A FOOTNOTE IN HISTORY: HMS VALOROUS AND HER LINKS WITH THE WEST OF IRELAND

摘要

In the annals of the Royal Navy, the paddle frigate HMS Valorous holds a very special place. What is of particular interest is the fact that at various times during her long career this warship had close links with Galway, which were scientific and humanitarian, rather than military, in nature At the time of her laying down in 1849 she incorporated all the most recent technological innovations in steam propulsion yet, so rapid were developments in this area in the mid-nineteenth century that, by the time she was commissioned in 1852, HMS Valorous was technically out of date, having been superseded by advances in screw powered propulsion. In effect, HMS Valorous was the last wooden hulled paddle powered frigate commissioned by the Royal Navy. The commissioning of HMS Rattler, the first screw powered frigate in 1845, and her subsequent superiority in sea trials over paddle powered ships of similar displacement and horsepower, demonstrated quite vividly where the future of steam propulsion on water lay.