HMS Endymion was a 21-gun Ister-class wooden screw frigate, the third of four ships of this name to serve in the Royal Navy. She was the last wooden frigate built at Deptford Dockyard. She was commissioned in 1866 and spent much of her service based at Malta. In 1869–70 she sailed around the world as part of a Flying Squadron. She remained in front-line service until 1874.
Endymion then served as a guard ship at Hull, Yorkshire until 1879, latterly with her boilers condemned as unfit for service. A plan to use her as a flagship at Harwich, Essex from 1875 was abandoned due to the loss of . During her time at Hull, crew from Endymion assisted the local police in fighting a number of fires in buildings and timber yards.
Emdymion was lent to the Metropolitan Asylums Board in 1881 for use as an administration and hospital ship, initially at Greenwich, Kent and later at Dartford. She was sold out of service in 1885, and served as an administration ship until 1904. Endymion was sold in December 1904 and broken up in 1905.
Description Endymion was long, with a beam of , and a draught of . She was designed with a beam of and a burthen of 2,478 tons BOM and displaced 3,197 tons. She was to be fitted with 36 guns and had a complement of 450. Propulsion was by a steam engine of 500 nominal horsepower, which was built by Napier & Sons, Glasgow. The engine drove a single screw propeller of diameter and pitch. The propeller was long, and the tips of the blades were beneath the surface of the water. She was also rigged as a full-rigged ship.
Construction Endymion was the last wooden frigate built at Deptford. Her keel was laid down on 20 October 1860. She was built on the same slip that had been vacated by the launch of . On 1 February 1862, construction of Endymion was suspended on the orders of the Admiralty, although the Admiralty later decided that she would be completed. Construction restarted on 7 February 1864. Her engines and boilers were transported from Deptford to Sheerness in October 1865 on board HMS Dee and HMS Monkey. She was launched on 18 November 1865, in front of a crowd of 10,000 people. She was then towed by the steamships Locust, Monkey and Widgeon to Woolwich, where they awaited for the tide before Endymion was towed to Sheerness for completion. Endymion was launched by Miss Ffrench, the daughter of Major Ffrench of the 74th (Highland) Regiment of Foot. A crowd of 40,000 people was present.
By January 1866, Endymion was ready to have her lower masts fitted, following which her bottom was to be coppered. She was designed to take 36 (later 30) guns, which were intended to comprise twenty-two 32-pounder smooth-bore and eight 64-pounder rifled muzzle-loading guns. However she was completed with four 100-pounder, rifled muzzle-loading guns (weight 125 Cwt/6,350 kg each), fourteen 8-inch guns (65 Cwt/3,302 kg each), located on the maindeck; and nine 110-pounder breech-loading guns (82 Cwt/6,166 kg each) located on the upper deck. In August, it was reported that Endymion was then being fitted with three 110-pounder Armstrongs guns, four 6½-ton/100-pounder and fourteen 8-inch guns.
History
Front-line service Endymion was commissioned at Sheerness on 27 September 1866, under the command of Captain Charles Wake, who had previously commanded . Sea trials were undertaken on 19 and 20 October. On the latter date, speed was assessed over a measured mile at the Maplin Sands. On the first three runs, an average speed of was recorded, but one of the bearings in the engine was found to be running hot. Three more runs were made, giving an average speed over the first six runs of . Six more runs were made at half-power, giving an average of .
Endymion departed from Spithead for the Mediterranean on 28 October, arriving at Gibraltar on 10 November. She sailed eastward, arriving at Valletta, Malta on 19 November. She remained at Malta until 27 December, when she departed for target practice, returning on 29 December.
Endymion departed on 2 January 1867 for Beyrout, Syria, taking supplies for . She had arrived at Alexandria, Egypt by 20 January. On 25 February, one of her carpenters was court-martialled on board for drunkenness. He was found guilty and dismissed from the ship, being returned to the United Kingdom on board . Endymion arrived off the Syrian coast on 19 April. She returned to Malta on 29 July. On 22 August, the Mediterranean Squadron, comprising , , , HMS Endymion, and and under the command of Lord Clarence Paget, departed from Spezia, Italy. The squadron arrived at Bastia, Corsica from Villafranca Tirenna, Sicily on 9 September. On 9 October, was in difficulties off Avenza, Italy in a gale. Arethusa and Endymion were despatched under steam to her aid. During the rescue, one of Endymions guns was dislodged from its mountings and ended up in a messroom. A sailor was washed overboard, but was rescued. Arethusa towed Cruiser to Spezia. On 29 October, she departed from Malta for Livorno, Italy to collect a 16-year-old Japanese prince, orders having been received to sail immediately after arrival at Malta, once refuelling and victualling had been performed. This was instead of undergoing repairs. She returned to Malta on 7 November. Endymion departed for Marseille on 11 November with the prince on board. During the voyage to Marseille, her engines broke down, causing damage to the engine's air pump, cylinders, pistons and trunk. She was ordered back to Malta for repairs, arriving on 22 November. On 27 November, her assistant-paymaster was court-martialled on board HMS Hibernia for being absent without leave. He was found guilty, losing a year's seniority and being dismissed from the ship.
