HMS Sealark (1903)
| History | |
|---|---|
  UK, Italy
|
|
| Name: | Wanderer |
| Builder: | Robert Steel and Co, Greenock (Yd 180) |
| Launched: | 12 December 1878 |
| Renamed: | Vagus (1888), Consuelo (1900) |
| Fate: | Sold 1903 |
|
UK
|
|
| Name: | HMS Investigator |
| Acquired: | By purchase 1903 |
| Decommissioned: | 1914 |
| Renamed: | HMS Sealark (1904) |
 Australia
|
|
| Name: | Sealark III |
| Acquired: | 1919 |
| Renamed: | Norwest (c1922) |
| Fate: | Seized 1924 for debt and converted into a hulk |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage: | 900 tons |
| Length: | 185 ft 6 in (56.54 m) |
| Beam: | 29 ft (8.8 m) |
| Propulsion: | Sail, Steam Auxiliary |
| Armament: | 1 x 3-pounder QF gun |
HMS Sealark was a Royal Navy vessel used primarily for hydrographic survey work. She was originally a luxurious private auxiliary steam yacht for a number of wealthy owners and in 1903 was acquired by the Royal Navy, serving until 1914. She was sold to James Patrick Steamships Ltd and converted to a merchant ship for the Australian coast and finally hulked in 1924.
Built by Robert Steele and Co, Greenock in 1878 for Charles Joseph Lambert as a private yacht named Wanderer and described as "the most luxurious private steam yacht ever built". She was registered with the Royal Yacht Squadron and became known as RYS Wanderer, based at Cowes, Isle of Wight.
On her shake-down cruise in the Bay of Biscay, September 1879, she was dismasted. The crew managed to cut away the broken rigging and she reached Falmouth under her own power. The high pressure steam engines also proved to be so problematic that they were replaced before she went into service with the Lambert family. During the repair works, additional accommodation was added in the form of poop decks fore and aft.
In 1880, Lambert, with his family undertook a 2-year world cruise on board, covering almost 49,000 miles and published an account on their return titled The Voyage of the "Wanderer". In 1888 after a number of cruises around the world, she was sold to the Principe di Torlonia and renamed Vagus. In 1896 she returned to the British register at Cowes, and then, had a series of owners including in 1900 the American millionaire William Kissam Vanderbilt who renamed her Consuelo, his daughter's name. By 1903 Consuelo was still registered at Cowes, but now owned by the Earl of Crawford.
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Wikipedia