HMS Success was an Atholl-class 28-gun sixth-rate wooden sailing ship notable for exploring Western Australia and the Swan River in 1827 as well as being one of the first ships to arrive at the fledgling Swan River Colony two years later, at which time she ran aground off Carnac Island.

Success hove down to Cruizer in Careening Bay, Garden Island after running aground at Carnac Island
History
United Kingdom
NameHMS Success
Ordered5 June 1819
BuilderPembroke Dockyard
Laid downJuly 1823
Launched30 August 1825
Commissioned3 June 1825 at Plymouth[1]
ReclassifiedReceiving ship at Portsmouth 1833
FateBroken up at Portsmouth in June 1849
General characteristics
Class and typeAtholl-class 28-gun sixth-rate corvette
Tons burthen499 91/94 bm
Length
  • 113 ft 8 in (34.6 m) (gundeck)
  • 94 ft 8+34 in (28.9 m) (keel)
Beam31 ft 6 in (9.6 m)
Depth of hold8 ft 9 in (2.67 m)
Sail planFull-rigged ship
Complement175
Armament

History

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Her keel was laid at Pembroke Dock in August 1823[1] and she was launched on 31 August 1825. She was 114 ft long (35 m) and 32 ft wide (9.8 m), and was a sixth-rate ship with 28 guns, including twenty 32-pounders.[2][3]

She was sent by the Royal Navy on a mission to New South Wales and Melville Island. She made an expedition to the Swan River in 1827, arriving there in early March. Captain James Stirling was in command. There is a record of the expedition, An account of the expedition of H.M.S. 'Success', Captain James Stirling, RN., from Sydney, to the Swan River, in 1827 by Augustus Gilbert. Another account The visit of Charles Fraser (the colonial botanist of New South Wales) : to the Swan River in 1827, with his opinion on the suitableness of the district for a settlement was published in 1832.[4]

On 3 December 1829 Success ran aground on Shag Rock, Carnac Island.[5] In April Success was taken to Careening Bay on Garden Island for heaving down to HMS Cruizer and repaired.[6][7]

In February 1833 Success was fitted out as a receiving ship and from 1833 to 1849 was engaged in harbour service in Portsmouth.[3] She was broken up in 1849.[8]

Success Hill, Success Bank, the suburb of Success and a number of other features in Western Australia are named after the ship.

References

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  1. ^ a b 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.
  2. ^ Statham-Drew, Pamela (2003). James Stirling: Admiral and Founding Governor of Western Australia. Nedlands, Western Australia: University of Western Australia Press. p. 52. ISBN 0-85564-170-3.
  3. ^ a b "Mid-Victorian RN vessel HMS Success". Retrieved 14 February 2007.
  4. ^ Fraser, Charles (1906). The Visit of Charles Fraser (the Colonial Botanist of New South Wales) to the Swan River in 1827. Perth, WA: J.G. Hay. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  5. ^ "Collection of views predominantly of Sydney, Liverpool, and the Sunda Straits, and portraits, ca. 1807, 1829-1847, 1887 / owned by A.W.F. Fuller". Retrieved 14 February 2007.
  6. ^ "An Aged Vessel. HMS Success". The West Australian. 4 May 1899. p. 2.
  7. ^ Henderson, Graeme (1974). "The Stranding of H.M.S. Success at Fremantle". The Mariner's Mirror. 60 (2): 204. doi:10.1080/00253359.1974.10657965.
  8. ^ Cygnet (Cyril Bryan) (September 2013). "The Story of HMS Success (1823-1849)" (PDF). Maritime Heritage Association Journal. 24 (3). Mandurah, WA: 10. Retrieved 24 April 2020.