Boscawen, 1844
Type: 3rd rate ; Armament 70
Launched : 3 Apr 1844 ; Disposal date or year : Mar 1914
Disposal Details : Damaged by fire in Tyne and broken up
BM: 2212 tons
Notes:

1 Jan 1820 building or ordered to be built, with a circular stern.

1830 Woolwich building as an 80 gun ship

Jan 1848 Sheerness, in Ordinary (reserve)

20 Dec 1848 Sheerness

30 Aug 1851 Chatham

15 Apr 1854 captured Russian brig Patrioten [Prize Money per London Gazette of 21 Jul 1857].

16 Apr 1854 captured Russian merchant vessel Victor [Prize Money per London Gazette of 21 Jul 1857].

13 Jun 1854 the French fleet joined the British in the Baltic at Baro Sound - see p. 419-> at www.archive.org/details/royalnavyhistory06clow

May 1857-Sept 1860 flag ship on Africa Station.

28 Oct 1857 Flag ship at Simon's Bay, sending the Castor up the East Coast of Africa on a short cruise before she's withdrawn from the station to return to England.

24 Nov 1857 Flag ship at Simon's Bay. R.-Adm. Sir F. Grey writes to the Secretary of the Admiralty enclosing copies of correspondence he has had with Flag Officer Conover, commanding the U.S. squadron on the West Coast of Africa, regarding the arrest by the Vesuvius of the Braman, which, whilst flying the US flag, it was plain from her patently forged documentation that she was not entitled to use that ensign, which was confirmed in writing by her master in a signed a statement.

13 Feb 1858 at Sierra Leone.

21 Feb 1858 departed Sierra Leone.

24 Feb 1858 anchored off Monrovia. The Rear Admiral went ashore to discuss the thorny problems of French emigration and visits to the Liberia shore by a certain M. Chevalier, who appeared to be little more than a slave dealer : promising the natives freedom and a passage to the West Indies, but once they were on board his ship they were put in irons and put down below, and fed on a meagre diet of poor rations, not fit for a human being, much as Chevalier did at Sierra Leone with the 2-300 Kroomen he recently conned into boarding his ship. Liberia was reported to have recently passed a law which made his activities illegal, but it being so soon after its enactment the Admiral was unable to have a copy.

2 Mar 1858 off Cape Palmas, a headland on the extreme southeast end of the coast of Liberia.

25 Mar 1858 at Prince's Island.

15 Apr 1858 Admiral's report on the slave trade on the West Coast of Africa - see below.

15 Jun 1858 Simon's Bay.

25 Sep 1858 departed Bourbon.

4 Oct 1858 anchored at Johanna.

19 Oct 1858 at Mozambique.

12 Nov 1858 Simon's Bay. The Flag Officer writes regarding how the prospect of earlier years of subduing the slave trade has been destroyed this year by the French, with their so-called emigration cruises to attract would be native emigrants to their colonies, which have given new heart to the slave trade, which is now taking off again with a vengeance, plus the assistance of the US Government prostituting its flag for the benefit of the slave traders, most of whom, at this stage, appear to be Spanish. Perhaps a little simplistic, but it is difficult, in a few words, to sum up such a complicated subject which is controlled by the scum of the earth who are making vast profits, and which has now been assisted by a European Government - namely the French, who do not appear to be prepared to accept that they have miscalculated the reaction of their actions, but neither does the US Government, so one wonders what vested interests were at work ? This at a time when the Brazilians and Portuguese, the bad boys of yesteryear, almost appear to have put their houses in order. What a crazy world ! Oh! Did I say vast profits ? A quick back of envelope calculation reckoned that if you prepared 12 slave ships and had 10 taken by British Cruisers you could still make a significant profit :

	£
The purchase of 12 vessels, fitting out with provisions &c.	36,000
Miscellaneous expenses	10,000
Purchase of 2 cargoes of slaves at £4 each, on the South Coast	4,800
Total Outlay	50,800
Sale of 2 cargoes of slaves, say 1200 at £200 per head	240,000
Deduct outlay	50,800
Clear profit	189,200

And, of course, with profits like, given may be a worst case scenario, every form of low life wanted a bight of the cherry and many of the vessels purchased for a trip were leaky and hardly seaworthy, thus saving even more money - if it didn't sink ?

15 Mar 1859 in Simon's Bay, the Flag Officer for the station forwarded a letter from Lt. Hodgkinson, commanding officer of the Viper regarding her detention of the supposed Rufus Soulé, along with correspondence exchanged between Lt. H. and a Commander Totten of the U.S.N.

8 Jun 1859 off the River Congo.

14 Sep 1859 in Simon's Bay, the Flag Officer, Rear Adm. Fred. Wm. Grey writes to the Secretary of the Admiralty regarding the cooperation, or otherwise, of the American Naval commanders on anti-slavery patrols on the West Coast of Africa etc.

