Gunner's Mate Samuel Isaac Hosea Thorrowgood Royal Navy
The Man Samuel Isaac Hosea Torrowgood was born on 9th October 1841 at Portsea Island, Hampshire. No detail is known about his family or early life, except that on 17th October 1853 aged just 12, but telling the authorities he was born in 1839 and 14 he enlisted into the Royal Navy as Boy 2nd Class, service number 6131. Upon enlistment he was described as 4’.6” in height, with a fair complexion, light hair and blue eyes. Samuel’s first ship was HMS Furious, a wooden paddle Frigate of 1850, stationed at Besikas Bay just outside the Dardanelles. In March 1854 following the declaration of war against Russia and heralding the start of the Crimean War, Furious came under fire from the Russians just outside of Odessa in the Black Sea. The British retaliated and Furious took part in the subsequent bombardment of Odessa on 22nd April 1854. She was also present at the first attack on Sebastopol on 17th October, assisted with the repulse of the attack on the Turks on 17th February 1855 at the Battle of Eupatoria and finally on 17th October was present at the bombardment of Kinburn. Samuel who was aboard during all of these actions was awarded the Crimea Medal with clasp ‘Sebastopol’ and the Turkish Crimean Medal. On 21st August 1856 he was posted to HMS Highflyer, a Wood Screw Frigate of 1851 which was based at the East Indies and China Station, the Royal Navy’s vessels and shore establishments in China. During the second China (Opium) War of 1856-80, that was provoked by hostile acts against European Nationals, Highflyer was present at Fatshan during May and June 1857 and the Capture of Canton December 1857 to January 1858 and Samuel was awarded the Second China War Medal with clasp ‘Canton 1857’. On 9th October 1857 aged 16, 18 according Naval records, Samuel signed on for 10 years continuous service as a Boy 1st Class and on 21st August 1859 was promoted Ordinary Seaman 2nd Class. On 1st November 1860 he qualified as a ‘Trained Man’, followed by promotion to Ordinary Seaman on 2nd December then Able Bodied Seaman on 21st April 1861.
On 1st June 1861 he joined HMS Trafalgar for the next three years, an1841 First Rate ship of the Line and the last of the Caledonia Class built. He qualified as Seaman Gunner 2nd Class on 11th February 1862, was promoted Leading Seaman on 1st April, awarded his first Good Conduct Badge on 1st August and further promoted to Coxswain Cutter on 9th October the same year. On 1st March 1864 Samuel moved to HMS Excellent, a shore establishment made up of ex RN ships, now hulks, that were collectively named Excellent, at this time it was the former HMS Queen Charlotte that Samuel worked in. It was during this shore posting that he married Sarah Ann Nunn during the first quarter of 1864 and they had 23 children, among them, Arthur born in 1865, Emily 1871, Isabella 1875, Samuel Charles 1876, Charlotte 1879, William W 1881, Beatrice Mary 1883, Eleanor M 1885, Charles Frederick 1887. Sadly only five survived childhood or World War I. Samuel qualified as a Seaman Gunner 1st Class on 1st February 1865 and promoted to Gunner’s Mate on 12th April joining the compliment of HMS Narcissus a wood hulled screw frigate of 1859 and the Flagship of the South East Coast of America. It was during this tour he was awarded his second Good Conduct Badge on 21st August 1867 and signed on for another 10 years service on 17th February 1869. On 18th July 1869 he re-joined Excellent serving under First Gunnery Officer Lieutenant (later Admiral of the Fleet) John Arbuthnot (Jackie) Fisher and on 27th May 1870, now aged 29, joined HMS Aboukir a 90 gun second rate ship of the line launched in 1848, where he was awarded his 3rd Good conduct Badge on 21st August 1872. Samuel’s final posting on 11 May 1876 was in HMS Vernon a Torpedo School Ship and part of HMS Excellent. He remained here until he was shore pensioned on 12th March 1880 and received his Warrant for Pension. He was awarded his Long Service & Good Conduct Medal on 17th October 1877 for 23 years and 67 days service. By the time of the 1881 census Samuel lived with his family at 50 Hampshire Street, Portsmouth, 10 years later they lived at 18 Hampshire Street and Samuel was described as a Seaman Pensioner and his job was a Storeman in the Dockyard. Samuel died on 19th September 1904 aged 63 and leaving £277.00 to his wife Sarah.
