The gunboat Cherub, commissioned 1865

Britomart class, first and second series

In his Schooner Days article CLXIV of 1934, "Gunboat Times of the Great Lakes", C.H.J. Snider refers to "English-built [gunboats] like the Cherub and the Britomart, and the Heron, following the "Trent affair," and the Fenian Raid of 1866." We had difficulties recovering details from the newspaper illustration. The context was that by early 1866, the Fenians (a mixed group of Irish-American dissidents, with some Canadian support) had gathered enough horses and rifles to annoy Canada. The British government under William Gladstone sent three gunboats to the Great Lakes – the Britomart on Lake Erie, the Cherub on Lake Huron and the Heron on Lake Ontario – relatively small vessels able to navigate, albeit with difficulty, the St Lawrence and Welland locks, armed with quite impressive 68lb cannons.

The image here, showing the Cherub at anchor in Goderich "waiting for a breeze", perhaps "drying her sails", is adapted from Anthony Preston's writings Send a gun boat (reference below.)

The Britomart gunboat class of 1859

Nearly 175 wooden gunboats built by the Royal Navy for service during the Crimean War, most of them during 1854-56, although construction of a few was not completed until the mid-sixties. None were actually used in the Crimea but they are or were often described as “Crimean gunboats.” A few had served in the Baltic in 1855 and others were used later in operations in China or as tenders to large vessels or naval establishments.

These were the last all-wood gunboats built for the Royal Navy, and were an improved version of the Dapper class. They measured 120' 0" overall; 105' 7" on the waterline; 22' 0" beam (21' 10" for tonnage); with a depth of 9' 0"; measuring 267 89/94 tons builder's measurement, and of 330 tons displacement. A crew of 36-40 sailors handled two 8", 68 pound muzzle-loading smooth bore guns (later two 64 pounder rifled guns). The engine was a single cylinder, single expansion reciprocating type of 60 nominal H.P., designed for 260 indicated H.P., running a single propeller that could be hoisted to improve sailing qualities.

The Admiralty ordered the ships of this class in two batches: the first ten ships were approved 11 November 1859, named 17 January 1860 as Britomart, Cockatrice, Wizard, Speedy, Doterel, Heron, Pigeon, Linnet, Tyrian and Trinculo. Of these, the two of Canadian interest are:

• Britomart : ordered 15 October 1859; keel layed 11 November 1859 by T. and Wm. Smith, North Shields / John Perrin and Sons; launched 7 May 1860; commissioned 3 January 1861. Sold out of commission 12 January 1892. Broken up June 1946.
• Heron : ordered 19 October 1859; keel layed 11 November 1859 by Wm, Cowley Miller, Toxteth Dock, Liverpool / Miller, Ravenhill;; launched 5 July 1860; commissioned 4 Jume 1862. Tender in Jamaica 1875; sold Jamaica June 1879, broken up 1881.

The "second batch" was ordered in two parts, six ships on 6 April 1860 (Cherub, Netley, Minstrel, Orwell, Cromer and Bruiser), four ships on 21 March 1861 (Bramble, Crown, Protector and Danube.) Again, of these, the one of Canadian interest is:

• Cherub : ordered 5 March 1860, keel laid 12 March 1860 at Portsmouth Dockyard, launched 29 March 1865, commissioned 1865. Tender at Harwich 1879, Portland 1886. Sold to Castle for breaking-up at Charlton 5 May 1890.

Dates of arrival in Canada have yet to be ascertained; however, all three (Britomart, Cherub and Heron) are reported as arriving on Lake Ontario waters in early August 1866. The Britomart continued on to Lake Erie, and the Cherub to Lake Huron via the Welland canal. Dates of departure from Canadian service are also elusive, but the Cherub probably did not return to Chatham until 1874.

More information on other ships of this class available in The Sail and Steam Navy List, David Lyon and R. Winfield.

We add, subject to much caution, a sketch by E.E.H Archibald (reference below.) It refers to a "three masted schooner with some additional foresails", has no details of machinery installation, let alone a hoisting, or retractable propeller. However, it does suggest a "flying bridge" just forward of the mainmast. This would correspond with a rather disappointing article by Dana McCalip, "Britomart Class Gunships" (reference below), which openly admits to research difficulties, and is equally light on detail.

References

1. E.E.H Archibald The fighting ship in the Royal Navy, London, Blandford Press, 1972
2. Basil Greenhill and P.W. Brock, Steam and Sail in Britain and North America, Newton Abbot, David & Charles, 1973.
3. D.K. Brown, Before The Ironclad, Conway Maritime Press, London, 1990.
4. John Fabb, The Victorian And Edwardian Navy From Old Photographs, B. T. Batsford Ltd., London, 1976.
5. Ewart C. Freeston, The Construction Of Model Open Boats, Conway Maritime Press, London, 1975
6. Robert Gardiner and Dr. Andrew Lambert, Steam, Steel and Shellfire, Conway Maritime Press, London, 1992.
7. Barry M. Gough, The Royal Navy and the Northwest Coast of North America, 1810-1914, University of British Columbia Press, Canada, 1971.
8. Fred Landon, Gunbaots on the Lower Lakes durint the Fenian scare, Inland Seas, v.19, Spring 1963.
9. Walter Lewis and Roger Sarty, George Henry Wyatt (1828-1883) ... One-Man Naval Department, The Northern Mariner, v. 32, no. 3, Autumn 2022.
10. David Lyon and R. Winfield, The Sail and Steam Navy List, London, Chatham, 2004.
11. Dana McCalip, Model Ship Builder, no. 113, May 1998,
12. G.A. Osbon, The Mariner’s Mirror, The Crimean Gunboats (previous gunboat classes), in two parts, Vol 51, London, 1965.
13. Anthony Preston and John Major, Send a Gunboat, Longmans, Green and Co. Ltd., London, 1967.
14. Wilfrid Pym Trotter, The Royal Navy in Old Photographs, J.M. Dent, London, 1975.
15. C.H.J. Snider, "Gunboat Times of the Great Lakes" and "Rainbow's End for Goldhunter Was Little Pike Bay", Toronto Telegram, 1934, 1938.