HMS Curacoa (1878)

HMS Curacoa was an Comus-class corvette of the Royal Navy, built by John Elder & Co., Govan and launched on 18 April 1878.

Commenced service on the Cape of Good Hope and West Africa Station before being transferred to the Australia Station arriving on 5 August 1890. She left the Australia Station in December 1894.

Recently discovered log books from descendants of Mr.(Cptn) J.P. Shipton, record the journey to Australia. Daily logs show the Curacoa leaving port in the U.K. on 1 April 1889, with stops at Perth, Albany, Adelaide, Launceston, Melbourne, Sydney, Wellington, Auckland, Christchurch / 	Lyttleton, & the final entry shows 31 December 1890, in port at Lyttleton (near Christchurch), New Zealand.

Curacoa was sent to the Ellice Islands and between 9 and 16 October 1892 Captain Gibson visited each of the islands to make a formal declaration that the islands were to be a British protectorate.

She was sold in May 1904 to King of Garston for breaking up.