The Story Click here to see the full story under Samuel Charles Thorrowgood.
The Story Click here to see the full story under Samuel Charles Thorrowgood.
Ships served in by Samuel I H Thorrowgood
HMS Furious 1853-56 was a 16
gun steam powered paddle wheel frigate of the Royal Navy built at Portsmouth
Dockyard and launched on 26 August 1850. She was the lead ship of the two ship
class of Furious-class frigate. She was built at a cost of £64,794, of which
her machinery cost £24,577. She became a coal hulk at Portsmouth
in March 1867 and was sold for breaking up in 1884 to Castle, of Charlton. Name: HMS Furious. Ordered: 25 April 1847. Builder: Portsmouth Dockyard/ Miller
& Ravenhill. Laid down: June 1848. Launched: 26 August 1850. Commissioned: 18 February 1853. Out of service: Became a coal hulk at
Portsmouth, March 1867. Fate: Sold for breaking up 1884. Class & type: Furious-class
frigate. Tons burthen: 1,287 tons. Length: 206 ft (63 m). Beam: 36 ft 6 in (11.13 m). Propulsion: 2-cylinder oscillating
engines paddle wheels. 400 nhp. Sails. Complement: 175. Armament: 16 guns: 10 x 32pdr guns (Middle deck)
2 x 10in guns on pivots (Upper deck) 4 x 32pdr guns (Upper deck).
HMS Highflyer 1856-61 was a 21-gun wooden
screw frigate (later re-designated a corvette) of the Royal Navy. She was built
on the River Thames by C J Mare and launched on 13 August 1851. She spent
twenty years in service, including action in the Crimean War and the Second
Opium War, before being broken up at Portsmouth in May 1871. Highflyer was ordered as a small wooden
frigate to a design by the Surveyor's Department of the Admiralty on 25 April
1847; she and her sister Esk were re-designated as corvettes in 1854. In common
with other screw corvettes of the time, she was envisaged as a steam auxiliary,
intended to cruise under sail with the steam engine available for assistance.
Commensurately she was provided with a full square sailing rig. Her geared
two-cylinder horizontal single-expansion steam engine, provided by Maudslay,
Sons & Field, developed 702 indicated horsepower (523 kW) and drove a
single screw. The design was approved in
November 1849, and she was laid down in January 1850 in the Leamouth Wharf yard
of C J Mare & Co. on the River Thames. She was launched on 18 August 1851
and commissioned at Woolwich on 15 March 1852 under Captain Henry James
Matson.
