Nemesis (1839)
Nemesis was the first British ocean-going iron warship. She was the largest of a class of six similar vessels ordered by the 'Secret Committee' of the East India Company. Nemesis, together with her sister ships Phlegethon, Pluto, Proserpine, Ariadne, and Medusa, was built by John Laird's yard at Birkenhead and William Fairbairn & Sons at Millwall.
An engraving of Nemesis (published 1844) | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | Nemesis |
| Owner | East India Company |
| Builder | Birkenhead Iron Works |
| Launched | 1839 |
| Commissioned | March 1840 |
| Fate | Sold in 1852 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Paddle frigate |
| Tons burthen | 660 bm |
| Length | 184 ft (56 m) |
| Beam | 29 ft (8.8 m) |
| Draught | 6 ft (1.8 m) |
| Propulsion | Twin 60 horsepower George Forrester & Co. steam engines |
| Armament | 2 × 32-pounder + 4 × 6-pounder guns, + 1 × Congreve rocket launcher |
Launched in 1839, the Nemesis was deployed to China – arriving late 1840 – and used to great effect in the First Opium War by Captain William Hutcheon Hall and later in 1842 by Captain Richard Collinson. The Chinese referred to her as the "devil ship".
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