HMS Euphrates (1866)

HMS Euphrates was an iron-hulled troopship of the Euphrates class. She was designed for the transport of British troops to India, and launched in the River Mersey on 24 November 1866 by Laird Brothers of Birkenhead. She was the fourth and last Royal Navy ship to bear the name.

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Euphrates.

History
United Kingdom
Name: HMS Euphrates
Ordered: 1865
Builder: Laird Brothers of Birkenhead
Yard number: 325
Launched: 24 November 1866
Fate:
  • Sold on 23 November 1894
  • Resold for breaking in August 1895
General characteristics
Class and type: Euphrates-class troopship
Type: Troopship
Displacement: 6,211 tons, 4,173 tons BM
Length: 360 ft (109.7 m) (overall)
Beam: 49 ft 1.5 in (15.0 m)
Depth of hold: 22 ft 4 in (6.81 m)
Installed power:
  • At build: 5,004 ihp (3,731 kW)
  • After 1873: 1,739 ihp (1,297 kW)[1]
Propulsion:
  • 2-cylinder horizontal single-expansion (later, compound-expansion) trunk engine
  • Single screw
Sail plan: Barque
Speed: 15 kn (28 km/h)
Armament: Three 4-pounder guns

Design

Euphrates was one of five iron-hulled vessels of the Euphrates class. All five were built to a design of 360 ft overall length by about 49 ft breadth, although Malabar was very slightly smaller than the rest of the class. They had a single screw, a speed of 14 knots, one funnel, a barque-rig sail plan, three 4-pounder guns, and a white painted hull. Her bow was a "ram bow" which projected forward below the waterline.

History

She was operated by the Royal Navy to transport up to 1,200 troops and family from Portsmouth to Bombay. The return trip via the Suez canal normally took 70 days. Her two-cylinder single-expansion steam engines were replaced in 1873 with a more efficient but less powerful 2-cylinder compound-expansion engine, giving her a reduced top speed under steam of about 11 knots (20 km/h).[1]

On 28 February 1870, she was damaged in a collision with the British merchant ship Bates Family at Bombay, India.[2] On 6 February 1892, she collided with the German steamer Gutenfels in the Suez Canal. Gutenfels suffered several broken plates and some damage to her upperworks.[3]

Fate

She was sold to I Cohen in Portsmouth on 23 November 1894 and resold to Henry Castle and Son for breaking in August 1895.[1]

References
  1. 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.
  2. "Latest Shipping Intelligence". The Times (26710). London. 29 March 1870. col E, p. 10.
  3. "A Suez Canal Collision; A German Steamer much damaged by a Troop Ship" (PDF). New York Times. 9 February 1892. Retrieved 24 June 2009.
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