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HMS Hermes 6
Built in Portsmouth dockyard, HMS Hermes was a Hermes class wooden paddle sloop laid down in April 1834 and launched 26th June 1835
Picture: HMS Acheron - Hermes Class sloop
Designed to complement 135 men by John Edye, Chief clerk in the Surveyor of the Navy's office, to the specifications by Sir William Symonds.
The Hermes class consisted of four paddlewheel steam sloops, HMS Hermes, HMS Volcano, HMS Megaera and HMS Acheron. All four ships were initially armed with 2 x 9 pounder smoothbore muzzle loading brass guns. In 1842 they were re-armed with a single 8 inch pivot gun and 2 x 32 pounder carronades. To give an idea of costs. At the time of build HMS Acheron cost £25,509
HMS Hermes had her engine provided by the Butterley Company, Derbyshire. which was a 2 x cylinder side lever steam engine driving the paddle wheels. The engine was rated at 140 nominal horsepower. In 1840 she had her original engine removed in Woolwich to be replaced by a new Maudslay 220 nominal horsepower 'Siamese'-type steam engine. This gave her a speed under power of about 8 1⁄2 knots (15.7 km/h
HMS Hermes was 150 ft long, 33 ft wide weighed 716 tons. She was rebuilt and lengthened at Chatham in 1842 and increased in length to 170 ft long weighing in at 830 tons.
She was broken up in 1864
Commanded by
September 1835 from commissioning at Woolwich) by Lieutenant commander William Simpson Blount - Mediterranean mail packet.
29 May 1838 - 5 October 1840 Lieutenant commander William Simpson Blount, - Mediterranean mail packet
30 May 1843 - 26 October 1847 until paying off at Chatham by Lieutenant commander Washington Carr, - North America and West Indies
7 January 1850 Commander Edmund Gardiner Fishbourne, - Cape of Good Hope, then East Indies
13 June 1855 Commander Henry Coryton, - North America and West Indies
21 February 1856 Commander William Everard Alphonso Gordon, - Cape of Good Hope
Battle Honour - Burma 1852
After the first Burma War ended, relations never returned to normal levels and the Treaty of 1826 was repudiated.
In 1851, two British ship masters were held on trumped up charges and forced to buy their freedom. In response HMS Fox with Commodore Lambert anchored at Rangoon harbour with the east India Steamer Tenasserim. They were joined by HMS Serpent, the East India Steamers Proserpine and Phlegethon, then later HMS Hermes. This force captured a Burmese warship and Rangoon, Bassein and Martaban were blockaded. Tensions increased and eventually an ultimatum made to the Burmese - de-escalate the tensions or be taken over and annexed to India.
After a major battle at Pegu; on 30-Dec-1852 it was proclaimed that Pegu province was annexed to the Empire and further conquests abandoned. Relations were not normalised between the Royal Courts of India and Ave (the old capital of Burma) until 1862.
Awarded to Assistant Engineer W L Robinson who served in HMS Hermes, The 'PEGU' bar was issued to all officers and men of the Army, Royal Navy, Bengal Marine and Indian Marine that were part of an expeditionary force to stop attacks on shipping around the Province of Pegu in Burma between 28 March 1852 and 30 June 1853.
India General Service Medal 1854-1895 with the clasp 'PEGU'.
Chinese Pirates
HMS Hermes 6 was active in Burma and Rangoon. Her most famous action against Chinese pirates was an engagement with five junks near Hong Kong in March 1853.
She was proceeding under sail and luring the pirates towards her; by the time they saw her steam engine it was too late to escape and two of them were lashed together. This period marked a low tide in Sino-British relations.
"H.M.S. Hermes grounded 5th Dec: 1853 near Hu-tan-shan river, after chasing Pirates," and "Killing the Prisoners"