32 ft 1 in (9.78 m)
|
Depth of hold
| 11 ft (3.4 m)
|
Propulsion
| Sails
|
Sail plan
| Full-rigged ship
|
Complement
| 160
|
Armament
|
- Lower deck: 2 × 9-pounders (aft)
- Upper deck: 20 × 9-pounders
- Quarterdeck: 2 × 3-pounders
|
HMS
Dolphin
was a 24-gun
sixth-rate
frigate
of the
Royal Navy
. Launched in 1751, she was used as a
survey ship
from 1764 and made two
circumnavigations
of the world under the successive commands of
John Byron
and
Samuel Wallis
. She was the first ship to circumnavigate the world twice. She remained in service until she was
paid off
in September 1776. She was broken up in early 1777.
[1]
Construction
[
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]
Built to the
1745 Establishment
,
Dolphin
was originally ordered from the private yard of Earlsman Sparrow in
Rotherhithe
(under contract dated 7 October 1747). Following Sparrow's bankruptcy in 1748, the order was moved to
Woolwich
Dockyard. In order to reduce the likely incidence of
shipworm
,
Dolphin
'
s hull was
copper-sheathed
ahead of her first voyage of circumnavigation in 1764.
[2]
Early service
[
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]
Not long after her commissioning, the hostilities of the
Seven Years' War
had escalated and spread to
Europe
, and in May 1756 Britain declared war on
France
of the
Ancien Regime
.
Dolphin
was pressed into service throughout the conflict, and was present at the
Battle of Minorca in 1756
when a fleet under Admiral
John Byng
failed to relieve Port
Mahon
, Britain's main base in the Western Mediterranean (as a result of which Byng was later
court-martialled
and shot).
First circumnavigation
[
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]
With Britain's successful conclusion of the Seven Years' War in 1763, her attentions turned towards consolidating her gains and continuing to expand her trade and influence at the expense of the other competing European powers. The
Pacific Ocean
was beginning to be opened up by exploratory European vessels, and interest had developed in this route as an alternate to reach the
East Indies
. This interest was compounded by theories put forward which suggested that a large, hitherto-unknown continental landmass (
Terra Australis Incognita
) must exist at southern
latitudes
to "counterbalance" the northern hemisphere's landmasses.
No longer in a state of war, the
Admiralty
had more funds, ships and men at her disposal to devote to exploratory ventures. Accordingly, an expedition was soon formed with instructions to investigate and establish a
South Atlantic
base from which Britain could keep an eye on voyages bound for the Pacific. Another purpose was to generally explore for unknown lands which could then be claimed and exploited by the Crown, and to reach the
Far East
if necessary.
Dolphin
was selected as lead vessel for this voyage, and she was to be accompanied by the
sloop
HMS
Tamar
.
Her captain was
Commodore
John Byron
, a 42-year-old veteran of the sea, and younger brother to the profligate
William Byron, 5th Baron Byron
. Between June 1764 and May 1766
Dolphin
completed the circumnavigation of the globe. This was the first such circumnavigation of less than two years.
[3]
During this voyage, in 1765, Byron took possession of the
Falkland Islands
on behalf of Britain on the grounds of prior discovery, and in so doing was
nearly the cause of a war
between
Great Britain
and
Spain
, both countries having armed fleets ready to contest the sovereignty of the barren islands. Later Byron visited islands of
Tuamotus
,
Tokelau
and
Nikunau
in the
Gilbert Islands
, putting them on European maps for the first time (in European circles, Nikunau went by the name "Byron Island" for over 100 years); and visited
Tinian
in the
Northern Marianas Islands
.
Second circumnavigation
[
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]
Dolphin
circumnavigated the world for a second time, under the command of
Samuel Wallis
. Her
master's mate
,
John Gore
, was among a number of the crew from Byron's circumnavigation who crewed with Wallis. The master on this voyage, George Robertson, subsequently wrote a book
The discovery of Tahiti; a journal of the second voyage of H.M.S. Dolphin round the world under the command of Captain Wallis, R.N., in the years 1766, 1767, and 1768, written by her master
.
[4]
Dolphin
sailed in 1766 in the company of
HMS
Swallow
, under the command of
Philip Carteret
, who had served on Byron's circumnavigation.
Dolphin
dropped anchor at the peninsula of Tahiti Iti ("small Tahiti", aka Taiarapu) on 17 June 1767 but quickly left to find a better anchorage. Wallis chose
Matavai Bay
on 23 June. Although the Spanish had visited the
Marquesas Islands
in 1595, some 170 years earlier, Wallis officially took possession of Otaheiti, which he named "King George III Island". (About a year later, French navigator
Louis-Antoine de Bougainville
landed at Hitiaa on the opposite side of Tahiti and unaware of Wallis's earlier visit, claimed it for the King of France.)
Early on a large canoe approached
Dolphin
and at a signal its occupants launched a storm of stones at the British, who replied with
grapeshot
.
Dolphin's
gunnery cut the canoe in two, killing most of its occupants. Wallis then sent his carpenters ashore to cut the eighty-some canoes there in half. Eventually, friendly relations were established between the British sailors and the locals. The relationships became particularly friendly when the sailors discovered that the women were eager to exchange sex for iron. This trade became so extensive that the loss of nails started to threaten
Dolphin's
physical integrity.
[5]
See also
[
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]
Notes
[
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]
References
[
edit
]
- Couper, Alistair (2009).
From Sailors and Traders: A Maritime History of the Pacific Peoples
. University of Hawai'i Press.
ISBN
9781441619884
.
- Winfield, Rif (2007).
British Warships of the Age of Sail 1714?1792: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates
. Seaforth.
ISBN
9781844157006
.
- Beaglehole, J.C.
(1966).
The Exploration of the Pacific
. Adam & Charles Black, London.
OCLC
422331302
.
External links
[
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]