| Name: | HESPERUS |
| Type: | Cargo Ship |
| Launched: | 09/09/1854 |
| Completed: | 12/1854 |
| Builder: | C Mitchell & Co |
| Yard: | Low Walker |
| Yard Number: | 7 |
| Dimensions: | 748grt, 581nrt, 203.8 x 28.5 x 16.2ft; (1875: 701grt, 569nrt, 204.4 x 28.8 x 16.2ft) |
| Engines: | 2cyl, 120nhp; (1860: CI2cyl (21.5 & 49 x 30ins), 150nhp) |
| Engines by: | (1860: Greenock Foundry, Greenock) |
| Propulsion: | 1 x Screw |
| Construction: | Iron |
| Reg Number: | 23424; (1868: 60885) |
| History: | |
| 22/12/1854 | Hamburg Gas Co, London |
| 12/1854 | Government of the UK - Treasury Department |
| 24/05/1855 | British Royal Navy; renamed HESPER |
| 10/1868 | Unknown owner; renamed HESPERUS |
| 16/11/1868 | Telegraph Construction & Maintenance Co Ltd, London; renamed INVESTIGATOR |
| 1871 | British-Australian Telegraph Co, London |
| 1873 | Eastern Extension, Australasia & China Telegraph Co, London |
| 1876 | West Indies and Panama Telegraph Co Ltd, London |
| 08/02/1879 | Lost |
| Comments: | 12/1854: Purchased as a transport for the Crimean Railway Company |
| For the construction of a military railway from Balaclava to Sevastopol | |
| 24/05/1855: Transferred as an armed stores ship | |
| 06/1856 to 09/1867: On the China Station | |
| 09/1867: In reserve at Portsmouth | |
| 1868: Converted into a cable laying & maintenance vessel | |
| 08/02/1879: on leaving St Thomas, Virgin Islands, port side boiler burst, severely damaging the ship and cable equipment; all crew survived, with some scalding injuries | |
| Subsequently ship declared a total loss |
Above photo of HIBERNIA, INVESTIGATOR & EDINBURGH (L-R) at Darwin in 1871 is copyright of the State Library of South Australia
These three ships completed the cable links to Australia in 1871. Photo courtesy of David Asprey. CLICK to enlarge/BACK to return
Newcastle Journal, Saturday, 16/09/1854