The cost of building came to £27,105 for the hull, £17,431 for the machinery and £11,539 for fitting out. After commissioning, Highflyer completed fitting out on 10 April 1852. Initially she served on the North America and West Indies Station; her first commander, Captain Matson, died on 14 December 1852, and she was then placed under the command of Captain Edmund Heathcote. On 1 April 1853 command passed to Captain John Moore, under whom she sailed to join the Mediterranean Fleet after taking part in the 1853 Naval Review as part of the starboard division,. She was deployed in 1854 to the Black Sea during the Crimean War. After recommissioning at Portsmouth under Captain Charles Shadwell on 1 August 1856, she sailed for the China Station, where she took part in the Second Opium War. She was present at the capture of Canton in December 1857 and the Second Battle of Taku Forts on 25 June 1859.[2] Midshipman John Fisher, later Baron Fisher of Kilverstone, served in her during the mid-1850s. Captain William Andrew James Heath took over command from Captain Shadwell on 2 January 1860, still in the Far East. Highflyer paid off at Portsmouth on 31 May 1861, but recommissioned again on 15 December 1864 under Captain Thomas Malcolm Sabine Pasley, for the Cape of Good Hope and East Indies Stations. She paid off for the last time on 31 August 1868 and was broken up at Portsmouth in May 1871. Name: HMS Highflyer. Ordered: 25 April 1847. Builder: C J Mare & Co., Leamouth Wharf. Cost: £56,075. Laid down: January 1850. Launched: 13 August 1851. Commissioned: 10 April 1852. Fate: Broken up May 1871, at Portsmouth. Class & type: Highflyer-class corvette. Displacement: 1,737 1⁄2 tonnes. Tons burthen: 1,153 bm. Length: 192 ft (59 m) oa. 167 ft 3 3⁄4 in (50.997 m) pp. Beam: 36 ft 4 in (11.07 m). Draught: 15 ft 9 in (4.80 m). Depth of hold: 22 ft 8 in (6.91 m). Installed power: 702 ihp (523 kW). Propulsion: 2-cylinder horizontal single-expansion steam engine. Single screw. Sail plan: Full-rigged ship. Speed: 9.4 kn (17.4 km/h) under steam. Armament: As built: 21 guns: 1 × 10-inch/84-pdr (85cwt) gun. 20 × 32-pounder (42cwt) long guns. Later: 1 × 10-inch/84-pdr (85cwt) gun. 18 × 8-inch guns.
HMS Trafalgar 1861-64 was a 120-gun first rate
ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 21 June 1841 at Woolwich
Dockyard. HMS Trafalgar was the last ship to complete the successful Caledonia
class. The ship was named by Lady Bridport,
niece of Lord Nelson at the request of Queen Victoria, who with Prince Albert
also attended the launch. The wine used was some kept from HMS Victory after
returning from Trafalgar. Five hundred people were on board the ship at the
time of its launch, of whom 100 had been at Trafalgar. It was estimated 500,000
people came to watch the event and the Thames was covered for miles with all
manner of boats. The launch was the
subject of the most notable work by Woolwich-based artist William Ranwell. Trafalgar was fitted with screw propulsion in
1859. As training ship at Portland, she was renamed HMS Boscawen in 1873, and
finally sold out of the service in 1906.
Name: HMS Trafalgar. Ordered: 19 February 1825. Builder: Woolwich Dockyard. Laid down: November 1829. Launched: 21 June 1841. Renamed: HMS Boscawen, 1873. Fate: Sold, 1906. Class & type: Broadened
Caledonia-class ship of the line. Tons burthen: 2694 bm. Length: 205 ft 5.5 in (62.624 m)
(gundeck). Beam: 54 ft 6 in (16.61 m). Depth of hold: 23 ft 2 in (7.06 m). Propulsion: Sails. Sail plan: Full rigged ship. Armament: 120 guns: Gundeck: 30 × 32 pdrs, 2 × 68-pdr
carronades. Middle gundeck: 34 × 32 pdrs. Upper gundeck: 34 × 32 pdrs. Quarterdeck: 2 × 18 pdrs, 14 × 32 pdr
carronades. Forecastle: 2 × 18 pdrs, 2 × 32 pdr carronades
HMS Excellent 1864-65 & 1869-70A Both a ship and a shore establishment of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS
Excellent. The ship was a 74-gun third rate launched in 1787. She was converted
into a 58-gun fourth rate in 1820 and became a gunnery training ship in 1830.
