HMS Rattlesnake was a 21-gun launched in 1861 at Chatham Dockyard and broken up in 1882. During her third commission from 1871âÂÂ1873 she was the flagship of Commodore John Edmund Commerell, Commander-in-Chief Cape of Good Hope and West Coast of Africa Station, who was wounded at the start of the Third Anglo-Ashanti War. Rattlesnake was propelled by a Ravenhill & Salkeld engine delivering . When operating under sailpower, her funnel could be retracted to clear the rigging and her propeller lifted into a special housing aft to streamline her hullform.