17 Jan 1860 in Simon's Bay, the Flag Officer for the station forwarded a report to H.M. Commissioners at the Cape, from the Lyra, regarding the capture of the slave brig, name unknown, but supposed Echo, late Rubens, of Antwerp, on 3 Dec 1859, fitted out to take 800 slaves.

1860 Devonport

5 Mar 1862 commissioned as Boys training ship in Southampton Water.

1864 Training Ship, Home Station, Southampton. Report of scarlatina onboard. Number of Cases of Disease and Injury.

October 1866 arrived Portland under tow to be the new Training Ship for Boys,

1870 Portland, Training Ship for Boys, 20 guns

23 Jan 1871 7 ship's stewards will appear at a Court Martial to be held on board the Duke of Wellington, at Portsmouth, tomorrow, which includes S. Vine of the Boscawen.

1873 Replaced By Trafalgar

1873 Trafalgar renamed Boscawen

1874 Original Boscawen renamed Wellesley, Training Ship

1 Jan 1877 Recommissioined Portsmouth

1879 Portland, Training Ship for Boys

1879 Tender "Seaflower"

1 Apr 1881 New books opened.

Apr 1886 Portland,

1890 Portland, Training Ship for Boys. Includes officers borne for Sick Quarters, Portland : Tender "Seaflower"

29 Dec 1892 Portsmouth, the Hannibal has been towed alongside the dockyard to be concerted into a living ship at Portland, to alleviate the over-crowded conditions onboard the training ship Boscawen.

1895 circa Agincourt arrives Portland - renamed Boscawen as additional training ship

1904 Minotaur (1863) arrives Portland

1904 Minotaur renamed Boscawen as additional training ship

1907 Sapphire arrives Portland to replace Boscawen ie late Trafalgar

From a Newspaper of date unknown
Boatswain Dismissed his Ship : At Portsmouth, on board the Victory, a Court Martial sentenced Mr Daniel Sullivan, boatswain of the Boscawen, to be deprived of all seniority in rank and to be reprimanded and dismissed his ship for drunkenness and improper absence from duty.

(Extract.) April 15, 1858. Before finally leaving the West Coast, I have the honour to lay before their Lordships a summary of the present state of affairs there, as collected from my own observations and from the reports of the Commodore and Senior Officers of Divisions to the following dates :-
North Division, 13th March, 1858;
Bights Division, 28th March, 1858 ;
South Division, 18th February, 1858.
In the Northern Division there is no reason to believe that the Slave Trade is now carried on, though it would be imprudent to give up the watching of the river between the Gambia and Sierra Leone. The report brought to the latter place of a vessel having arrived in, the Pongas to ship slaves, appears to have been unfounded.

The chief duties of the squadron on that coast will therefore be the general protection of British interests, and for that service I have allotted the Childers, Alecto, Trident, and Spitfire, directing Commander Hickley, the senior officer, to station one of them in the Gambia.

Bights Division.- There is no doubt that the vigilance of our cruisers alone has prevented the shipment of large numbers of slaves from the lagoons communicating with Whydah. The increase of the squadron has been most advantageous, and the cruizers, under Commander Aplin's judicious guidance, have been so far, I hope, completely successful. The squadron at present consists of the Hecla, Trident (to be relieved by Ardent,), Triton, Sharpshooter, Pluto, and Brune. l have stated that there is no doubt that the Slave Trade in the neighbourhood of Whydah is checked only by our cruizers; in proof of this I may mention that all the reports from British residents show that the demand for slaves in the interior markets has much increased, that the slave-hunts from Abomey and from Abbeokuta have been revived, and that three undoubted slavers, with two suspected vessels, are at this moment on the coast. These are, the Marshall, and the Hanover, both under American colours ; and the Don Juan, Spanish brig lately purchased, it is said, by slave-dealers, off Appi, watched by the Trident. There is also reason to suspect the American barque Firefly, boarded by the Pluto on the 10th of March last, and a Portuguese schooner. I have written to the American Commander-in-chief the annexed letter, earnestly pressing him to station an American ship of war in the Bights.

South Division.- Commander Burgess reports that no suspicious vessel has been seen on the South Coast for some time. There is, however, one vessel reported which Commodore Wise has reason to believe is a slaver ; the Merchant schooner, under American colours. I have no doubt that the presence of the American corvette Dale, on the South Coast since September last, her seizure of the W. G. Lewis, and the capture of so many vessels by our cruizers, have checked, for a time, the attempts to ship slaves ; but I cannot doubt that these attempts will be renewed as soon as the more favourable season for getting off the coast returns. Another cause has also been in operation in the scarcity of food, amounting almost to a famine, which has prevailed in the neighbourhood of the Congo and Loanda for the last year. Commander Burgess reports that the French Agents at Loango are purchasing slaves at 15 dollars a-head ; that in the Congo, negroes are selling themselves, and that at Loanda 48 slaves had been picked up who had been deserted by their masters from their inability to feed them. This might probably interfere with the arrangement of the slave-dealers, who had calculated on obtaining farinha for their vessels on the coast ; but when new arrangements are made, will, from the low price of slaves, give an additional stimulus to the trade.