HMS Malabar (1818)

Malabar was the fourth ship of her name to serve in the Royal Navy.^[2] She was ordered on 7 March 1815 from the East India Company as part of the third batch of three Repulse-class ships of the line designed by Sir William Rule, co-Surveyor of the Navy. Incorporating co-Surveyor of the Navy, Robert Seppings' interlocking, diagonal trusses, the ship was laid down at their Bombay Dockyard in April 1817 and was launched on 28 December 1818. She was built by the Parsi master shipwright Jamsetjee Bomanjee Wadia.^[1][3][4]

Malabar sailed from Bombay (modern Mumbai) on 5 April 1819 and arrived at Portsmouth on 18 September. Included in her cargo were the frames for the 80-gun second rate Hindostan. The ship was placed in ordinary until commissioned by Captain Josceline Percy on 16 October 1832 and completed for sea at HM Dockyard, Portsmouth in October–November for service with the Mediterranean Fleet. Captain Henry Mansell became the acting ship's captain on 24 December 1833 and was then appointed into the ship on 4 January 1834. Malabar was paid off in July and Sir William Montagu was appointed captain on 25 July for duties off Lisbon, Portugal. He was ordered home at the close of 1837 for the purpose of being paid off.^[5]

The ship was refitted to carry troops from January to April 1838 at HM Dockyard, Devonport and was recommissioned on 14 February by Captain Edward Harvey for the North America and West Indies Station.^[6] On 19 October 1838, Malabar ran aground off Prince Edward Island in British North America and was damaged. Two of her crew were lost. She was refloated on 20 October and towed into Three Rivers (Trois-Rivières) in Lower Canada for repairs.^[7] She was paid off in early 1839 and was refitted as a "demonstration ship" between January 1839 and 11 October 1841. Captain Sir George Sartorius recommissioned the ship on 19 August 1841 for service in the Mediterranean.^[6] On 26–27 August 1843, Malabar assisted in fighting a fire that destroyed the United States Navy sidewheel frigate Missouri at Gibraltar and took aboard about 200 of Missouri's survivors.^[8][9][10]

Malabar was converted into a coal hulk in October 1848 at Portsmouth and was renamed Myrtle on 10 October 1883. The ship was sold out of the navy on 17 July 1905.^[6][11]

• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben & Bush, Steve (2020). Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy from the 15th Century to the Present (5th revised and updated ed.). Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-5267-9327-0.
• Lambert, Andrew D. (1991). The Last Sailing Battlefleet: Maintaining Naval Mastery 1815 - 1850. Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-591-8.
• Lavery, Brian (1984). The Ship of the Line. Vol. 1: The Development of the Battlefleet 1650-1850. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-85177-252-8.
• Wilson, Bob (2009). "Fuelling the Victorian Navy". In Jordan, John (ed.). Warship 2009. London: Conway. pp. 10–21. ISBN 978-1-84486-089-0.
• Winfield, Rif (2014). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1817–1863: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-169-4.