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25-518: In March 1853, HMS Rattler struck a sunken rock at Amoy , China and was severely damaged. She was beached at Tae-tan (Dadan) for repairs. Since 1949, Dadan Island has several times become the battlefront of conflicts between the People's Liberation Army and the Republic of China Armed Forces . On July 26, 1950, ROC forces on the island, in total 298 soldiers, repulsed an attack ( 大擔島戰役 ) from

50-515: A People's Liberation Army force of 700 soldiers that landed on the island. In October 1951, Chiang Ching-kuo visited the island and gave the island its current name. Chinese Nationalist spokesmen reported that Chinese Communists shelled Dadan and Erdan between June 26–28, 1957. At that time, Chinese Nationalist strength on the islands was around 1,100 men. On May 9–10, 2002, President Chen Shui-bian visited Dadan (Tatan) and delivered remarks concerning Cross-Strait relations . On 30 June 2014,

75-603: A propeller type 9-gun (867-ton BM type) sloop from HM Royal Dockyard, Sheerness, as a new vessel. William Symonds had redesigned the ship as a screw propeller driven vessel. She was the fifth ship so named since the name was first introduced into the Royal Navy for a 16-gun sloop launched by Wilson of Sandgate on 22 March 1783 and sold on 6 September 1792. The keel of Rattler was laid in April 1842 and launched on 13 April 1843 at Sheerness Dockyard. The length of her gundeck

100-471: A speed of 10.074 knots (18.657 km/h). Rattler was completed for sea on 30 January 1845 at a first cost of machinery - £9,400 and fitting of £17,413. Her first commission was on 12 December 1844 at Woolwich under Commander Henry Smith, RN (promoted to Captain on 27 June 1846). She was assigned to Portsmouth. On 3 April 1845 the Admiralty held a demonstration on the power of the screw propeller over

125-507: A tax of 3 shillings on each " tun " of imported wine, roughly equivalent to £150 in 2023. At that time a "tun" was a wine container of 252 wine gallons , approx 210 imp gal (955 L) weighing about 2,240 lb (1,020 kg), a weight known today as a long ton or imperial ton. In order to estimate the capacity of a ship in terms of 'tun' for tax purposes, an early formula used in England was: where: The numerator yields

150-618: Is 800 m (2,600 ft) from Dadan Island at the closest point. Dadan Island is the largest of a small group of islets which also includes Erdan Island , Sandan Island ( 三擔島 ), Sidan Island ( 四擔島 ), Wudan Island ( 五擔島 ), Menghu Islet , etc. They sit astride the entrance into the Xiamen (Amoy) Harbor from the Taiwan Strait. The islands of Wu Yu and Qing Yu in Gangwei , Longhai City , Zhangzhou , Fujian , China are located to

175-406: Is expressed in "tons burden " ( Early Modern English : burthen , Middle English : byrthen ), and abbreviated "tons bm". The formula is: where: The Builder's Old Measurement formula remained in effect until the advent of steam propulsion. Steamships required a different method of estimating tonnage, because the ratio of length to beam was larger and a significant volume of internal space

200-496: The control of the island and surrounding islets was handed over from the Republic of China Armed Forces to the civilian under the Coast Guard Administration of Kinmen County Government . From 26 July until 31 October 2018, the island was opened to the public on trial basis which attracted 3,000 people in total. On 1 March 2019, the island was officially opened for tourism. A maximum of 150 people can visit

225-458: The island are more elevated than its central area, which contains a strip of sandy beach. Mountains on the island include Beishan ('north mountain', Mt. Beishan; 北山 ) which reaches 45 m (148 ft) above sea level, Mt. Xiaohu ('little tiger mountain', Mt. Siaohu; 小虎山 ) which reaches 34 m (112 ft) above sea level, and Nanshan ('south mountain', Mt. Nanshan; 南山 ) which reaches 98 m (322 ft) above sea level. Erdan Island

250-487: The island on a given day and sight-seers must apply for permission to visit ten days before their visit. Residents of Mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau are prohibited from visiting the island. In July 2024 the Kinmen County Government said tours to the island would resume on a trial basis. The total surface area of Dadan Island is 0.79 km (0.31 sq mi). The northern and southern part of

275-531: The outside of the sternpost, whereas the Americans measured from inside the posts. The British measured breadth from outside the planks, whereas the Americans measured the breadth from inside the planks. Lastly, the British divided by 94, whereas the Americans divided by 95. The upshot was that American calculations gave a lower number than the British ones. The British measure yields values about 6% greater than

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300-593: The paddle wheel. Rattler was pitted against her near sister Alecto . Both vessels had the same basic hull form, though Rattler was just over 12 feet longer. Both had 200 NHP engines installed. The sea was perfectly calm. Rattler had a three mast rig whereas Alecto only had two masts. With the engines of both vessels working Rattler developed 300 indicated horsepower (220 kW) whereas Alecto only reached 141 indicated horsepower (105 kW). The result had Rattler towing Alecto astern at 2.8 knots (5.2 km/h). The results were only to demonstrate to skeptics

325-462: The resulting formula would be: where: Or by solving : In 1694 a new British law required that tonnage for tax purposes be calculated according to a similar formula: This formula remained in effect until the Builder's Old Measurement rule (above) was put into use in 1720, and then mandated by Act of Parliament in 1773. The British took the length measurement from the outside of the stem to

