British Sailor's Woolwork of HMS Conqueror Entering Malta Harbour with Five other Ships Offshore

British Sailor's Woolwork of HMS Conqueror Entering Malta Harbour with Five other Ships Offshore.

Circa 1857.

The large sailor's woolwork or woolie depicts six different ships off Malta with two forts shown on the right side.  
 
A label accompanying the wool reads, "H.M.S. Ship Conqueror/ Entering Malta Harbour/ October 16, 1857/..on Board
 
In the center is a starboard side view of a three-masted Second Rate under sail with a frigate also sailing further out to sea, both flying the Red Ensign. Just off the stern of the Second Rate is a two-masted supply vessel while a similar vessel can be seen under stem power sailing away from the shore.  Close by the bow are two small yachts, one with the markings A8 on her sails.
 
 The wool is framed and has a maple frame and Museum UV glass protection.
 
 The Conqueror class ships were designed in 1852 as two-decker 101-gun first rates in a period when many under-construction sail ships of the line were being redesigned to use screw propulsion in addition to sail. Two ships were subsequently completed, HMS Conqueror and HMS Donegal.
 
 Both ships saw service in the Channel Squadron, and later in the Crimean War. Both were used to transport troops to Mexico in support of the French intervention there in 1861.. The advent of armored ironclads, such as HMS Warrior in the 1860s made the traditional ships of the line, such as The Conqueror, largely obsolete.
 
 Dimensions: 22 1/2 x 37 inches framed, (17 x 32 1/2 inches)
 
 Provenance: The Estate of Sally W. Rhodes, Corona Del Mar, CA.
 
 Reference: HMS Conqueror was a 101-gun Conqueror-class screw-propelled first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1855 but spent only six years in service before being wrecked on Rum Cay in what was then the colony of the Bahamas in 1861.
 
 Conqueror was one of a two-ship class, her sister being Donegal. She was built to an 1852 design from the Surveyor’s Department and ordered from Devonport Dockyard on 16 November 1852. She was laid down on 25 July 1853, launched on 2 May 1855, and commissioned on 9 April 1856.
 
 Conqueror was initially commanded by Thomas Matthew Charles Symonds and formed part of the Channel Squadron.[2] She was later assigned to operate in the Mediterranean during the Crimean War and later was based out of Malta, when Hastings Yelverton took command on 22 July 1859. Yelverton was succeeded by William John Cavendish Clifford, and by James Willcox in 1860, by which time Conqueror had returned to Plymouth.  Edward Southwell Sotheby took over command and was despatched to carry troops supporting the French intervention in Mexico in late 1861. While sailing through the Bahamas, Conqueror was wrecked on Rum Cay on 29 December 1861 due to a navigation error. All 1,400 aboard were saved.
 
 
 See Lyon, David and Winfield, Rif, The Sail and Steam Navy List, All the Ships of the Royal Navy 1815–1889, pp 10-11.
 
 (Ref: NY10040-iamr)

Dimensions

This object is eligible for a Certificate of BADA Provenance

Stock number