HMS Curacoa (1878)

HMS Curacoa was a Comus-class corvette of the Royal Navy, built by John Elder & Co., Govan, launched in 1878, and sold in 1904 to be broken up. She served on the Cape of Good Hope and West Africa Station, the Australia Station and as a training cruiser in the Atlantic.

Service history
HMS Curacoa was built by John Elder & Co., Govan, and launched on 18 April 1878.

The corvette commenced service on the Cape of Good Hope and West Africa Station before being transferred to the Australia Station arriving on 5 August 1890. She left the Australia Station in December 1894.

Curacoa was sent to the Ellice Islands and between 9 and 16 October 1892 Captain Herbert Gibson visited each of the islands to make a formal declaration that the islands were to be a British Protectorate. In June 1893 Captain Gibson visited the southern Solomon Islands and made the formal declaration of the British Solomon Islands Protectorate.

Her later years were spent as a training cruiser. In February–March 1900 she visited Madeira, Las Palmas and São Vicente, Cape Verde.

She was sold in May 1904 to King of Garston for breaking up.