350-444: The ship's volume expressed in cubic feet. If a "tun" is deemed to be equivalent to 100 cubic feet, then the tonnage is simply the number of such 100 cubic feet 'tun' units of volume. In 1678 Thames shipbuilders used a method assuming that a ship's burden would be 3/5 of its displacement. Since tonnage is calculated by multiplying length × beam × draft × block coefficient , all divided by 35 ft per ton of seawater,

375-570: The soundness of the Admiralty's decision to use the propeller over the paddle wheel. This demonstration would be repeated two more times by 1849. It is this which is commemorated to this day in Portsmouth Historic Dockyard . A large number of propellers were also tested on Rattler during this period to find the most effective screw design. On 17 May 1845 Rattler and steamers HMS Monkey and HMS Blazer towed HMS  Erebus and Terror toward Orkney but abandoned

400-491: The south of Dadan Island. HMS Rattler (1843) 176 ft 6 in (53.80 m) gundeck, HMS Rattler was a 9-gun steam screw sloop of the Royal Navy , and one of the first British warships to be completed with screw propulsion. She was originally ordered as a paddle wheel 4-gun steam vessel (Steam Vessel Second Class – SV2) from Sheerness Dockyard on 12 March 1841. She was reordered on 24 February 1842 as

425-635: The tow 60 nautical miles (110 km; 69 mi) north-west of Stromness. Rattler returned to Woolwich on 10 June. In June 1845 Rattler served with the 1845 Experimental Squadron . On 29 August 1846, while serving with the Squadron of Evolution , she ran aground at Lisbon , Portugal ; she was refloated. She departed the Squadron in November 1846 for Gibraltar , from which she towed HMS  Superb  (1842) . On 17 November 1846 her new commander

450-445: Was 176 ft 6 in (53.80 m) with a keel length of 157 ft 9.5 in (48.09 m) with an overall length of 195 ft 0 in (59.44 m). Her maximum breadth was 32 ft 8 in (9.96 m) with 32 ft 6 in (9.91 m) reported for tonnage. Her Depth of hold was 18 ft 7.5 in (5.68 m). She had a mean draught of 11 ft 5.5 in (3.49 m). Her builder's measure for tonnage

475-479: Was 888 80 ⁄ 94 ( bm ) and she displaced 1,112 tons. After launching, she was towed to East India Dock at Maudslay's yard to have her machinery installed. She was equipped with two fire tube rectangular boilers. Her engine was a Maudslay, Son & Field four-cylinder vertical single-expansion steam engine with double cylinders of 40.25 in (1,022.35 mm) with a working stroke of 48 in (1,219.20 mm), rated at 200 nhp . Once her machinery

500-566: Was Commander Richard Moorman, RN and transferred to the South American Station. On 13 September 1847 she was paid off at Woolwich. Commander Arthur Cumming commanded Rattler from 12 February 1849 to 15 April 1851. During this time she was stationed off the west coast of Africa. On 30 October 1849 she captured the Brazilian slave brigantine Alepide . She paid off at Woolwich on 15 April 1851. On 28 August 1851 she

525-426: Was broken at Woolwich under contract with Mr Fulcher from 22 July to 26 November 1856. Builder%27s Old Measurement Builder's Old Measurement ( BOM , bm , OM , and o.m. ) is the method used in England from approximately 1650 to 1849 for calculating the cargo capacity of a ship . It is a volumetric measurement of cubic capacity. It estimated the tonnage of a ship based on length and maximum beam . It

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550-671: Was commissioned for service on the East Indies Station under Commander Arthur Mellersh, RN at Woolwich. While on station the Second Burmese war (10 January 1852 to 30 June 1853) erupted. She became the Flagship of Rear-Admiral Charles John Austen, RN. In March 1853, Rattler struck a sunken rock at Amoy , China and was severely damaged. She was beached at Tae-tan (today's Dadan Island, Lieyu Township, Kinmen County, Fujian, Republic of China (Taiwan)) for repairs. She

575-623: Was in action against junks near Namguan on 11 May 1853. On 5 April 1855 she was under Commander William Abdy Gellows, RN for service in China and the East Indies. On 4 August 1855, Rattler , HMS  Eaglet , and the USS ; Powhatan fought a naval battle near Tai O village , Lantau , with Chinese pirates. She was ordered to return to Home Waters in early 1856. Rattler returned to Home Waters, paying off at Woolwich on 17 May 1856. She

600-530: Was installed she was moved to Woolwich Dockyard where she was coppered . Her armament consisted of either a single 8-inch (60 cwt) muzzle loading smooth bore (MLSB) 8-foot 10-inch shell gun or a single 68-pounder (65 cwt) MLSB 10-foot solid shot gun on a pivot mount and eight Blomefeld 32-pounder (25cwt) MLSB solid shot guns (bored out 18-pounders) on broadside trucks. Her propeller trials commenced on 30 October 1843. During her full power steam trials her engine generated 428 indicated horsepower (319 kW) for

625-607: Was used for boilers and machinery. In 1849, the Moorsom System was created in the United Kingdom . The Moorsom system calculates the cargo-carrying capacity in cubic feet, another method of volumetric measurement. The capacity in cubic feet is then divided by 100 cubic feet of capacity per gross ton, resulting in a tonnage expressed in tons. King Edward I levied the first tax on the hire of ships in England in 1303 based on tons burthen. Later, King Edward III levied

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