HMS Cruizer was a 17-gun wooden screw
sloopA sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter....
, the name-ship of the
Cruizer classThe Cruizer class was a class of 17-gun wooden screw sloops built for the Royal Navy between 1852 and 1856, comprising six vessels.-Design:...
of the
Royal NavyThe 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...
, launched at the Royal Dockyard,
DeptfordDeptford is a district of south London, England, located on the south bank of the River Thames. It is named after a ford of the River Ravensbourne, and from the mid 16th century to the late 19th was home to Deptford Dockyard, the first of the Royal Navy Dockyards.Deptford and the docks are...
in 1852. The spelling of her name was formally altered to HMS Cruiser in 1857. She became a sail training vessel in 1872 and was renamed HMS Lark. She was eventually sold for breaking in 1912.
History
Her first years of service were spent on the
China stationThe China Station was a historical formation of the British Royal Navy. It was formally the units and establishments responsible to the Commander-in-Chief, China....
, during which a party of her crew took part in the
Battle of Fatshan CreekThe Battle of Fatshan Creek was a naval engagement fought between the United Kingdom's Royal Navy and Chinese pirates on June 1, 1857. Commodore Henry Keppel sought out and destroyed the Chinese fleet before advancing to the city of Canton for its capture....
in 1857. Her commander,
Charles FellowesVice Admiral Charles Fellowes CB was a Royal Navy officer who went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Channel Fleet.-Naval career:Fellowes joined the Royal Navy in 1836...
, was the first man over the walls of
CantonGuangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...
when the city was taken, and the ship saw further action on the Yangtse river, including the
attack on the Taku FortsThe First Battle of Taku Forts on May 20, 1858 was an engagement of the Second Opium War. The British and French sent a squadron of gunboats, under Admiral Sir Michael Seymour, to attack China's Taku Forts. The battle ended as an allied success...
on the Peiho river in 1858.
In 1860, under the command of
John BytheseaJohn Bythesea VC CB CIE was an officer of the Royal Navy. He was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. He was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions in...
she surveyed the Gulf of Pechili to prepare moorings for the Allied fleet to disembark troops for the advance on Peking.
Cruiser was laid up in England in 1867, before being recommissioned for the Mediterranean station.
Disposal
In 1872, having had her guns and engine removed, she became a sail training ship and was renamed Lark, in which capacity she served until at least 1903. She was finally sold for breaking up at Malta in 1912.