PS Ripon

For other uses, see Ripon (disambiguation).

History
United Kingdom
Name| PS Ripon
Namesake| Ripon, a city in Yorkshire, England
Owner|

* 1846-1870: P&O[1][2]
* 1870: Caird & Company[2]
* 1870-1871: Matthew Wilson and Joseph McLay
* 1871-1880: George Turnbull and J. R. Greig[2]
* 1880: Gregory Turnbull[2]

Route| Mediterranean Sea to the UK
Builder| Money Wigram, Blackwall[1]
Cost| £66,000[2]
Launched| 27 June 1846[1][2]
Homeport| London[2]
Fate| Scuttled at sea off Port of Spain in 1880.[2]
General characteristics
Type| Paddlesteamer
Tonnage| 1,508 GRT[1][2]
Length|

* 1846-1861: 217.3 ft (66.2 m)[2]
* 1861-1870: 276.75 ft (84.35 m)[2]

Beam| 33.9 ft (10.3 m)[2]
Depth| 28.4 ft (8.7 m)[2]
Decks| 4[2]
Installed power|

* 1846-1861: 900 horsepower (670 kW)[2]
* 1861-1870: 2,000 horsepower (1,500 kW)[2]
* 1870-1880: engines removed[2]

Complement|

* 1st class passengers: 22[2]
* 2nd class passengers: 109[2]
* Troops: 1,000 on deck[2]

Crew| 60[2]

The PS Ripon was a paddlesteamer built at Money Wigram's Blackwall Yard[1] in 1846 for P&O.

## Operational history

[edit]

On 12 October 1847, the maiden voyage of the Ripon to Malta and Alexandria was abandoned due to gale-force winds. The ship put into Torbay in order to repair damage it had sustained.[2]

In 1850, Ripon brought Prime Minister Jung Bahadur Rana of Nepal and his entourage to the UK, docking at the Port of Southampton on 25 May 1850.[3] A large collection of wild animals was also carried aboard the Ripon including the first hippopotamus[2] seen in England since Roman times, which became known as the Regent's Park Hippo.[4]

The Ripon was requisitioned in 1854 for use in the Crimean War[5] along with 11 other Peninsular and Oriental ships. In 1857, it was reported in Scientific American that the Ripon was to be fitted with a propeller.[6] In 1864 the PS Ripon brought Italian General Giuseppe Garibaldi to the United Kingdom for a meeting with Prime Minister Henry Palmerston.[2] Three years later in 1870 the engines of the Ripon were sold and the vessel was converted into a brig for Caird & Company in Greenock.[7][2]

In 1880, after serving as a hulk in Trinidad and Tobago, the Ripon was scuttled at sea near Port of Spain.[2]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e "The Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company's ships, Indus and Ripon". Retrieved 17 August 2017.
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z "Ripon – Money & H. L. Wigram". Retrieved 17 August 2017.
3. ^ Rana, Subodh. "A tale of two cities in Jung Bahadur's life and times". Retrieved 17 August 2017.
4. ^ "Regent's Park hippo". Retrieved 17 August 2017.
5. ^ "The Old Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company: On Their Majesty's Service". Retrieved 17 August 2017.
6. ^ Lunn, O. D. J; Wales, S. H.; Beach, A. E. (9 May 1857). "Screw versus Paddle" (PDF). Scientific American. 12 (35): 278. doi:10.1038/scientificamerican05091857-278k. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
7. ^ Robins, Nick (2012). The Coming of the Comet: The Rise and Fall of the Paddle Steamer. p. 27\. ISBN 978 1-84832-134-2.

## External links

[edit]

* "A Voyage to China Overland" (PDF). Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps. BMJ: 141–146\. 1928. doi:10.1136/jramc-50-02-10. Retrieved 18 August 2017.

Includes an excerpt from a medic, Dr. W. Home, Staff Surgeon, 2nd Class, from 1848-1849 on the PS Ripon.