HMS Congo (1816)
Encyclopedia
HMS Congo was the first steam
-powered warship built for the Royal Navy
. She was classified as a steam sloop and was built in 1816 at Deptford Dockyard specifically for an exploration of the Congo River
. Trials with her engines proved disappointing, and it was removed before she embarked on her first voyage.
. She was laid down in October 1815 and launched on 11 January 1816. She was armed with one 12pdr carronade
and twelve ½pdr swivel gun
s. The steam engine
is recorded as weighing 30 tons and was capable of developing 20 Horse Power.
Trials proved that this power, when transmitted to the paddle wheel
s, could only propel the vessel at about three knots. Such a rate of progress, coupled with unsatisfactory handling characteristics (she was described as very crank) resulted in the engines and paddle wheels being removed. Examination of the situation by James Watt Junior, son of James Watt
, could only come up with a recommendation to use the engine for pumping out docks at Plymouth
. Thus, the Congo sailed to her destination without the steam engine, rigged as a schooner
.
, was the first attempt to map the Congo River, and did little beyond prove that the lower river was not navigable beyond one hundred miles (160 km) from the sea. The other thing it proved was that such expeditions were little more than suicide until medical science had improved - 38 of the 56 expedition members perished, including all of the officers and scientists and the crew that accompanied them inland. The cause of death was a "tropical fever", probably yellow fever
. Most of the survivors were seamen who had stayed with the support vessel, the Dorothy, at the rapids which blocked further progress. It was to be another fifty years before the river was mapped, by Henry Morton Stanley
.
. She was sold at Rye
to a J. Harvey on 15 March 1826 for the sum of £146.
Steam
Steam is the technical term for water vapor, the gaseous phase of water, which is formed when water boils. In common language it is often used to refer to the visible mist of water droplets formed as this water vapor condenses in the presence of cooler air...
-powered warship built for the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
. She was classified as a steam sloop and was built in 1816 at Deptford Dockyard specifically for an exploration of the Congo River
Congo River
The Congo River is a river in Africa, and is the deepest river in the world, with measured depths in excess of . It is the second largest river in the world by volume of water discharged, though it has only one-fifth the volume of the world's largest river, the Amazon...
. Trials with her engines proved disappointing, and it was removed before she embarked on her first voyage.
Design and construction
Congo was ordered on 13 April 1815 to a design by Sir Robert SeppingsRobert Seppings
Sir Robert Seppings FRS was an English naval architect.Seppings was born at Fakenham, Norfolk, and in 1782 was apprenticed in Plymouth dockyard...
. She was laid down in October 1815 and launched on 11 January 1816. She was armed with one 12pdr carronade
Carronade
The carronade was a short smoothbore, cast iron cannon, developed for the Royal Navy by the Carron Company, an ironworks in Falkirk, Scotland, UK. It was used from the 1770s to the 1850s. Its main function was to serve as a powerful, short-range anti-ship and anti-crew weapon...
and twelve ½pdr swivel gun
Swivel gun
The term swivel gun usually refers to a small cannon, mounted on a swiveling stand or fork which allows a very wide arc of movement. Another type of firearm referred to as a swivel gun was an early flintlock combination gun with two barrels that rotated along their axes to allow the shooter to...
s. The steam engine
Steam engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.Steam engines are external combustion engines, where the working fluid is separate from the combustion products. Non-combustion heat sources such as solar power, nuclear power or geothermal energy may be...
is recorded as weighing 30 tons and was capable of developing 20 Horse Power.
Trials proved that this power, when transmitted to the paddle wheel
Paddle wheel
A paddle wheel is a waterwheel in which a number of scoops are set around the periphery of the wheel. It has several usages.* Very low lift water pumping, such as flooding paddy fields at no more than about height above the water source....
s, could only propel the vessel at about three knots. Such a rate of progress, coupled with unsatisfactory handling characteristics (she was described as very crank) resulted in the engines and paddle wheels being removed. Examination of the situation by James Watt Junior, son of James Watt
James Watt
James Watt, FRS, FRSE was a Scottish inventor and mechanical engineer whose improvements to the Newcomen steam engine were fundamental to the changes brought by the Industrial Revolution in both his native Great Britain and the rest of the world.While working as an instrument maker at the...
, could only come up with a recommendation to use the engine for pumping out docks at Plymouth
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
. Thus, the Congo sailed to her destination without the steam engine, rigged as a schooner
Schooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
.
The Congo expedition
The expedition, under James Kingston TuckeyJames Kingston Tuckey
James Hingston Tuckey was an Irish-born British explorer and a captain in the Royal Navy. Some references refer to him as James Kingston Tuckey....
, was the first attempt to map the Congo River, and did little beyond prove that the lower river was not navigable beyond one hundred miles (160 km) from the sea. The other thing it proved was that such expeditions were little more than suicide until medical science had improved - 38 of the 56 expedition members perished, including all of the officers and scientists and the crew that accompanied them inland. The cause of death was a "tropical fever", probably yellow fever
Yellow fever
Yellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease. The virus is a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus with positive sense of the Flaviviridae family....
. Most of the survivors were seamen who had stayed with the support vessel, the Dorothy, at the rapids which blocked further progress. It was to be another fifty years before the river was mapped, by Henry Morton Stanley
Henry Morton Stanley
Sir Henry Morton Stanley, GCB, born John Rowlands , was a Welsh journalist and explorer famous for his exploration of Africa and his search for David Livingstone. Upon finding Livingstone, Stanley allegedly uttered the now-famous greeting, "Dr...
.
Later career
Congo was fitted out as a hulk in 1819 and laid up in the SwaleThe Swale
The name The Swale refers to the strip of sea separating North Kent from the Isle of Sheppey.- History :The name "Swale" is Old English in origin, and is believed to mean "swirling, rushing river", or "rushing water"....
. She was sold at Rye
Rye, East Sussex
Rye is a small town in East Sussex, England, which stands approximately two miles from the open sea and is at the confluence of three rivers: the Rother, the Tillingham and the Brede...
to a J. Harvey on 15 March 1826 for the sum of £146.