HMS Gannet

A wooden barque rigged sloop-of-war built in 1878 by the Sheerness Dockyard, Sheerness, for the Royal Navy. Her dimensions are 51,82×10,97×4,57(d) meters (170"×36"×15") and tonnage 1130 GRT and with a displacement of 1230 tons. Equipped with a 100 hp steam engine driving a single hoist-up-screw.

1878 August 31: Launched at Sheerness Dockyard, Sheerness, for the Royal Navy.
1888: Bombarded together with HMS Starling the port of Suakin which had been besieged for more than three months.
1903 May 16: Renamed HMS President and used as a training ship.
c1911: Lent to the TS Mercury Establishment at Hamble to be used as a boys training ship.
1913 October: Sold out of the navy and renamed TS Mercury to be used as a boys training ship.
1950 [?]: The TS Mercury was closed at the retirement of C.B. Fry.
c1967: The TS Mercury was closed.
19__: Renamed Gannet.
1979: Sold to the Maritime Trust.
1987 July: Moved to The Historic Dockyard, Chatham, whith the intention to restore her to her 1886 appearance.

Is presently [1994] being restored.

References:

anon.: Museum News: HMS Gannet (1878).
Model Shipwright Vol. 16, London, 1987-88. pp 61:43.
Meyer, W.R.: T.S. Mercury and the Board of Education.
The Mariner's Mirror Vol. 76, London, 1990. pp 370-373.
Treloar, Jim: Life Aboard the TS Mercury (HMS Gannet).
HMS Gannet at The Historic Dockyard, Chatham, England.
Restoration of the HMS Gannet at The Historic Dockyard. Report by the Project Director on HMS Gannet, July 1996.

Updated 1998-11-26 by Lars Bruzelius.

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