She was broken up in 1835, but gave her name to the later gunnery school. HMS Excellent is a shore establishment in
Portsmouth. Originally housed in a number of hulks named HMS Excellent since
1830, it was formally established in 1869. It moved ashore in 1891 and remained
active until 1985, when it ceased to be an independent command and was
incorporated into HMS Nelson as part of HMNB Portsmouth. The name continues to
exist in reference to the aspects under the site's administrative purview. A
number of ships were renamed HMS Excellent whilst serving as homes or tenders
of the establishment. These include: Base ships: HMS Excellent was the original school ship between 1830 and
1835. HMS Boyne was HMS Excellent between 1834 and 1859. HMS Queen Charlotte was HMS Excellent between 1859 and 1892 (pictured
below).
Tenders and depot ships: HMS Handy was HMS Excellent between 1891 and 1916. HMS Drudge was HMS Excellent between 1916 and 1918. William Leach was HMS Excellent between 1919 and 1920.
Andrew Jewer was HMS Excellent between 1922 and 1948. Hainneville was HMS Excellent in 1942.
Harbour launch 3711 was HMS Excellent between 1945 and 1962.
Andrew Jewer was HMS Excellent between 1922 and 1948. Hainneville was HMS Excellent in 1942.
Harbour launch 3711 was HMS Excellent between 1945 and 1962.
HMS Narcissus 1865-69 Type Frigate Launched 26 October 1859 Hull Wooden Length 228 feet Propulsion Screw Men 540 Builders measure 2665 tons Displacement 3548 tons Guns 51 Fate 1883 Last in commission 1878
HMS Aboukir 1870-76 was a 90-gun second-rate
ship of the line of the Royal Navy launched in 1848. She was refitted with
screw propulsion in 1858 and was sold in 1877. A monument on Southsea seafront
commemorates an outbreak of Yellow Fever between 1873 and 1874. Name: HMS Aboukir. Ordered: 18 March 1839. Builder: Devonport Dockyard. Laid down: August 1840. Launched: 4 April 1848. Completed: 1 January 1858. Reclassified: Depot ship/floating
battery 1862. Receiving ship 1867. Fate: Sold for breaking up on 23
November 1877. Class & type: Albion-class 90-gun
second rate ship of the line. Tons burthen: 3,09970⁄94 (bm). Length: 204 ft (62 m) (gundeck). 166 ft (51 m) (keel). Beam: 60 ft 2.25 in (18.3452 m). Depth of hold: 23 ft 8 in (7.21 m)
Sail plan: Full rigged ship. Complement: 750 (peace)/820 (war). Armament: 90 guns: Lower gundeck: 4 × 68-pounder guns + 28 × 32-pounder guns. Upper gundeck: 26 × 32-pounder guns + 6 × 8-inch/68-pounder shell guns. Quarterdeck: 16 × 32-pounder guns + 2 × 8-inch/68-pounder shell guns. Forecastle: 8 × 32-pounder guns. General characteristics After conversion Class & type: Albion-class 90-gun second rate ship of the line. Tons burthen: 3,091 (bm). Length: 204 ft (62 m) (gundeck). 165 ft 4.25 in (50.4000 m) (keel). Beam: 60 ft 1.25 in (18.3198 m). Depth of hold: 23 ft 8.5 in (7.226 m). Propulsion: 2-cylinder horizontal trunk engine. Single screw. 400 nhp 1,533 ihp. Sail plan: Full rigged ship. Speed: 9.55 knots (under steam). Complement: 830. Armament: 91 guns: Lower gundeck: 32 × 8-inch guns. Upper gundeck: 32 × 32-pounder guns. Quarterdeck/Forecastle: 26 × 32-pounder guns + 1 × 68-pounder gun
Sail plan: Full rigged ship. Complement: 750 (peace)/820 (war). Armament: 90 guns: Lower gundeck: 4 × 68-pounder guns + 28 × 32-pounder guns. Upper gundeck: 26 × 32-pounder guns + 6 × 8-inch/68-pounder shell guns. Quarterdeck: 16 × 32-pounder guns + 2 × 8-inch/68-pounder shell guns. Forecastle: 8 × 32-pounder guns. General characteristics After conversion Class & type: Albion-class 90-gun second rate ship of the line. Tons burthen: 3,091 (bm). Length: 204 ft (62 m) (gundeck). 165 ft 4.25 in (50.4000 m) (keel). Beam: 60 ft 1.25 in (18.3198 m). Depth of hold: 23 ft 8.5 in (7.226 m). Propulsion: 2-cylinder horizontal trunk engine. Single screw. 400 nhp 1,533 ihp. Sail plan: Full rigged ship. Speed: 9.55 knots (under steam). Complement: 830. Armament: 91 guns: Lower gundeck: 32 × 8-inch guns. Upper gundeck: 32 × 32-pounder guns. Quarterdeck/Forecastle: 26 × 32-pounder guns + 1 × 68-pounder gun
HMS Vernon 1876-80 was a shore establishment
or 'stone frigate' of the Royal Navy. Vernon was established on 26 April 1876
as the Royal Navy's Torpedo Branch and operated until 1 April 1996, when the
various elements comprising the establishment were split up and moved to
different commands.
