HMS Alacrity (1872)

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

HMS Alacrity was a schooner of the Royal Navy, built by John Cuthbert, Millers Point, New South Wales as the yacht Ethel that the Royal Navy purchased in 1872.^[1]

HMS Alacrity – British squadron China Station, 1898
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Alacrity
Builder	John Cuthbert, Millers Point, New South Wales
Launched	1872
Acquired	1873
Fate	Sold in 1882 to Colony of New South Wales.
General characteristics
Type	schooner
Complement	27

She commenced service on the Australia Station at Sydney in 1873 as a tender for HMS Clio. She was later used for anti-blackbirding operations in the South Pacific and also for hydrographic surveys of Fiji and Australia.^[1][2] On 3 June 1873, Alacrity ran aground in Vita Bay, Fiji Islands. She was refloated.^[3] She was paid off in 1882 and sold to the Colony of New South Wales, which converted her to a powder hulk guardship.^[1]

Alacrity was in use as an accommodation hulk at Bantry Bay during the Second World War.

Citations

1. Bastock, pp. 58–59.
2. Tizard, T.H. (1900). Chronological List of the Officers Conducting British Maritime Discoveries and Surveys: Together with the Names of the Vessels Employed from the Earlier Times Until 1900. Her Majesty's Stationery Office. pp. 32–34.
3. "Fiji". Leeds Mercury. No. 11049. Leeds. 8 September 1873.

References

• Bastock, John (1988), Ships on the Australia Station, Child & Associates Publishing Pty Ltd; Frenchs Forest, Australia. ISBN 0-86777-348-0