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Inconstant, 1868
Type: Cruiser, 2nd Class ; late unarmoured frigate. Iron cased with wood. ; Armament 16
Launched : 12 Nov 1868 ;
Disposal date or year : 1956
BM: 4066 tons ; Displacement: 5780 tons
Propulsion: Screw Complement: 600
Machinery notes: 7361 hpi 1000 hp ; Speed ; 15.0 knots ;
Notes:
1870 Channel Squadron
2 Aug 1871 at Gibraltar, with the Topaze, joined the Flying Squadron : sailed for off Ushant with the Mediterranean Squadron : Pylades and Inconstant to remain at Gibraltar.
11 Aug 1871 arrived off Ushant and involved in exercises with the Reserve, Mediterranean and Channel Squadrons, and was subsequently joined by the Inconstant, with despatches.
11 Sep 1871 Portsmouth the squadron arrived from Queensferry, from which they sailed last Saturday, and anchored at Spithead, having been cruising in the North Sea following the earlier exercises.
21 Oct 1871 The Immortalite, Inconstant and Volage have given leave to their crews at Portsmouth, in alternate watches, the latter two being calked and refitted in dock, whilst the former refits alongside, whilst the Narcissus and Cadmus have gone to Plymouth to give leave and be refitted at Devonport.
12 Nov 1871 Narcissus sailed from Plymouth Sound for Portland, arriving Sunday, where she was expected to be joined shortly by the Cadmus, from Plymouth, and the remainder of the squadron from Portsmouth.
19 Nov 1871 the Flying or detached squadron, consisting of the Narcissus, Topaze, Immortalité, Inconstant, Cadmus and Volage sailed from Portland for Vigo.
24 Nov 1871 arrived Vigo and put into quarantine, there being 2 cases of smallpox on board the Narcissus.
29 Nov 1871 the squadron sailed for Lisbon, arriving on 3 Dec. Smallpox cases sent to hospital and squadron received pratique.
7 Dec 1871 the squadron sailed for Madeira, arriving on the 10th inst., sailing on the 11th for Rio de Janeiro.
Dec 30, 1871 A large number of midshipmen have been appointed to join the Flying (detached) Squadron.
18 Jan 1872 Rio Janeiro very hot and squadron sailed for Simon’s Town.
14 Feb 1872 Squadron arrived Cape of Good Hope. During the cruise out the ships and their crews had been involved in manoeuvres, gun exercises and other drills.
16 Feb 1872 Inconstant temporarily detached to Table Bay as guardship.
27 Feb 1872 Cape of Good Hope, sailed for Bombay.
22 Apr 1872 arrived Bombay,
6 May 1872 sailed for Mauritius
5 Jun 1872 arrived Mauritius, sailing for the Cape on the 20th inst.
27 Jul 1872 arrived Cape of Good Hope, sailing for the St. Helena on the 27th inst.
8 Aug 1872 arrived St. Helena, sailing for the Ascension on the 13th inst.
17 Aug 1872 arrived Ascension, sailing for the Azores on the 20th inst.
13 Sep 1872 arrived Azores, sailing for the Plymouth on the 16th inst.
27 Sep 1872 arrived Plymouth Sound and sailed for Portsmouth arriving Spithead on the 28th inst.
1879 Portsmouth
24 Aug 1880 commissioned for what was originally to have been a World Cruise with the 2 princes, but eventually fizzled out in the Far East. The other vessels involved were the Carysfort, Cleopatra, Tourmaline and Bacchante.
16 Oct 1880, departed Portsmouth for Vigo, followed by Madeira, St. Vincent, in the Cape de Verde Islands, and Monte Video ; Bahia and Rio being cancelled as it was reported that Yellow Jack was doing the rounds again.
21 Dec 1880, arrived at Monte Video, and remained there until the 8th Jan ; from Monte Video it was intended that the squadron should then call at the Falkland Islands (arrived 25 Jan) and then head for the Pacific, via Cape Horn, However, after the squadron had arrived at Port Stanley HMS Swift arrived from Monte Video on 26 Jan, with a telegram from the Admiralty, ordering the squadron to go to the Cape of Good Hope "with all despatch." It is rumoured that the message arrived whilst the squadron was at Monte Video, but was never delivered.
During the passage to the Cape of Good Hope, where they arrived on 16 Feb., the ship's companies prepared landing parties for any eventuallity, but having arrived at Simon's Bay, and waited around for 6 weeks there was no demand for the squadron's services and they sailed on 9 Apr for Australia.
Passage to Australia and the Bacchante, with the young princes on board, goes missing, followed by relief and wonderful hospitality at Melbourne and Sydney. In the event it turned out that the Baccante had put into St. George's Bay in West Australia with her rudder broken, which caused delays in the programme and the cancellation of the visit to New Zealand.
Following a stay of five days in Moreton Bay, the squadron sailed for the Fiji Islands
21 Oct 1881 arrived Yokohama, and then on to Kobe, and through the Inland Sea to Shimonoseki. From Japan the squadron sailed for Hong Hong, where the Bacchante and Cleopatra sailed for the Mediterranean via the Suez Canal, but the Inconstant had problems with her rudder, which required a return trip to Japan and docking at Nagasaki for repairs to be carried out by the ship's engineer.
Returned via the Cape of Good Hope (departed 16 May 1882) where the Inconstant suffered a servere fire which caused a further 3 week delay in her arrival in the Mediterranean, (via St. Helena), and late for the bombardment of the Alexandrian forts.
Arrived at Gibraltar, having towed the Tourmaline for much of the passage, and filled bunkers ; stored ship at Malta with ammunition for the ships off Alexandria, and assisted in the subsequent operations before sailing on 16 Sep 1882 for Portsmouth, where we paid of in the October.
Precise dates for much of this cruise and more detail can be found in other publications, such as The Times of London, which reportedly fully on the activities of the 2 princes etc.
1890 Devonport. Officers borne in "Indus"
1898 Harbour Service
1907 Renamed Impregnable III.
1922 Renamed Defiance IV.
1930 Renamed Defiance II