The second ship to be called HMS Vernon ended
her career laid up in Chatham Dockyard as a floating coaling jetty. In 1872 she
was moved to become a tender to HMS Excellent for torpedo and mining training.
In 1874 she was joined by HMS Vesuvius, an iron screw torpedo vessel. Vesuvius
was attached as an Experimental Tender for the conduct of torpedo trials, and
remained in the role until 1923
Samuel Thorrowgood's Service Actions
The Bombardment of Odessa 22nd April 1854 On 6 April 1854, soon after the
declaration of war by Britain and France on Russia, the British steam frigate
Furious, under the command of Captain William Loring, sailed to Odessa and sent
a boat into the port under a flag of truce to collect the British Consul there.
When leaving the port the boat was fired upon by the Russians. The British
naval commander Vice-Admiral James Dundas demanded an explanation from General
Dimitri von der Osten-Sacken, military governor of Odessa, for this breach of
the laws of war. His replies were considered unacceptable, so a squadron was
quickly gathered to mount a punitive expedition. The squadron consisted of eight steam
paddle-wheel frigates; the French Descartes, Mogador and Vauban, and the
British Furious, Retribution, Sampson, Terrible and Tiger, supported by the
21-gun screw frigate Highflyer, the 50-gun sailing frigate Arethusa, and the
70-gun steam ship Sans Pareil. There were also six ship's boats armed with
24-pounder rockets; two from Britannia, and one each from Agamemnon, Trafalgar,
Sans Pareil and Highflyer. On 22 April the Anglo-French squadron
arrived at Odessa. At 5 a.m the first division (Descartes, Sampson, Tiger and
Vauban) sailed in and opened fire on the Russian positions from a range of
about 2,000 yards (1,800 m) with little effect. Vauban was hit by a red-hot
shot that started a fire aboard and was obliged to temporarily withdraw. The
second division (Furious, Terrible, Retribution and Mogador) then joined the
attack, while Arethusa, Highflyer and Sans Pareil remained offshore as a
reserve. It was not long before a shot from Terrible hit a magazine on the
Imperial Mole, which exploded causing great damage. About 24 Russian ships in the military
port were set on fire, and several British and French merchantmen confined
there took advantage of the confusion to escape. Meanwhile, the rocket-boats
set fire to the dockyard storehouses. Late in the action the Arethusa, under
the command of Captain William Robert Mends, engaged batteries on the south
side of the Quarantine Mole, until recalled. As numerous fires were now
threatening the town, the attack was ended at 5.30 p.m., and the squadron
withdrew. Casualties were very light; 2 killed
and 1 wounded in Vauban, 3 wounded in Retribution, 6 wounded in Sampson, and 1
killed and 4 wounded in Terrible. Attack on Sebastopol 17th October 1854 On 17 October 1854, as part of the siege
of Sebastopol, the artillery battle began. The Russian artillery first
destroyed a French magazine, silencing their guns. British fire then set off
the magazine in the Malakoff redoubt, killing Admiral Kornilov, silencing most
of the Russian guns there, and leaving a gap in the city's defences. However,
the British and French withheld their planned infantry attack, and a possible
opportunity for an early end to the siege was missed. At the same time, the Allies' ships pounded
the Russian defences, taking damage and inflicting little in return. The
bombardment resumed the following day, but the Russians had worked through the
night and repaired the damage. This pattern would be repeated throughout the
siege.
