HMS Brisk was a 14-gun wooden-hulled screw sloop designed by the Committee of Reference as part of the 1847 program. She is considered an enlarged Rattler with the design approved in 1847. She was ordered on 25 April 1847 from Woolwich Dockyard as a 10-gun sloop, but the guns were later increased due to the Russian War, to 14 guns by increasing the number of 32-pounder guns. She was launched on 2 June 1851 from Woolwich Dockyard. She served in the Russian War of 1854- 55 and as part of the Southern African anti-slavery patrol, with a final commission on the Australian Station. She was sold in 1870 for use in an pioneer, but unsuccessful, telegraph service.
Brisk was the fourth vessel of the name, since it was introduced for a 16-gun sloop launched by Jacobs of Sandgate on 6 May 1784 and sold in May 1805.
Construction and specifications
Brisks keel was laid in January 1849 at Woolwich Dockyard and she was launched on 2 June 1851. Her gundeck was with her keel length reported for tonnage calculation of . Her maximum breadth was reported for tonnage was . She had a depth of hold of . Her builder's measure tonnage was 1,086 tons and displaced 1,087 tons. Her minimum draught was forward and 16 feet 8 inches aft.
On 26 June 1851 she arrived at Greenock to have her machinery fitted by Scott, Sinclair & Company. She shipped two rectangular fire tube boilers. Her engine was a 2-cylinder horizontal single expansion (HSE) steam engine with cylinders of in diameter with a stroke, rated at 250 nominal horsepower (NHP). She had a single screw propeller. Brisk arrived at Devonport from Scotland on 21 May 1852.
In 1864 her engine was replaced by a Miller, Ravenhill & Salkeld engine with two cylinders of diameter pistons with a stroke rated at 200 NHP.
Her initial armament consisted of two Dundas 1853 68-pounder 87 hundredweight (cwt) muzzle loading smooth bore (MLSB) 10-foot solid shot gun and eight Monk's 'C' 1839 32-pounder 42 cwt MLSB 8.5-foot solid shot guns on broadside trucks. The 32-pounders were increased to twelve guns for the Russian War. In 1856 she was rearmed with a single Dundas 1853 68-pounder MLSB of 87 cwt 10-foot solid shot gun on a pivot mount and fourteen Monk's 'C' 1839 32-pounder 42 cwt MLSB solid shot guns on broadside trucks.
Trials
During steam trials her engine generated for a speed of . On her trials after the engine change, the engine generated for a speed of .
Brisk was completed for sea on 24 August 1853 at a cost of £47,482 (including hull of £20,677).
Commissioned service
First commission
She was commissioned on 24 May 1853 under the command of Commander Frederick Beauchamp Paget Seymour for service on the North America and West Indies Station. During her transit to Jamaica she carried the new governor to Port Royal, Jamaica. With the Russian War, she returned to Home Waters and joined Captain Sir Erasmus Ommanney's Squadron for service in the White Sea. The squadron searched for Russian ships then bombarded the port of Kola on 24 August. The squadron withdrew from the White Sea before the winter freeze up. With Commander Alfred J. Curtis, RN taking command on 20 October 1854 she was sent to the Russian Pacific Coast to blockade Russian ports. On 1 June 1855 the squadron entered the harbour of Petropavlovsk, but found it abandoned. The batteries and magazines were then destroyed. On 7 June an eruption of Kozelsky was witnessed. Upon the sessation of hostilities, she returned to Home Waters, paying off at Plymouth on 13 June 1857.
Second commission
After almost two years in reserve, she was commissioned under Captain Algernon F.R. de Horsey for service on the Cape of Good Hope Station. Apart from anti-slavery patrols, she also searched for Dr. Livingstone on 15 September 1859 at the River Kongone. In November she picked up the survivors of the Barretto Junior which had run aground on Mayotte Reef while heading for Mayotte. On 10 August 1860 she captured the clipper ship Emanuela in the Mozambique Channel with more than 800 slaves aboard. With Captain de Horsey becoming invalid due to illness, he was replaced with Captain John P. Luce, RN and assigned to the West Coast of Africa on 24 February 1862. She returned to Home Waters in 1863, paying off at Plymouth on 22 August.