HMS Acheron (1838)

Acheron in New Zealand
History
United Kingdom
Name:	HMS Acheron
Ordered:	15 September 1837
Builder:	Sheerness dockyard
Cost:	£25,509
Laid down:	October 1837
Launched:	23 August 1838
Commissioned:	8 January 1839
Fate:	Survey ship, 1847 Sold at Sydney, 23 April 1855
General characteristics
Class and type:	Hermes-class sloop
Displacement:	1,006 tons
Tons burthen:	715 43/94 bm
Length:	150 ft 0 in (45.7 m) (gundeck) 128 ft 0 in (39.0 m) (keel)
Beam:	32 ft 9 in (10.0 m)
Draught:	11 ft 6 in (3.5 m) (forward) 12 ft 0 in (3.7 m) (aft)
Depth of hold:	18 ft 2 in (5.5 m)
Installed power:	160 nominal horsepower
Propulsion:	2-cylinder side lever steam engine Paddles
Sail plan:	3-masted barque rigged
Complement:	135
Armament:	As built: 2 × 9-pounder (13  1⁄2 cwt) brass guns From 1842: 1 × 8-inch (52 cwt) pivot gun 2 × 32-pounder (17 cwt) carronades

HMS Acheron was a Hermes-class wooden paddle sloop of the Royal Navy. She was launched at Sheerness in 1838. Between 1848 and 1851 she made a coastal survey of New Zealand, the first such survey since Captain Cook. She was sold at Sydney in 1855.

Acheron, under the command of Captain John Lort Stokes, was despatched to New Zealand in January 1848, arriving in November the same year. In March 1851, due to a budget cut to the Hydrographer of the Navy, Acheron was ordered to be laid up in Sydney, Australia and her crew returned to England.

Acheron was sold at Sydney on 23 April 1855 for £2,067 16s.