HMS Hecate, 1839-1865
HMS Hecate was used on the Pacific coast late in its career, and was sent to replace the duties
performed by HMS Plumper in 1860.
Hecate was a 50 m long, 11 m wide, paddle-wheel sloop armed with four guns; it was launched
on 30 March, 1839. Commander Anthony Hoskins sailed it into Esquimalt harbour in 1860, then the majority
of the Plumper's crew and officers transferred aboard for continued survey service.
Hecate ran aground in 1861, near Cape Flattery, and was, eventually, and after several repair
stops along the way, relocated to England by 1864, where it would be decommissioned
the following year.
- 1. Andrew Scott, The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Place Names (Madeira Park, BC: Harbour Publishing, 2009), 256.
- 2. Inconstant, 1836, Index of 19th Century Naval Vessels.
- 3. Scott, The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Place Names, 256.
- 4. Ibid.