HMS Shah (ship)

The first HMS Shah was a 19th-century unarmoured iron hulled, wooden sheathed frigate of Britain's Royal Navy designed by Sir Edward Reed. She was originally to be named HMS Blonde but was renamed following the visit of the Shah of Persia in 1873.

She was only in service for three years, as the flagship of the British Pacific Station under Admiral de Horsey. She fought an action, the Battle of Pacocha, in company with the corvette HMS Amethyst on 29 May 1877 with the Peruvian armoured turret ship Huáscar which had been taken over by rebels opposed to the Peruvian Government and, it was feared, could be used to attack British shipping.

In December 1904 the ship was converted to a coal storage hulk and renamed C.470. The hulk was sold on 19 September 1919, and subsequently wrecked in 1926 at Bermuda.

There is a monument to the ship's crew men in Victoria Park, Portsmouth.

Builder: Portsmouth Dockyard
Laid down: 7 March 1870
Launched: 10 September 1873
Completed: December 1875
Commissioned: 14 August 1876
Out of service: December 1904
Fate: Converted to Coal Storage Hulk C.470
Sold: 19 September 1919
Wrecked in Bermuda: 1926