HMS Black Eagle

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

HMS Firebrand was a wooden paddle vessel launched in 1831. She was rebuilt in 1843, renamed HMS Black Eagle and employed as an Admiralty steam yacht. She was broken up in 1876.

Oscillating paddlewheel engines of HMS Black Eagle
History
United Kingdom
Name	Firebrand (1831–1843) Black Eagle (1843–1876)
Ordered	28 January 1831
Builder	Merchant's yard, Limehouse
Cost	£19,964[1]
Laid down	April 1831
Launched	11 July 1831
Commissioned	11 July 1831
Fate	Broken up, March 1876
General characteristics [1]
Class & type	Firebrand-class steam vessel
Displacement	As built: 510 long tons (520 t)
Tons burthen	As built: 495 bm From 1843: 540 bm
Length	As built: 155 ft 3 in (47.3 m) From 1843: 168 ft 3 in (51.3 m)
Beam	26 ft 5 in (8.1 m)
Depth of hold	14 ft 10 in (4.5 m)
Propulsion	As built: Butterley & Co. 140 nhp 2-cylinder side lever steam engine Paddle wheel From 1833: Maudslay 120 nhp steam engine Morgan paddlewheels From 1843: 'Tubulous boilers' Penn 260 nhp steam engine Paddlewheels
Complement	80
Armament	As built: 6 × 9-pounder (131⁄2cwt) gun Later: 1 × 32-pounder (25cwt) pivot gun 2 × 32-pounder (17cwt) carronades

Firebrand emerging from Grand Harbour, Valetta, Malta, 1832, by Nicolas S. Cammillieri

Construction and rebuild

Built at Merchant's Yard, Limehouse as a wooden paddle vessel, Firebrand was launched on 11 July 1831.^[2] In 1832 her original Butterley side lever steam engine was removed and replaced in 1833 by a Maudsley, and Morgan's paddlewheels were fitted. She was rebuilt in 1843, gaining 13 feet (4.0 m) in length, and receiving an oscillating engine manufactured by John Penn and Sons. Notably, Penn doubled the power output without increasing either the weight or space occupied.^[3] On 29 October 1853, she assisted in the refloating of HMS Rodney, which had run aground in the Dardanelles.^[4] Firebrand was renamed Black Eagle on 5 February 1842.^[1]

In 1856,^[5] the Black Eagle and the paddle-wheel troopship Dee were used in a trial of J Wethered's apparatus for superheated steam. This produced an economy of fuel of 18% in the Black Eagle, and 31% in the Dee.^[6]

Royal yacht

Queen Victoria embarking from the Black Eagle on her visit to HMS Queen at Portsmouth, 1 March 1842

She was based at Woolwich in south-east London and was part of the Royal Squadron alongside the royal yacht. The Black Eagle was eventually broken up at Portsmouth in March 1876.^[7] A model of the vessel is in the collection of the National Maritime Museum.^[8]

Figurehead

The figurehead of Black Eagle depicts a black eagle with gold beak, talons and wing trimmings. It is also decorated with a red and gold crown on the breast.

Evidence suggests that the original figurehead, carved to suit its former name of Firebrand, was carved by George Faldo of London, with an estimated cost of £24 12s 8d (approximately £2,091 today).^[9]  

In an exchange of letters in 1846, the admiral-superintendent at Portsmouth invited James Hellyer of Hellyer & Sons to propose a new figurehead for Black Eagle following her rebuild.^[10]

Engines of the Black Eagle

The new ship honoured the Prussian royal family who frequently cruised in her; King Frederick I of Prussia was the maternal cousin of King William III and supplier of troops to support the British effort during the War of the Spanish Succession. The black eagle became the symbol of a united Germany and featured on the Order of the Black Eagle military medal; the highest Prussian Order of chivalry.^[11] The eagle that sits centrally within the medal's design is similar in appearance to Hellyer's figurehead carving.

Upon the ship's breaking up, the figurehead stood for some time in the garden of Admiralty House in Portsmouth. It can be seen as part of the collection at the National Museum of the Royal Navy, Portsmouth.^[12]