Name HMS Conqueror Laid down 25 July 1853 Construction started 25 July 1853 Builder HMNB Devonport | Ordered 16 November 1852 Commissioned 9 April 1856 Launched 2 May 1855 | |
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Fate Wrecked on 13 December 1861 Class and type Conqueror class ship of the line | ||
HMS Conqueror was a 101-gun Conqueror-class screw-propelled first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1855, but spent only six years in service before being wrecked on Rum Cay in the Commonwealth of the Bahamas in 1861.
Contents
Construction and commissioning
Conqueror was one of a two ship class, her sister being Donegal. She was built to an 1852 design from the Surveyor’s Department and ordered from Devonport Dockyard on 16 November 1852. She was laid down on 25 July 1853, launched on 2 May 1855 and commissioned on 9 April 1856. She cost a total of £171,116, with £91,244 spent on her hull and a further £50,919 spent on her machinery, from John Penn & Son.
Career
Conqueror was initially commanded by Thomas Matthew Charles Symonds and formed part of the Channel Squadron. She was later assigned to operate in the Mediterranean during the Crimean War, and later was based out of Malta, when Hastings Yelverton took command on 22 July 1859. Yelverton was succeeded by William John Cavendish Clifford, and he by James Willcox in 1860, by which time Conqueror had returned to Plymouth. Edward Southwell Sotheby took over command and was despatched to carry troops supporting the French intervention in Mexico in late 1861. While sailing through the Bahamas, Conqueror was wrecked on Rum Cay on 29 December 1861 due to a navigation error. All 1,400 aboard were saved.
Wreck
The wreck lies in 30 ft (9.1 m) of water off Rum Cay and is preserved as an Underwater Museum of the Bahamas. It is a popular dive site.