Colonial Despatches

William Symonds, who served in various capacities throughout his naval career, including as an officer and an architect, became a lieutenant in the Royal Navy in October 1801, and participated in the Napoleonic Wars.1

In 1821, Symonds constructed an experimental vessel which he then published a pamphlet about; this began Symonds's career as a naval architect. His designs promoted greater speed, but also allowed for larger ships and more weaponry. Symonds built a few steam-powered vessels, but believed that the sail should always be the primary method of propulsion, and steam was to be used only as an aid.2

On 15 June 1836, unbeknownst to the admiralty, King William IV knighted Symonds, who, in 1853, also served as naval aid-de-camp to Queen Victoria. Due to his health later in his later years, Symonds spent most of his time in the Mediterranean. He died in March 1856 aboard the French vessel Nil. Symond's ships were class for class the largest and most powerful sailing warships ever built.3

• 1. Andrew Lambert, Symonds, Sir William, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
• 2. Ibid.
• 3. Ibid.