HMQS Mosquito: the rediscovery and identification of Queensland's first warship

In 2009, the remnants of Her Majesty's Queensland Ship Mosquito, a 2nd-class torpedo-boat built in 1883, were relocated. Purchased by the colonial government of Australia in response to heightened tensions between Great Britain and Imperial Russia, Mosquito was assigned to Queensland's capital, Brisbane, where it had a largely uneventful career. Following removal from active duty it was stripped and abandoned on the foreshore of a tributary of the Brisbane River. This paper discusses Mosquito's historical background, and chronicles the rediscovery of the vessel, and the archaeological investigation and identification of its remains.