HMS Alligator (1821)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Alligator.

HMS Alligator was a 28-gun Atholl-class sixth rate of the Royal Navy. She was launched at Cochin, British India on 29 March 1821.

History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Alligator
Ordered	5 June 1819
Builder	Cochin
Laid down	November 1819
Launched	29 March 1821
Completed	By 3 September 1822
Reclassified	Depot ship in June 1841 Troopship in July 1842 Seamen’s hospital in December 1846
Fate	Sold on 30 October 1865
General characteristics
Class and type	28-gun Atholl-class sixth rate
Tons burthen	499 91/94 bm (as designed)
Length	113 ft 8 in (34.65 m) (gundeck) 94 ft 8.75 in (28.8735 m) (keel)
Beam	31 ft 6 in (9.60 m)
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Complement	175
Armament	28 guns: Upper Deck: 20 × 32-pounder carronades Quarterdeck: 6 × 18-pounder carronades Forecastle: 2 × 9-pounder guns

Alligator, under the command of Captain G.R. Lambert,^[1] operated in New Zealand during 1834, leaving on 31 March 1834, but returned again in September the same year to rescue the crew and passengers of Harriet, which was wrecked near Cape Egmont, Taranaki and were held by the Ngāti Ruanui.^[2]

Letter to James Busby regarding the Harriet Affair of 1834

In March 1834, Alligator was on hand (and fired the 13-gun salute) at the first hoisting of the first national flag of New Zealand, at Waitangi, Bay of Islands.^[3][4]

The Standard of New Zealand, 1834, saluted by Alligator

She eventually became a depot ship at Trincomalee in June 1841, and was then converted to a troopship in July 1842. Alligator was finally hulked as seamen’s hospital at Hong Kong in December 1846.

Pinnaces from Alligator aided Nemesis (here) in attacking a Masked Battery at the Battle of the Bogue in 1841 during the First Opium War

Fate

She was sold at Hong Kong on 30 October 1865.

Footnotes

1. Fitzgerald, Caroline (2011). Te Wiremu: Henry Williams – Early Years in the North. Huia Publishers, New Zealand. p. 236. ISBN 978-1-86969-439-5.
2. Colenso, William (4 April 2018). "The first European fighting at Taranaki - In Sherrin AA. The Early history of New Zealand: Part 1 of Brett's Historical Series: Early New Zealand, Auckland, pp. 435-458" (PDF). Colenso Society (Supplement). 9 (4): 1–20.
3. John Butler, Compiled by R. J. Barton (1927). Earliest New Zealand: the Journals and Correspondence of the Rev. John Butler. Early New Zealand Books (ENZB), University of Auckland Library. p. 404.
4. 'United Tribes Flag', URL: http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/culture/taming-the-frontier/united-tribes-flag, (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 19-Mar-2008

References

• Winfield, R.; Lyon, D. (2004). The Sail and Steam Navy List: All the Ships of the Royal Navy 1815–1889. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-032-6. OCLC 52620555.
• Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine

External links