HMS Assistance was an Arctic discovery barque of the Royal Navy, built in 1835 out of teak at Howrah, Calcutta. Originally launched as the merchant vessel Acorn, she was renamed Baboo before 1837. As a merchant vessel, Baboo primarily transported contract laborers and immigrants. Notably, on 23 August 1837, she carried 106 male and six female contract laborers from Calcutta to Mauritius and also conducted repatriation voyages. She made two significant voyages to South Australia, arriving at Port Adelaide in March 1840 and December 1848, carrying immigrants from Liverpool. Her early service included a notable incident in 1847 when she ran aground and was severely damaged in the River Thames at Limehouse, but she was subsequently refloated, repaired, and resumed her voyages. In 1850, the Royal Navy purchased her from T. Kincaid and fitted her for Arctic exploration at a cost of £8,520. Renamed HMS Assistance, she became part of two major expeditions searching for Sir John Franklin’s lost Northwest Passage. Under Captain Erasmus Ommanney, Assistance anchored at Cape York in Greenland in 1850, where she took on an Inuk guide named Qalaherriaq. The expedition aimed to locate Franklin’s expedition but was unsuccessful, returning to Britain in 1851. Assistance’s most notable service occurred during Edward Belcher’s 1852 expedition, which included five ships. Assistance participated in the search but became trapped in ice off Bathurst Island in 1854. Along with HMS Resolute and others, she was abandoned on 25 August 1854 after becoming immobilized. Her crew and survivors trekked hundreds of miles to reach HMS North Star at Beechey Island, from where they were eventually rescued and returned to Britain. The loss of Assistance was notable, as Captain Belcher was later court-martialed for the ship’s abandonment, underscoring the perils of Arctic exploration during this era.

This description has been generated using GPT-4.1-NANO based on the Vessel's wikidata information and then modified by ShipIndex.org staff.