 Svyataya Anna in her incarnation as the yachtBlencathra, from Helen Peel'sPolar Gleams[1] | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | HMSNewport |
| Ordered | 5 March 1860 |
| Builder | Pembroke Dockyard |
| Laid down |
|
| Launched | 20 July 1867 |
| Commissioned | April 1868 |
| Fate | Sold to SirAllen Young in May 1881 |
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | Pandora II |
| United Kingdom | |
| Name | Blencathra |
| Owner |
|
 Russia | |
| Name |
|
| Fate | Presumed crushed by ice and lost 1914 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Philomel-class wooden screw gunvessel |
| Displacement | 570 tons |
| Length | |
| Beam | 25 ft 4 in (7.7 m) |
| Depth of hold | 13 ft (3.96 m) |
| Installed power | 325 ihp (242 kW) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 9.25knots (17.13 km/h; 10.64 mph) |
| Complement | 60 |
| Armament |
|
ThePhilomel-class gunvesselHMSNewport was launched in Wales in 1867. Having become the first ship to pass through theSuez Canal, she was sold in 1881 and renamedPandora II.[2] She was purchased again in about 1890 and renamedBlencathra,[2] taking part in expeditions to the north coast of Russia. She was bought in 1912 byGeorgy Brusilov for use in his ill-fated 1912 Arcticexpedition to explore theNorthern Sea Route, and was namedSvyataya Anna (Russian:Святая Анна), afterSaint Anne. The ship became firmly trapped in ice; only two members of the expedition,Valerian Albanov andAlexander Konrad, survived. The ship has never been found.
ThePhilomel-class gunvessels were an enlargement of the earlierAlgerine-classgunboat of 1856. The first six of the class were ordered by theUK Admiralty from the naval dockyards between April 1857 and April 1859. Another twelve were ordered on 14 June 1859 to be constructed by contract in private yards, receiving their names on 24 September the same year; these were then fitted out at naval dockyards. The last eight of the class, of whichNewport was the first, were ordered on 5 March 1860 for construction in naval dockyards, although six of them were later cancelled.[2]
Newport waslaid down atPembroke Dockyard inWales on 17 September 1860. She andAlban were suspended in 1862, and six of the uncompleted vessels, includingAlban were cancelled in 1863.Newport was finallylaunched on 20 July 1867. She was fitted with aLaird Brothers two-cylinder horizontal single-expansion steam engine driving a single screw and developing 325indicated horsepower (242 kW).[2]
She was armed with a68-pounder 95 cwt muzzle-loading smooth-bore gun, two 24-pounder howitzers and two 20-pounder breech-loading guns. All ships of the class later had the 68-pounder replaced by a 7-inch/110-pounder breech-loading gun. The class were fitted with abarque-rigged sail plan.[2]
She wascommissioned in April 1868 under CommanderGeorge Strong Nares, and employed in survey work in the Mediterranean.[3]
In 1869 during the opening ceremony and first passage of ships through theSuez Canal, although the French Imperial yachtL'Aigle was officially the first vessel to pass through the canal,Newport, commanded by Nares, actually passed through it first. On the night before the canal was due to open, Nares navigated his vessel, in total darkness and without lights, through the mass of waiting ships until it was in front ofL'Aigle. When dawn broke, the French were horrified to find that theRoyal Navy was now first in line and that it would be impossible to pass them. Captain Nares received both an official reprimand and an unofficial vote of thanks from the Admiralty for his actions in promoting British interests and for demonstrating superb seamanship.[4][5]
She was sold to SirAllen Young in May 1881. He had previously owned another formerPhilomel-class gun vessel,HMS Pandora, and he named his new shipPandora II after her.
The ship was sold in about 1890 to the wealthy F. W. Leyborne-Popham, who intended to use her as a yacht, and had an interest in Arctic waters. The vessel was specially adapted at the Richmond Dry Dock inAppledore, where an ice-ram was fitted and her quarter-deck extended.[6] Leybourne-Popham appointedJoseph Wiggins as captain ofBlencathra for an 1893 voyage to theKara Sea and into theYenisey River, thus taking the ship to the furthest reaches ofSiberia. To combine business with pleasure, he formed a syndicate to exploit the commercial opportunities offered by the carriage of cargo to the far north. As plans were being finalised, Wiggins received an urgent request from the Russians to carry rails for theTrans-Siberian Railway up the Yenisey toKrasnoyarsk. A 2,500-ton steamer,Orestes, was chartered and four Russian river vessels were provided for the final stages of transport in the Yenisey. With the river vessels embarked inOrestes, andBlencathra in company, the group leftVardø on 22 August 1893, reaching the mouth of the Yenisey on 3 September.Blencathra andOrestes returned to England viaArkhangelsk, while Wiggins stayed with the Russian river vessels, reachingYeniseysk on 23 October.[7]
Among the party was Miss Helen Peel, granddaughter of SirRobert Peel, who wrote a book about her experiences titledPolar Gleams.[1]
Leyborne-Popham sold his yacht to Major Andrew Coats, and in company withWilliam Speirs Bruce, Coats made a long hunting voyage to the Arctic waters around Novaya Zemlya and Spitsbergen.[8] Bruce joinedBlencathra atTromsø, Norway in May 1898, and the cruise explored theBarents Sea, the dual islands ofNovaya Zemlya andKolguyev, before a retreat to Vardø to re-provision for the voyage toSpitsbergen. In a letter Bruce reported, "This is a pure yachting cruise and life is luxurious". Nevertheless, the scientific purpose of the voyage was not forgotten; measurement of temperature and salinity and meteorological observations went on day and night.[9]
The ship was lost in 1914 during the disastrous Arctic expedition captained byGeorgy Brusilov, when it was hopelessly locked in the ice.Svyataya Anna was last seen by the party led by the second-in-commandValerian Albanov who abandoned the ship to try and reach safety. Only two members of the expedition survived, Albanov included.Svyataya Anna, Brusilov and the rest of the crew were never seen again.
A geological feature in theArctic Ocean basin, the St. Anna orSvyataya Anna Trough, located east ofFranz Josef Land, with a depth of 620 m, has been named in memory of this ill-fated ship.