HMS Pylades (1854)

Laid down at Sheerness Dockyard on 9 May 1853, Pylades was named on 8 June and launched on 23 November the following year. The vessel cost £68,333, including £21,684 for machinery. The warship was commissioned on 5 January 1855 under the command of Captain, later Admiral, Edwin Tennyson-d'Eyncourt and completed on 29 March.^[2] The ship was the fourth to be given the name in Royal Navy service, which recalled the Greek prince Pylades.^[5] The vessel's first voyage was to the Nore and then to the Baltic Sea along with the sloop Volcano and a flotilla of gunboats on 11 May 1855.^[6] The vessel served as part of a blockade of Russian ports undertaken by the French and British forces during the Crimean War. Attempts were also made to attack Russian forts such as Fort Alexander, but the defences were too strong and these proved ineffective.^[7] The vessel did not serve in the conflict long and returned to Portsmouth for repairs, which were completed on 5 June the following year.^[8] The corvette then sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to Halifax, Nova Scotia, returning on 27 October. The voyage had not been without peril and the vessel had been feared lost after disappearing 18 days beforehand.^[9]

After being paid off on 18 November and repaired, Pylades was recommissioned on 16 July 1857 under Captain Michael de Courcy. The vessel recrossed the Atlantic Ocean to serve with the North America and West Indies Station before joining the East Indies and China Station and finally the Pacific Station.^[2] The corvette served at the Royal Navy base in Singapore until deployed to Canada, arriving on 18 February 1858.^[10] Although initially sent to help handle the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush, the vessel's presence also proved useful during the San Juan Boundary Dispute during the following year.^[11] On 7 December, Pylades was the last Royal Navy warship to be deployed to the San Juan Islands, after which the risk of conflict de-escalated.^[12] At the end of the service, the corvette sailed to Chatham to be decommissioned on 20 July 1861.^[2] An extensive refit was carried out, with much of the copper and wooden hull replaced, the decks removed and the boilers repaired.^[13] A new armament was fitted, with the main deck equipped with sixteen cast iron 8 in (200 mm) 60 cwt guns each 8 ft 10 in (2.69 m) long and four Armstrong 4.75 in (121 mm) 40-pounder 28 cwt guns. On the upper deck, a single Armstrong 7 in (180 mm) 110-pounder 82 cwt gun was mounted.^[14] The ship was equipped with a new 15 ft 9 in (4.80 m) screw and, while undertaking trials on 31 December, achieved a speed of 10.373 knots (19.211 km/h; 11.937 mph).^[15]

The ship, now rated at 1,278 bm, departed for the North America and West Indies Station on 13 January 1863 under the command of Captain, later Admiral, Arthur Acland Hood.^[16] While serving in Canada, the vessel played a role in the Chesapeake affair that took place during the American Civil War. When the British sailing vessel Chesapeake, captured by Confederate sympathisers and pursued by US Navy warships, arrived in Canadian waters, the vessel's presence helped stop the situation escalating to a declaration of war between the British Empire and Union forces.^[17] By this time, the corvette was old and was deemed unlikely to last beyond 1868.^[18] The vessel returned to the Nore on 29 October 1866 for an extensive overhaul, which extended the ship's life substantially.^[19] Recommissioned on 4 December 1867 the vessel served under the command of Captain Cecil Buckley, later a recipient of the Victoria Cross, as part of the Pacific Station until 1870 and then off the coast of South America between 20 July 1871 and 20 August 1873 under the command of Captain Augustus Chetham Strode. The ship was finally decommissioned on 31 December at Sheerness. Pylades was sold to be broken up on 23 January 1875 to Castle in Charlton.^[2][20]

Pylades is recalled in the name of Pylades Island, one of the Gulf Islands off the coast of British Columbia. This is not the only local name related to the vessel. Nearby De Courcy Island is named for Michael de Courcy.^[21] The other islands of the De Courcy Group, Mudge and Ruxton Islands also recall sailors connected with the corvette, both named William. ^[22] Similarly, Buckley Point, south of the mouth of the Skeena River, and Cecil Point north of Pitt Island are named after Cecil Buckley, who commanded Pylades off the coast of British Columbia between 1868 and 1869.^[23]

• Colledge, J.J.; Warlow, Ben (2006). Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of All Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy. London: Chatham Press. ISBN 978-1-93514-907-1.
• Friedman, Norman (2012). British Cruisers of the Victorian Era. Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-099-4.
• Gough, Barry M. (1971). The Royal Navy and the Northwest Coast of North America, 1810-1914: A Study of British Maritime Ascendancy. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press. ISBN 9780774800006. OCLC 610547983.
• Humble, Richard (1976). Before the Dreadnought : the Royal Navy from Nelson to Fisher. London: Macdonald and Jane's. OCLC 3107352.
• Manning, Thomas Davys; Walker, Charles Frederick (1959). British Warship Names. London: Putnam. OCLC 780274698.
• Morton, William Lewis (1964). The Critical Years: The Union of British North America, 1857-1873. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart. ISBN 978-0-77106-561-3. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
• Scott, Andrew (2009). The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Place Names: A Complete Reference to Coastal British Columbia. Madeira Park, BC: Harbour Publishing. ISBN 978-1-55017-484-7.
• Winfield, Rif (2014). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1817–1863: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Barnsley: Seaforth. ISBN 978-1-84832-169-4.