HMS Curacoa (1878)

HMS Curacoa was built by John Elder & Co., Govan, and launched on 18 April 1878.

The corvette 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.[2]

Recently discovered log books from descendants of Mr.(Cptn) J.P. Shipton, record the journey to Australia. Daily logs show Curacoa leaving port in the UK on 1 April 1889, with stops at Perth, Albany, Adelaide, Launceston, Melbourne, Sydney, Wellington, Auckland, Christchurch / Lyttleton, and 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.[3] In June 1893 Captain Gibson visited the southern Solomon islands and made the formal declaration of the British Solomon Islands Protectorate.[4]

Her later years were spent as a training cruiser. In February–March 1900 she visited Madeira, Las Palmas and Sao Vicente, Cape Verde, Commander Herbert Lyon in command.[5][6]

She was sold in May 1904 to King of Garston for breaking up.[2]

• Bastock, John (1988), Ships on the Australia Station, Child & Associates Publishing Pty Ltd; Frenchs Forest, Australia. ISBN 0-86777-348-0
• Winfield, R.; Lyon, D. (2004). The Sail and Steam Navy List: All the Ships of the Royal Navy 1815–1889. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-032-6.