Conway-class corvette

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title: "Conway-class corvette" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["corvette-classes"] description: "Royal Navy ship class" topic_path: "general/corvette-classes" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conway-class_corvette" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Royal Navy ship class ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox ship"]

Field	Value
section1	{{Infobox ship/image
image	HMS Conway (1832).jpg
image_caption	HMS Conway
section2	{{Infobox ship/class overview
builders	* Chatham Dockyard
operators
built_range	1829–1832
in_commission_range	1831–1870
total_ships_completed	2
total_ships_canceled	1
total_ships_lost	1
total_ships_scrapped	1
section3	{{Infobox ship/characteristics
class	Corvette (initially classed as sixth rate)
tons_burthen	651 bm
length	* 125 ft (gundeck)
* {{convert	106
beam	34 ft
depth	10 ft
sail_plan	Full-rigged ship
complement	175
armament	* Upper deck: 20 × 32-pounder carronades
* Focsle: 2 × 9-pounder cannon<ref name	RWWinfield (2004) p. 291
::

|section1={{Infobox ship/image |image=HMS Conway (1832).jpg |image_caption=HMS Conway

|section2={{Infobox ship/class overview | builders =* Chatham Dockyard

• Pembroke Dockyard
• Deptford Dockyard | operators = | class_before = | class_after = | subclasses = | built_range = 1829–1832 | in_commission_range = 1831–1870 | total_ships_building = | total_ships_planned = | total_ships_completed = 2 | total_ships_canceled = 1 | total_ships_active = | total_ships_laid_up = | total_ships_lost = 1 | total_ships_retired = | total_ships_scrapped = 1 | total_ships_preserved =

|section3={{Infobox ship/characteristics |hide_header= |header_caption= |class=Corvette (initially classed as sixth rate) |tons_burthen= 651 bm |length=* 125 ft (gundeck)

• 106 ft (keel) |beam=34 ft |depth=10 ft |sail_plan=Full-rigged ship |endurance= |complement=175 |armament=* Upper deck: 20 × 32-pounder carronades
• Quarterdeck: 6 × 18-pounder carronades
• Focsle: 2 × 9-pounder cannon |notes=

The Conway-class sixth rates (later re-designated as Conway-class corvettes) were a class of three 28-gun ships built for the Royal Navy in the early 1830s. Alarm was cancelled in 1832 and Imogene accidentally burnt in 1840, leaving the sole survivor of the class, Conway, to survive until 1871.

Design and construction

Designed by Sir Robert Seppings in 1828, the Conway class were a broader version of of 1826. They were intended as sixth rates, which placed them in a category of ships with more than 24 but less than 36 guns, and commanded by an officer of the rank of captain.

These ships were constructed of wood in traditional shipbuilding fashion, although iron braces and trusses were used for increased longitudinal strength. They were armed with a traditional arrangement of broadside, smoothbore muzzle-loading guns, and in common with contemporary Royal Navy practice for small ships, these guns were carronades (with the exception of a pair of small long guns on the focsle as chasers). Twenty 32-pounder carronades were mounted on the upper deck and a further six 18-pounder carronades were placed on the quarterdeck. The sail plan was an entirely conventional ship rig, and they were complemented with 175 men and boys.

Operational lives

HMS ''Imogene''

Main article: HMS Imogene (1831)

Imogene was commissioned in 1831 for the East Indies. She travelled as far as New South Wales and saw action in China in 1834 against the Bogue forts. She returned to England in 1835 and was recommissioned for the South America station in 1836. In 1840 she was placed in reserve and was destroyed by fire on 27 September 1840.

HMS ''Conway''

Main article: HMS Conway (1832)

Conway was commissioned in 1832 for the North Sea, Lisbon, and South America. She recommissioned in 1835 for the Pacific, and during this time she carried some of Charles Darwin's letters and specimens back to the United Kingdom. She paid off in 1835, recommissioning the next year for the East Indies. This commission saw her travel as far as Australia and New Zealand, and during this time she saw action in the First Opium War, including the capture of Chusan. In 1842 she carried home the United Kingdom's share of the $6,000,000 indemnity paid by the Chinese at the end of the war. From 1843 to 1847 she served on the Cape of Good Hope Station. There was a long break until her next commission, which was from 1854 to 1858 at Queenstown, Ireland (now Cobh in County Cork). She was lent to the Mercantile Marine Association of Liverpool in February 1859 to act as a training ship for boys, and gave her name to , a series of ships and a shore-based school. When Winchester took her place as the training ship in 1861, the two ships swapped names. Under her new name of Winchester she became the Aberdeen Royal Naval Reserve ship on 28 August 1861. She was broken up in 1871.

Ships

All three ships of the class were ordered on 9 June 1825. ::data[format=table] | Name||Ship Builder||Laid down||Launched||Fate | |---| | | | | | Alarm | ::

Notes

Citations

References

References

1. Winfield (2004) p. 291
2. "The First HMS ''Conway'' 1859–1861".

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