HMS Thisbe (1824)
HMS Thisbe was a 46-gun modified Leda-class fifth-rate frigate built for the Royal Navy during the 1820s. The ship was never commissioned and spent her entire career in reserve or on third-line duties. She was converted into a depot ship in 1850 and then into a floating church in 1863. Thisbe was replaced by a shore-based establishment, All Souls Chapel, in 1891 and sold for scrap the following year.
| %253B_Hamadryad_(1823)%253B_Thisbe_(1824)_RMG_J3898.jpg.webp) Thisbe | |
| History | |
|---|---|
|  United Kingdom | |
| Name | Thisbe | 
| Namesake | Thisbe | 
| Ordered | 23 July 1817 | 
| Builder | Pembroke Dockyard | 
| Laid down | November 1820 | 
| Launched | 9 September 1824 | 
| Completed | 12 September 1821 | 
| Commissioned | Never | 
| Reclassified | As depot ship, 1850 | 
| Fate | Sold for scrap, 11 August 1892 | 
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Modified Leda-class frigate | 
| Tons burthen | 1082 67/94 bm | 
| Length | |
| Beam | 40 ft 4 in (12.3 m) | 
| Draught | 15 ft 4 in (4.7 m) | 
| Depth | 12 ft 9 in (3.9 m) | 
| Sail plan | Full-rigged ship | 
| Complement | 315 | 
| Armament | 
 | 
Description
    
Thisbe had a length at the gundeck of 151 feet 9 inches (46.3 m) and 127 feet (38.7 m) at the keel. She had a beam of 40 feet 4 inches (12.3 m), a draught of 15 feet 4 inches (4.7 m) and a depth of hold of 12 feet 9 inches (3.9 m). The ship's tonnage was 1082 67⁄94 tons burthen.[1] The modified Leda-class frigates were armed with twenty-eight 18-pounder cannon on her gundeck, fourteen 32-pounder carronades on her quarterdeck and a pair of 9-pounder cannon and two more 32-pounder carronades in forecastle. The ship had a crew of 315 officers and ratings.[2]
Construction and career
    
Thisbe, the second ship of her name to serve in the Royal Navy,[3] was ordered on 23 July 1817, laid down in August 1820 at Pembroke Dockyard, Wales, and launched on 9 September 1824.[4] She was completed for ordinary at Plymouth Dockyard on 5 October 1824 and the ship was roofed over from the mainmast forward. Thisbe was converted for service as a depot ship from 1850–63 and was loaned to the Missions to Seamen on 13 August of that year as a floating church;[1] Lord Bute paid for the necessary modifications. The ship spent almost the next 30 years berthed at the Bute West Dock in Cardiff.[5] Thisbe was taken out of service in 1891 and sold to W. H. Caple for £1,005 on 11 August 1892.[1] All Souls Chapel was built nearby in 1892 as a replacement.
Another redundant Leda-class frigate, HMS Hamadryad, was also moored in Cardiff and used as a hospital ship from 1866 to 1905.
Notes
    
- Winfield, p. 703
- Winfield & Lyon, p. 107
- Colledge, p. 349
- Winfield & Lyon, p. 108
- Phillips, p. 64
References
    
- Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
- Phillips, Lawrie; Lieutenant Commander (2014). Pembroke Dockyard and the Old Navy: A Bicentennial History. Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK: The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7509-5214-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
- Winfield, Rif (2014). British Warships in the Age of Sail, 1817-1863 (epub). Barnsley, UK: Seaforth. ISBN 978-1-47383-743-0.
- Winfield, R.; Lyon, D. (2004). The Sail and Steam Navy List: All the Ships of the Royal Navy 1815–1889. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-032-6. OCLC 52620555.