# Hecla-class bomb vessel

The Hecla class was a class of bomb vessels of the Royal Navy of the early 19th century. They were designed for use as bomb or mortar ships and were very heavily built. Eight ships were launched; all were converted for use as exploration or survey ships. Four ships of the class are known for the role they played in Arctic and Antarctic exploration.

## Ships

* HMS Fury
    Builder: Mrs Mary Ross, Rochester
    Ordered: 5 June 1813
    Laid down: September 1813
    Launched: 4 April 1814
    Completed:
    Notes: Converted to Arctic discovery vessel in 1821
    Fate: Bilged in Prince Regent Inlet, and abandoned in the Arctic on 25 August 1825; anchors recovered and now displayed at Fort Saint-Jean (Quebec)
* HMS Hecla
    Builder: Barkworth & Hawkes, North Barton (Hull)
    Ordered: 5 June 1813
    Laid down: July 1813
    Launched: 22 July 1815
    Completed:
    Notes: Arctic discovery vessel from 1819 to 1827. Converted to survey ship in December 1827
    Fate: Sold on 13 April 1831; re-sold to M. Wright, master, Elder & Co. and left and wrecked state c. 1845
* HMS Infernal
    Builder: Barkworth & Hawkes, North Barton (Hull)
    Ordered: 5 June 1813
    Laid down: July 1813
    Launched: 26 July 1815
    Completed:
    Notes:
    Fate: Sold on 13 April 1831
* HMS Meteor
    Builder: Pembroke Dockyard
    Ordered: 18 May 1819
    Laid down: May 1820
    Launched: 25 June 1823
    Completed: 26 July 1823
    Notes: Survey ship, renamed HMS Beacon in June 1832
    Fate: Sold on 17 August 1846
* HMS Aetna
    Builder: Chatham Dockyard
    Ordered: 18 May 1819
    Laid down: September 1821
    Launched: 14 May 1824
    Completed: June 1824
    Notes: Converted to survey ship in 1826. Receiving ship at Portsmouth in 1839.
    Fate: Sold on 20 February 1846
* HMS Sulphur
    Builder: Chatham Dockyard
    Ordered: 18 May 1819
    Laid down: May 1824
    Launched: 26 January 1826
    Completed: 21 February 1826
    Notes: The last bomb-ship in Royal Navy service. Converted to survey ship in December 1835. Receiving ship at Woolwich from May 1843
    Fate: Broken up by 20 November 1857
* HMS Thunder
    Builder: Deptford Dockyard
    Ordered: 18 May 1819
    Laid down: November 1826
    Launched: 4 August 1829
    Completed: 26 October 1829
    Notes: Converted to survey ship in January 1833
    Fate: Broken up in March 1851
* HMS Vesuvius
    Builder: Deptford Dockyard
    Ordered: 18 May 1819 (Order transferred to Chatham Dockyard, reordered on 30 August 1828)
    Laid down: August 1830
    Launched:
    Completed:
    Notes:
    Fate: Cancelled on 10 January 1831
* HMS Devastation
    Builder: Plymouth Dockyard
    Ordered: 18 May 1819
    Laid down: 1820
    Launched:
    Completed:
    Notes: Suspended on 10 January 1831
    Fate: Cancelled on 11 July 1833
* HMS Volcano
    Builder: Plymouth Dockyard
    Ordered: 18 May 1819
    Laid down: 1821
    Launched:
    Completed:
    Notes: Suspended on 10 January 1831
    Fate: Cancelled on 11 July 1833
* HMS Beelzebub
    Builder: Plymouth Dockyard
    Ordered: 18 May 1819
    Laid down:
    Launched:
    Completed:
    Notes: Suspended on 10 January 1831
    Fate: Cancelled on 11 July 1833
* HMS Erebus
    Builder: Pembroke Dockyard
    Ordered: 9 January 1823
    Laid down: October 1824
    Launched: 7 June 1826
    Completed: February 1828
    Notes: Arctic discovery vessel in 1839, fitted with screw in 1845
    Fate: Abandoned in Arctic on 22 April 1848; discovered underwater in Queen Maud Gulf in 2014 and now preserved as Erebus and Terror National Historic Site of Canada

## Service

Fury and Hecla sailed with William Edward Parry on his explorations in search of the Northwest Passage, with Fury being lost to ice on the second. Meteor was renamed Beacon and used as a survey ship, while Aetna and Thunder were both used as survey ships. Sulphur was also used as a survey ship, at one time being commanded by Edward Belcher who later commanded an expedition in search of John Franklin (though not in Sulphur). Erebus was one of two ships commanded by James Clark Ross during his exploration of Antarctica and by Franklin on his ill-fated search for the Northwest Passage. The other was the Vesuvius-class bomb vessel Terror. Both ships were lost during this last voyage.