A friend of mine found this interesting ferret reference and passed it
along to me.
 
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The HMS Ferret was an 8-gun brig built at the Royal Dockyard in Plymouth and
launched on 1 June 1840 after being laid down on the Masthouse slip in April
1838.  She was an early design by Sir William Symonds.  She served two
commissions off the coast of Africa between 1840 and 1842 with the
anti-slavery patrol, returning on 4 August 1848.
 
Between July 1852 and August 1859 she sailed more than 50,000 miles off the
African coast, capturing two slavers, including the Spanish Restaurador.
 
From 1859 she was used as the tender to the flagship at Cork and stationed
at Queenstown, then from 1864 she was tender to the training ship for boys,
Boscawen, in Southhampton Water.
 
During Easter 1869 she and another training brig, Martin, attended a review
at Dover.  On Easter Monday 29 March the chain of the Admiralty buoy on
which she was moored carried away in a gale and at 10 am she was driven on
to the shore against the pier wall.  A tug tried to pull her off but she had
to abandoned as a total wreck.  All the ship's company was rescued.
[Posted in FML issue 2085]