HMS Hornet (1854)

Originally ordered in April 1847 as a "Screw Schooner", she was suspended in August 1847 and re-ordered on 1 November 1850 to the same design as HMS Cruizer. The wooden sloops of the Cruizer class were designed under the direction of Lord John Hay, and after his "Committee of Reference" was disbanded, their construction was supervised by the new Surveyor of the Navy, Sir Baldwin Walker. Hornet was laid down at the Royal Dockyard, Deptford in June 1851. Her two-cylinder horizontal single-expansion steam engine, which was supplied by James Watt & Company at a cost of £5,450, generated an indicated horsepower of ; driving a single screw, this gave a maximum speed of . The class was given a barque-rig sail plan. ==Armament==

All the ships of the class were provided with one 32-pounder (56 cwt) long gun on a pivot mount and sixteen 32-pounder (32 cwt) carriage guns in a broadside arrangement. ==History==

Hornet served in the Baltic in 1854 during the Crimean War, and from 1854 until 1859 she served in the East Indies and in China, taking part in the Second Opium War. After a refit in 1859–1860 she recommissioned for the Cape of Good Hope Station and served both there and on the East Indies Station. The Russian War (1854) Under Commander Frederick Archibald Campbell Christmas 1856 was spent as Guardship at Canton (now Guangzhou). In 1857 she spent much of her time at Hong Kong and in the Canton River, culminating in the capture of Canton on 28 December 1857 under Rear-Admiral Sir Michael Seymour. In February 1859 she sailed for England, decommissioning in Portsmouth on 14 July 1859. The Cape of Good Hope and East Indies Stations (1860 - 1864) On 20 July 1860 Hornet recommissioned for service on the Cape of Good Hope Station under Commander William Buller Fullerton Elphinstone. She also served during this period on the East Indies Station. ==Disposal==

Hornet decommissioned at Portsmouth on 22 September 1864 and was broken up by White of Cowes in 1868. ==Commanding officers==