HMS Calypso (1883)

Design

Calypso and Calliope made up the Calypso class of corvettes, designed by Nathaniel Barnaby. Part of a long line of cruiser classes built for protecting trade routes and colonial police work, they were the last two sailing corvettes built for the Royal Navy. Corvettes had been built of iron since the Volage class of 1867, but the Calypsos and the preceding Comus class were instead built of steel. Corvettes were designed to operate across the vast distances of Britain's maritime empire, and could not rely on dry docks for maintenance. Since iron (and steel) hulls were subject to biofouling, and they could not easily be cleaned, the established practice of copper sheathing was extended to protect them; the metal plating of the hull was timber-cased and coppered below the waterline.

The Calypsos differed from the ships of the preceding Comus class in armament, including new 6-inch rifles in place of the 7-inch muzzleloaders and 64-pounders that originally armed the first ships of the parent class. Although similar in general appearance to their predecessors, the Calypsos had guns sponsoned out both fore and aft and had no gunports under the quarterdeck and foredeck. They were also slightly longer, had a deeper draught, and displaced 390 tons more. Calypso's engine produced an indicated were of 4,023 horsepower, over 50% more powerful than those of her nine half-sisters, which gave her one more knot of speed. This compound-expansion engine could drive Calypso at 13¾ knots, or 14¾ knots with forced draught.

She nevertheless wore a barque rig of sail on three masts, including a full set of studding sails on her fore and mainmast. This rig enabled her to serve in areas where coaling stations were rare, and to rely entirely on her sails for propulsion. The class therefore was well-suited to her designed role: trade protection and distant cruising service for the British Empire at its Victorian peak.

Service with the fleet

While the class was designed for long-range protection of the trade routes of the empire, and Calypso participated in war games, much of her career comprised activities appropriate to an empire at peace.

The ship served in home waters, and participated in fleet exercises, including a simulated attack on Britain, and visited Kiel, site of a major base of the Imperial German Navy often visited by British vessels. In 1890, Britain gave up the isle of Heligoland in the Heligoland-Zanzibar Treaty, and Calypso was assigned to carry out the ceremony of transfer to the German Empire and bring back the island's last British governor.

From the time of her first commission in 1885 until was placed in reserve in 1898, Calypso was part of the Sail Training Squadron, the "last refuge of the sailing navy" apart from a handful of smaller vessels. The ship made cruises to the West Indies, the Canary Islands, and Norway. In 1895 Calypso was part of the squadron which conducted surveys well above the Arctic Circle, and a landfall and cluster of buildings on Svalbard, Norway, now a cultural heritage site, were named for her in honour of her visits to those waters. On other occasions she assisted in the salvage of a civilian ship, for which her officers and crew were awarded salvage money, and passed on hydrographic information from waters near Iceland.

On 26 June 1897 Calypso was present at the Review of the Fleet off Spithead held to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria's accession to the throne. Paid off into reserve at Devonport in 1898, the ship was no longer considered a fighting ship by the turn of the century, and it was felt she could best be employed in training naval reservists for service at sea.

Training ship

On 2 September 1902 Calypso was placed back into commission, and was sent across the Atlantic to become a training ship for the Newfoundland Royal Naval Reserve (RNR), which trained men for service in the Royal Navy. The Reserve had been founded in 1900 as an experiment to assist the Admiralty in the manning of ships, and to enable the Newfoundlanders to assist in the defence of the empire, training their seafarers in the winter months when the fishery was not worked. As the result of this trial, the Admiralty agreed to provide a vessel, and the colony agreed to pay for the refit, as well as an annual subvention to support the training programme.

The location of the vessel was controversial, with the community of Argentia proferred as a substitute for the colonial capital of St. John's. Reasons for this proposal included both a desire to protect the larger city from the conjectured debaucheries of sailors, and to protect the reservists, many of whom were married, from the temptations (including prostitution) which might be available in the city. In a time of tensions between Britain and France, Argentia also had the benefit of being closer to the French territory of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, and it was felt beneficial to have a British military force in proximity to the French territory in the event of a dispute. These objections were felt to be outweighed by cost, convenience, and accessibility of staff to the colonial government, and St. John's was chosen to host the ship.

Calypso's masts were removed, as was the funnel from the boilers, and a drill hall was erected on her weather deck. Without sail or working boilers she could no longer go to sea, but was permanently moored wharfside at the western end of the St. John's harbour.

Prior to the outbreak of war candidates had to be fishermen or sailors, and the RNR maintained a reserve strength of 500–600 men. By 1914, over 1,400 seamen had been trained, and more than 400 answered the call to arms on the outbreak of the Great War. The Reserve provided crew for ships of the Royal Navy, including over 100 seamen taken aboard HMCS Niobe a month after the start of the war, the first group of Newfoundlanders to go to war. It also provided home defence, including manning coast artillery at the entrance to the St. Johns harbour, and the protection of Newfoundland's shore and shipping. Calypso and a small, slow armed patrol vessel were the colony's only warships, and Calypso could not go to sea.

In 1916, Calypso was renamed HMS Briton, and surrendered her former name to a new light cruiser laid down in that year, which entered service in 1917.

Before the war the owner of the dock where Calypso was berthed had sought the vessel's removal. The matter was held in abeyance during the war years, but after the conclusion of hostilities the subject arose anew. Relocation would have been a significant expense to the Admiralty, and the Colonial Office was informed that the dominion would accept complete withdrawal of the vessel. By 1922 naval estimates were being slashed and the Washington Naval Treaty limited the size of fleets. The Admiralty therefore summarily discontinued the Newfoundland RNR, and there being no further need of her services, Briton was made available for disposition.

Later use, and legacy

Briton was sold in 1922, and was used in St. John's for the storage of salt. In 1952 she was towed to Lewisporte harbour. Some thought was given to preservation, but in 1968 she was towed to a coastal bay near Embree, and burned to the waterline. Her hull still is there, awash in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Her anchor sits outside a local inn, and other artefacts are in museums.

These remnants are not her sole remaining legacy. Calypso, created as a ship of war, has given her name another training institution, but one with peaceful purposes. Inspired by the traditions of the ship where Newfoundlanders once trained to be competent and able seamen for the Royal Navy, the Calypso Foundation of Lewisporte trains developmentally disabled individuals to become productive workers and live independently. This charitable foundation carries on the name of HMS Calypso.