HMS Gannet (1878)

HMS Gannet was a Royal Navy Doterel-class sloop screw sloop launched on 31 August 1878. She became a training ship in the Thames in 1903, and was then lent as a training ship for boys in the Hamble from 1913. She was preserved in 1987 and is now part of the Core Collection of the UK's National Historic Fleet.

Design
The Doterel class were a development of the Osprey-class sloops and were of composite construction, with wooden hulls over an iron frame. The original 1874 design by the Chief Constructor, William Henry White was revised in 1877 by Sir Nathaniel Barnaby and nine were ordered. Of 1,130 tons displacement and approximately 1,100 indicated horsepower, they were capable of approximately 11 knots and were armed with two 7" muzzle loading rifled guns on pivoting mounts, and four 64-pound guns (two on pivoting mounts, and two broadside). They had a crew of around 140 men.

Construction
Gannet was laid down at Sheerness Royal Dockyard in 1877 and launched on 31 August 1878. She was commissioned on 17 April 1879, and was classified as both a sloop of war and a colonial cruiser. She was capable of nearly 12 knots under full steam or 15 knots under sail.

History
The primary purpose of ships of the Gannet's class was to maintain British naval dominance through trade protection, anti-slavery, and long term surveying.

Shadowing the War of the Pacific
From the time of launching until 1883, the Gannet was assigned to the Pacific Ocean under Admiral De Horsey and spent much time shadowing the events of the War of the Pacific. In 1883 the ship returned to Sheerness and underwent a two year refit.

The Mediterranean and the Mahdist War
After the refit was complete, the Gannet was assigned to the Mediterranean as an anti-slaver. On 11 September 1888, she was ordered to relieve HMS Dolphin at the besieged port of Suakin, Sudan where she engaged anti-Anglo-Egyptian forces led by Osman Digna for nearly a month. After the battle, the Gannet was assigned to perform surveying work throughout the Mediterranean, and then hydrographic work in the Red Sea until she returned to Sheerness and was decommissioned on 16 March 1895.

Harbour service
After four months out of commission, in December 1895 the Gannet was transferred to harbour service in Chatham where she remained until 1900 when she was placed on the list of non-effective vessels. In the autumn of 1900, the Gannet was leased to the South Eastern & Chatham Railway Company as an accommodation hulk at Port Victoria railway station on the Isle of Grain.

Training ship President
In 1903 Gannet was ordered to relieve the original HMS President of 1829, which had served as the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve drill ship in London Docks since 1862, and underwent major alterations to convert her into a drill ship. Renamed HMS President, she took up her new duties as the Headquarters ship of the London Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve in the South West India Docks in June 1903. In 1909 the ship was renamed President II and in the spring of 1911, was relieved by HMS Buzzard, again finding herself on the list of non-effective vessels.

Training ship on the Hamble
In 1913 Gannet was loaned to C. B. Fry, and was stationed in the River Hamble, and became a dormitory ship for the Training Ship Mercury (where she retained her name President). The school took young boys who otherwise might not have many options in life, and trained them to join the Royal Navy. The ship served in this capacity until 1968 when the school was closed.

Preservation
Back in Royal Navy stewardship, the ship was turned over to the Maritime Trust so that she could be restored. In 1987 the Chatham Historic Dockyard chartered Gannet from the Maritime Trust and started a restoration programme to return the ship to its 1888 appearance &mdash; the only time she saw naval combat. In 1994 ownership of the vessel was passed to the Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust, where, listed as part of the National Historic Fleet, Core Collection, she remains today on display as a museum ship.

In the news, March 2009
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Gordon Brown, on his first visit to President Barack Obama in the White House in March 2009, gave the President a gift of a pen holder made from the wood of the Gannet, reflecting her role in Victorian anti-slavery efforts. The Gannet was also a sister ship of the HMS Resolute, whose timbers were used to construct the oval office's 'Resolute desk'. This gift was reciprocated with 25 DVDs of classic US feature films.