On 30 January 1868, Endymion was caught by a squall whilst taking up her berth in Valletta Harbour. She collided with the Turkish ironclad Mahmoudiah, taking away her bowsprit and then colliding with , damaging some boats and an accommodation ladder. Endymion was reported to be undamaged. On 18 March, and Endymion departed for Naples, Italy, Endymion was carrying Rear-Admiral Kellett, who was going on leave to recuperate. The voyage was also to test her engines, which had taken four months to repair. She returned to Malta on 4 April. Endymion sailed on 26 May for Beyrout, in company with Lord Warden. She returned via Piraeus, Greece, arriving on 14 June. On 17 June, a first-class engineer from Endymion was court-martialled on board HMS Hibernia for drunkenness. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to be dismissed from Her Majesty's Service. On 1 July, and Endymion departed Malta for Corfu and Venice, Italy. She departed from Venice on 27 July for Trieste. She arrived at Malta on 18 September. On 26 September, Endymion departed from Malta in company with Chiltern, Newport and Scanderia, which were laying a new submarine cable between Malta and Alexandria, which was reached on 6 October. She then sailed to Brindisi, Italy to collect Lord Napier of Magdala, arriving on 15 November. Endymion was the first British frigate to enter Brindisi Harbour. She sailed for Alexandria on 19 November, arriving on 24 November. She then sailed to Malta, arriving on 6 December. She was then dry docked to enable her bottom to be cleaned.
Endymion left the dry dock on 7 January 1869. On 26 January, a sub-lieutenant serving on board was court-martialled on board HMS Hibernia for false accounting in connection with the gun-room wine accounts whilst serving on board Endymion during 1867. He was further charged with destroying part of the issue-book relating to the wine accounts. The first charge was found to be partly proved, whilst he was found not guilty on the second charge. He was sentenced to be dismissed from Her Majesty's Service. She sailed from Malta on 27 January in the company of bound for Gibraltar. She was reported to be at Cádiz, Spain on 11 February, and at Gibraltar a month later. She departed on 22 March for Málaga, Spain, where she arrived on 3 April. She then received orders to sail to England to join the Flying Squadron. Endymion sailed to Spithead via Lisbon, Portugal, arriving on 1 May. On 21 May 1869, Edward Lacy took command of Endymion. She sailed on 10 June for Plymouth Sound. Endymion was to join a Flying Squadron which was to sail around the world. The other ships were , , and . was to join the squadron at Bahia, Brazil once her repairs had been completed. Scylla was the fastest, and Endymion was the slowest of the six ships. Barossa caught up with the squadron by the time Madeira was reached on 1 July. The squadron departed for Bahia the next day. On 9 July, a race under sail was held between the six ships. Endymion was sixth and last, behind Barossa, which was 24½ cables (4.54 km) ahead. The squadron departed from Bahia on 4 August, minus Bristol, which returned to Plymouth. The squadron then sailed to Rio de Janeiro, Argentina, departing on 26 July for Montevideo, Uruguay, where the squadron arrived on 6 August. During the voyage from Rio de Janeiro, a fatal case of yellow fever was reported on board one of the ships. The squadron departed on 11 September for The Cape, where it arrived on 4 October. Bristol rejoined the squadron there. The squadron departed from Cape Town on 16 October bound for Melbourne, Victoria. On 9 November, the squadron was caught in a storm and scattered, with all ships sustaining some damage to their rigging and sails. The squadron reached Melbourne on 26 November, anchoring in the mouth of the Yarra Yarra River at Williamstwon. The citizens of Melbourne gave the squadron an enthusiastic welcome. It sailed for Sydney on 7 December, arriving on 12 December. On 29 December, the squadron sailed for Hobart, Tasmania.
On 2 January 1870, the Flying Squadron arrived at Hobart. It sailed on 10 January for New Zealand. Arrival at Auckland was on 2 February, with the squadron departing six days later for Japan. On 6 April, the squadron arrived at Yokohama, departing on 14 April for Yedo and returning to Yokohama on 17 April and sailing again on 19 April. Its destination was Vancouver Island, which was reached in May, departing on 28 May for Valparaíso, Chile, via Honolulu, Hawaii, departing from there on 22 June. The squadron arrived at Valparaíso on 14 August. At this point it comprised , Endymion, Liffey Liverpool and . The squadron sailed on 28 August, and rounded Cape Horn on 13 September. The circumnavigation was completed on 21 September, and was celebrated by the order of "splice the mainbrace" being given. On 2 October, one of the boys serving on Endymion fell overboard. He was a non-swimmer and Sub-Lieutenant Jones dived in and came to his rescue, the boy being unharmed. The squadron arrived at Bahia on 6 October, sailing three days later. An intended call at Fayal, Azores was abandoned due to unfavourable weather conditions. The squadron arrived at Plymouth on 15 November. Endymion arrived at Spithead on 17 November 1870. She was then ordered to be dis-masted and paid off, Her lower masts and rigging were retained, and she was paid off on 30 November, with a view to a quick recommission.