HMS Caesar (1853)
 HMS Caesar photographed at anchor, c. 1858 | |
| History | |
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| General characteristics |
HMS Caesar was a screw-propelled, 90-gun (later rated 91-gun) second-rate ship of the line of the British Royal Navy. She was built at Pembroke Dockyard and launched on 7 August 1853. She served in the Baltic during the Crimean War, and later with the Channel Squadron and on the North America and West Indies and Mediterranean stations.[1]
Service history
[edit]Caesar was a wooden two-decked ship of the line, designed for 90 guns and converted to screw propulsion while still under construction. She was launched at Pembroke Dockyard on 7 August 1853.[2] Her displacement was approximately 3,250 tons and she carried a complement of about 860 men.[1]
She was commissioned under Captain John Robb in January 1854 and subsequently served in the Baltic during the Crimean War. She paid off in March 1857.[1]
Caesar was recommissioned at Portsmouth on 12 June 1858 under Captain Charles Frederick. During that year she served with the Channel Squadron, sailing from Spithead in August and visiting Plymouth Sound. Contemporary naval intelligence reported in early September that Admiral Fremantle's squadron was expected to sail from Plymouth for Cork or Bantry Bay, where it would remain briefly before cruising for about a fortnight.[1]
The ship's log records Caesar at single anchor in Berehaven, Bantry Bay, Cork, Ireland, on 13 September 1858, and steaming out of Bantry Bay on 18 September.[3] She subsequently returned to Plymouth and left with HMS Diadem for the West Indies on 21 October 1858.[1]
A photograph of Caesar appears on a page in an album associated with Sir John Jocelyn Coghill. A handwritten annotation states that Coghill visited Spain in the autumn of 1858, when four photographs on the page were taken, and that his party reached Gibraltar by Christmas. The annotation does not identify the location of the photograph of Caesar.[4] The ship's log independently places Caesar at anchor in Berehaven, Bantry Bay, Cork, Ireland, from 13-18 September 1858.[3]
In 1859 Caesar came under the command of Captain Thomas Henry Mason and subsequently served in the Mediterranean. She was finally paid off in February 1862 and was sold on 19 April 1870 for breaking up at Blackwall.[1]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "HMS Caesar (1853)". William Loney RN – Victorian Naval Surgeon. Retrieved 30 August 2026.
- ↑ "HMS Caesar (1853); Warship; Second rate; 90 guns". Royal Museums Greenwich. Retrieved 30 August 2026.
- 1 2 "HMS Caesar – log extracts". William Loney RN – Victorian Naval Surgeon. Retrieved 30 August 2026.
- ↑ "Album page". J. Paul Getty Museum. Retrieved 30 August 2026.