The Battle of Eupatoria 17th February 1855 Ottoman forces were being transferred
from the Danube front to the Crimean port of Eupatoria and the town was being
fortified. The Tsar Nicolas I who feared a wide-scale Ottoman offensive on the
Russian flank ordered Russian expeditionary force under command of General
Stepan Khrulev to storm the base. Khrulev failed to won this battle, as both
the Ottoman garrison and the Allied fleet anticipated the attack. Heavy Allied
artillery fire and mounting casualties forced Russians to retreat. This reverse
led to the dismissal of the Russian Commander-in-Chief Alexander Sergeyevich
Menshikov and probably hastened the death of Nicholas I, who died several weeks
after the battle.
The Bombardment of Kinburn 17th October 1855 The Battle of Kinburn (or Kil-Bouroun)
was a naval engagement during the final stage of the Crimean War. It took place
on the tip of the Kinburn Peninsula (on the south shore of the Dnieper River
estuary) on 17 October 1855. During the battle, a combined French Navy and
British Royal Navy force engaged Russian forts on shore. The battle, although insignificant to the
outcome of the war altogether, is notable as an early success of ironclad
warships. Although frequently hit, the French ships destroyed the Russian forts
within four hours, suffering minimal casualties in the process. This battle, as
well as the Battle of Sinop, convinced contemporary navies to abandon wooden
warships and focus on armour plating.
The Battle of Canton 28th December 1857 The Battle of Canton was fought by British and French forces against China on 28–31 December 1857 during the Second Opium War. The British High Commissioner, Lord Elgin, was keen to take the town as a demonstration of power and to capture Chinese official Ye Mingchen who had resisted British attempts to implement the 1842 Treaty of Nanking. Elgin ordered an Anglo-French force to take the town and an assault began on 28 December. Allied forces took control of the city walls on 29 December but delayed entry into the city itself until 5 January. They subsequently captured Ye and some reports state they burnt down much of the town. The ease with which the allies won the battle was one of the reasons for the signing of the Treaty of Tientsin in 1858.The battle began with a naval bombardment on 28 December and the capture of Lin's Fort one mile inland, and the next day troops landed by Kupar Creek to the south-east of the city. The Chinese had thought that the attacking forces would try to capture Magazine Hill before they moved on the city walls, but on the morning on 29 December after a naval bombardment ending at 9am French troops climbed the walls with little resistance. They had arrived at the wall half an hour early and so faced fired from their own guns. Over 4700 British and Indian troops and 950 French troops scaled the city walls. The walls were occupied for a week, then the troops moved into the streets of the city on the morning of 5 January. Some reports estimate tens of thousands of Chinese were killed or captured and nearly 30,000 homes were burned down, although other sources put Chinese casualties at 450 soldiers and 200 civilians. British losses amounted to 10 sailors and three soldiers killed and 46 sailors, 19 marines and 18 soldiers wounded. French losses were two sailors killed and 30 wounded
Medal Details:
- British Crimea Medal: Unnamed as awarded to Royal Navy.
- 2nd China Medal Unnamed as awarded to Royal Navy.
- Royal Navy Long Service & Good Conduct Medal: S I H THORROWGOOD GNRS MATE. H.M.S.VERNON 23YRS
- Turkish Crimea Medal: Unnamed as awarded.
Page Last Updated 20 Mar 14