South America Station

Pacific Station
HMS Ganges at anchor near Victoria Harbour
Active	South America Station (1826–1837) Pacific Station (1837–1905)
Country	United Kingdom and Canada
Branch	Royal Navy
Type	Fleet
Part of	Admiralty
Garrison/HQ	Valparaíso, Chile & Esquimalt Royal Navy Dockyard
Notable ships	President
Engagements	Siege of Petropavlovsk
Disbanded	Sunset 1 March 1905
Commanders
Notable commanders	George Seymour, Fairfax Moresby, Thomas Maitland

The Pacific Station, often referred to as the Pacific Squadron, was one of the geographical divisions into which the Royal Navy divided its worldwide responsibilities. Before 1837, it was called the South America Station.

It was established in the early nineteenth century to support British interests along the eastern shores of the Pacific Ocean at Valparaíso, Chile. In 1834, the Station hosted a visit by the survey ship Beagle on her second voyage. In 1837, the South America Station was renamed the Pacific Station. In 1843, George Paulet, captain of Carysfort, took her out from Valparaíso to Honolulu to demand the islands of the Kingdom of Hawaii for Britain. King Kamehameha III capitulated and signed the islands over to Paulet. In the summer of that year, Rear-Admiral Richard Darton Thomas set out from Valparaíso in Dublin to rein Paulet in. On 31 July 1843, Thomas assured the King that the occupation was over and that there was no British claim over the islands.

In 1842, Pandora was sent north to survey the coast of Vancouver Island and what would become the Esquimalt Royal Navy Dockyard. During the survey trip, the crew of Pandora found that Esquimalt Harbour had a size and depth suited for use as a Royal Navy harbour. As tensions between Britain and America rose during the Oregon boundary dispute a base at the southern end of Vancouver Island would help strengthen the British claim to all of the island. The Oregon Treaty of 1846 ceded control over all of the island to Britain. In 1848, Constance was sent to Esquimalt and was the first vessel to be stationed there. In the summer of 1854, several ships, including President, Pique, Trincomalee, Amphitrite, and Virago set out from Valparaíso and sailed across the Pacific Ocean stopping at the Marquesas Islands then they went on to Honolulu where they met a French fleet of warships. In late August, the combined fleets sailed to Russia to engage in the Siege of Petropavlovsk at which Commander-in-Chief David Price died. Captain Frederick William Erskine Nicolson of Pique was brevetted and took command of the British naval forces from 31 August 1854 until the arrival of the next Commander-in-Chief. In 1855, three "Crimean huts" were built at Esquimalt to serve as a hospital intended to receive wounded from the Crimean War. The huts were the first shore establishment at Esquimalt.