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H.M.S. 'RACEHORSE'

Built by:Money Wigram & Son's, at Blackwall.
Yard No.
Launched:19th March 1860
Tonnage:695 BM - 877 displacement
Length:186 feet
Breadth:28 1/2 feet
Depth:14 feet
Machinery:Single screw reciprocating compound engines, 200 hp. (nom), 690 - 774 hp. (ind) - 9 . 25 knots.
Decks:
Built of:Wood
Type:Cormorant Class Screw Gunboat.
Registered:
Off Number:
Built for:H.M. Government.
Other info:Armament - 1 x 110 pounder and 2 x 20 pounders.
Complement - 90 officers and ratings.
History:1860. Towed down the river and despatched to Chatham to be fitted with screw engines.
16th May 1862. Commissioned at Sheerness under Commander Charles Richard Fox Boxer.
2nd June 1862. Left for China.
3rd June 1862. Arrived at Portsmouth to have extensive alterations made, and a very large amount of defects made good.
17th July 1862. Went out of the harbour to test her machinery, and returned again to have the defects repaired.
29th July 1862. Steamed out of Portsmouth to test her engines.
4th August 1862. Sailed for the East Indies.
5th August 1862. Arrived at Plymouth to have further defects repaired.
10th August 1862. Sailed for the Eat Indies.
20th August 1862. Arrived at Madeira.
18th October 1862. Arrived at Simon’s Bay.
8th December 1862. Arrived at Singapore.
15th December 1862. Sailed from Singapore.
25th February 1863. Sailed from Hong-Kong for Jeddo, Japan. Employed in carrying mails between Japan and Shanghai.
1st November 1864. Sailed from Shanghai for Chefoo for repairs.
4th November 1864. The gunboat left Portsmouth for the China Station with 108 officers and men aboard. Off Cheu Cape, Yen-t’ai, China, the ship struck on the rocks in calm but foggy conditions. A gale sprung up and it was impossible to launch the boats in the huge seas. Ninety-nine men drowned and the commander and eight men were later rescued from a small boat by a Chinese junk.



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