HMS Akbar (1861)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Hero and HMS Wellington.

HMS Akbar was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy that was built in the mid-1810s. Originally named Hero, the ship was renamed Wellington shortly after launching in 1816.

Wellington
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Hero
Builder	Deptford Dockyard
Laid down	July 1813
Launched	21 September 1816
Renamed	HMS Wellington, 4 December 1816
Fate	Sold, 1908
General characteristics [1]
Class & type	Vengeur-class ship of the line
Tons burthen	1756 bm
Length	176 ft (54 m) (gundeck)
Beam	47 ft 6 in (14.48 m)
Depth of hold	21 ft (6.4 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Armament	74 guns: Gundeck: 28 × 32 pdrs Upper gundeck: 28 × 18 pdrs Quarterdeck: 4 × 12 pdrs, 10 × 32 pdr carronades Forecastle: 2 × 12 pdrs, 2 × 32 pdr carronades Poop deck: 6 × 18 pdr carronades

She became a training ship in 1862 and was renamed Akbar; she was eventually sold out of the Navy in 1908 and broken up.

Service history

Hero was launched on 21 September 1816 at Deptford Dockyard.^[1] The ship was renamed Wellington on 4 December 1816.^[1]

In 1826, HMS Wellington introduced mosquitos to the Hawaiian Islands. These mosquitoes were introduced to a stream on Maui when sailors seeking fresh water rinsed out their water barrels in the stream. Prior to this, no mosquitoes lived in Hawaii.^[2]

Fleet Forming Line Abreast at the 1853 Review, Illustrated London News

Wellington was converted to a training ship and named Akbar on 10 May 1862.^[3] In January 1877, she was driven ashore at Rock Ferry, Cheshire. She was refloated on 4 January.^[4] Akbar served in as a training ship until 1908. She arrived at Thos. W. Ward, Morecambe on 8 April 1908 for breaking up.^[3]