HMS Thetis (1817)

Thetis, the eighth ship of her name to serve in the Royal Navy,^[3] was ordered on 18 December 1812, laid down in December 1814 at Pembroke Dockyard, Wales, and launched on 1 February 1813.^[2] She sailed for Plymouth Dockyard on 21 August 1817 and was completed for ordinary on 20 September. Thetis cost £27,435 to build and £7,699 to fit out for ordinary. The ship's first commission began on 15 March 1823, under the command of Captain John Phillimore, and she was completed for sea duty on 20 August 1823 at the cost of an additional £12,959.^[4] Soon after this Thetis was used in an experiment reducing the onboard rum ration, for which the ship received the nickname "Tea Chest".^[5]

Thetis was assigned to the South America Station in June 1826 and Captain Arthur Bingham assumed command on 8 November. He drowned in the Guayas River on 19 August 1830 and Captain Samuel Burgess was in command by 29 November. On 5 December Thetis, the ship was wrecked off Cape Frio, Brazil; 22 crewmen drowned. Two-thirds of her cargo of bullion was subsequently salvaged.^[6] In August 1832 the Falmouth packet Mutine brought back to England 17,000 dollars salvaged from Thetis.^[7]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to HMS Thetis (ship, 1817).

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• Kennedy, Don H. (1974). Ship Names: Origins and Usages during 45 Centuries. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia. ISBN 0-8139-0531-1.
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• Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail, 1793-1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates (epub). Barnsley, UK: Seaforth. ISBN 978-1-84415-700-6.
• Winfield, Rif (2014). British Warships in the Age of Sail, 1817-1863 (epub). Barnsley, UK: Seaforth. ISBN 978-1-47383-743-0.
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• Skibbrud og total Forliis af den engelske Fregat Thetis paa 46 Kanoner i 1830 - Archiv for Sövæsenet (1831), page 276