HMS Sandfly (1872)

HMS Sandfly was a schooner of the Royal Navy, built by John Cuthbert, Millers Point, New South Wales and launched on 5 December 1872.[2] She commenced service on the Australia Station at Sydney in 1873 for anti-blackbirding operations in the South Pacific.[2] She was paid off in 1883 and sold to Samoa.[2]

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Sandfly.

History
Name: HMS Sandfly
Builder: John Cuthbert, Millers Point, New South Wales
Launched: 5 December 1872
Fate: Sold in 1883 to Samoa.
General characteristics [1]
Type: Beagle-class schooner
Tons burthen: 120 bm
Length: 77 ft 0 in (23.5 m)
Beam: 18 ft 6 in (5.6 m)
Depth of hold: 8 ft 6 in (2.59 m)
Sail plan: Schooner
Complement: 27
Armament: 1 x 12-pounder gun

Voyages

The Sandfly was assigned to Australia Station at Sydney till June 1873. Her maiden voyage was short tour to the South Seas islands. In October, under Lieutenant W H Nowell, she seized the brig Aurora for breaching the Imperial Labour Act, which banned the practice of blackbirding.[3] Her second voyage in 1874 was to New Guinea to assist with surveying, but she caught caught in a storm and had her rudder damaged. After receiving assistance from HMS Basilisk she returned to Sydney.[4] Her next voyage took her to Santa Cruz where on 17 September she came under attack by a large group of islanders in canoes. After a brief but fierce skirmish a breeze came up and she was able to make good her escape. Santa Cruz islanders had attacked and massacred the crew of the Lapwing several months earlier.[5]

The Sandfly Incident

In 1880 the Sandfly was tasked with undertaking hydrographic surveys work in the Solomon Islands and New Guinea under the command of Lieutenant James Bower, the 27 year old son of Admiral James Paterson Bower. On 13 October 1880 the Sandfly anchored at Guadalcanal. Lieutenant Bower then took the ships whaleboat to the Nggela Islands with five sailors from the ‘’Sandfly’’ to survey the east coast of Nggela Pile. They camped on Mandoliana Island, a small island opposite Nggela Pile. A group of four islanders from Gaeta led by Vuria who was the son of Kalekona, a big man, saw them and attacked Bower and his party.

Four of the sailors were killed in the initial attack. Bower managed to escape and hid, but was later found and killed by the islanders. The surviving sailor managed to elude the attackers and swim 16 kilometers to Honggo on Nggela Pile where he was rescued and taken to safety by another islander. When the party did not return as expected on 20 October the Sandfly began a search. On 22 October it located the surviving sailor and hearing of the attack sailed into Rita Bay, opposite Mandoliana Island, to exact reprisals on the islanders. None were found so the crew burnt several canoes that were on the beach. When they were leaving a group of islanders came out of the surrounding bush and opened fire on the sailors, kliing one and wounding another. The Sandfly then returned to Sydney and reported the incident.[6]

HMS Emerald under Captain William Henry Maxwell was dispatched to the Nggela Islands in December to locate and attackers. Being unable to do so the crew of the Emerald set fire to numerous islanders houses, cut down fruit trees and destroyed canoes in reprisal for this and other incidents. The English Government was not satisfied with the outcome and sent Commander James Bruce on HMS Cormorant along with HMS Alert.[7] The ships were joined in the Solomons by HMS Renard.[8] Bruce blockaded the islands and declared war on them unless they handed over the attackers within 14 days. With this turn of events Bishop John Selwyn, who was visiting the islands intervened and persuaded Kalekona to give up the perpetrators, including his son. The four natives who accompanied Vuria were executed, but Vuria managed to escape and went into hiding. Vuria continued to be unsuccessfully hunted by the British for some years after his escape.[9][10][11][12]

See also

Notes
  1. Winfield (2004) p. 301
  2. Bastock, p. 60.
  3. The cruise of the gunboat Sandfly, Evening News (Sydney, NSW), Tue 2 Dec 1873, Page 3
  4. The cruise of HM schooner Sandfly, The Telegraph (Brisbane, Qld), Fri 15 May 1874, page 2
  5. Massacre of the crew of the Lapwing, Evening News (Sydney, NSW), Thu 22 Oct 1874, page 2
  6. "Massacre of Lieutenant Bower and five seamen of H.M.S. Sandfly". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2 December 1880. p. 7. Retrieved 9 July 2019 – via Trove.
  7. Shipping, Launceston Examiner, Wed 27 Apr 1881, page 2
  8. Recent outrages in the South Seas, Evening News (Sydney, NSW), Wed 22 Jun 1881, page 2
  9. Fox, Charles E., Lord of the Southern Isles: Being the Story of the Anglican Mission in Melanesia - 1849-1949, Charles E Fox, Mowbray, London, 1958.pages 33-34
  10. Joint Memorandum of the Agents-General of the Australasian Colonies to the Right Honorable the Secretary of State for the Colonies, on the question of annexation, Timaru Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 2818, 4 October 1883, Page 8
  11. "Another massacre in the South Sea Islands, The Sydney Morning Herald, Tuesday 30 November 1880, p. 7". Retrieved 17 October 2010.
  12. "Cruise of H.M.S. Diamond". The Sydney Morning Herald. 13 January 1886. p. 7. Archived from the original on 24 December 2020. Retrieved 17 July 2019 – via Trove.

References


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