page_title: HMS Plumper (1848)
section_title: First commission (1848–1853)
hierarchical_section_title: HMS Plumper (1848) / Career / First commission (1848–1853)
caption_attribution_description: The "long black creature" sighted by the crew of the HMS Plumper off the Portuguese coast in 1848.
context_page_description: HMS Plumper was an 8-gun wooden screw sloop of the Royal Navy, the fifth and last ship to bear the name. Launched in 1848, she served three commissions, firstly on the West Indies and North American Station, then on the West Africa Station and finally in the Pacific Station. It was during her last commission as a survey ship that she left her most enduring legacy; in charting the west coast of British Columbia she left her name and those of her ship's company scattered across the charts of the region. She paid off for the last time in 1861 and was finally sold for breaking up in 1865.
context_section_description: After commissioning at Portsmouth, Plumper joined the Channel Fleet under Admiral Sir Charles Napier, and in January 1849 was sent to the North America and West Indies Station. Curiously, a report was published in the Illustrated London News on 14 April 1849 of a sighting of a sea serpent off the Portuguese Coast.
  On 25 June 1850, she ran aground and was damaged off Digby, Nova Scotia, British North America. She was refloated and taken in to Digby for repairs. In June 1851 she deployed to the south-east coast of America and during this period she captured the slavers Flor-do-Mar on 14 June 1851 and Sarah on 9 June 1851 (with HMS Cormorant).
  She is recorded as arriving in Portsmouth from Brazil with 6,370 troy ounces (198 kg) of gold trans-shipped from the Emperor on 31 December 1852. She paid off at Portsmouth on 6 January 1853.
caption: Supposed Appearance of the Great Sea-Serpent, From H.M.S. Plumper, Sketched by an Officer on Board, Illustrated London News, 14 April 1849
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