Phaeton (carriage) most impressive phaeton was the English four-wheeled high flyer. The mail and spider phaetons were more conservatively constructed. The mail phaeton was used chiefly to carry passengers with luggage and was named for its construction, using "mail" springs originally designed for use on mail coaches. The spider phaeton, of American origin and made for gentlemen drivers, was a high and lightly constructed carriage with a covered seat in front and a footman's seat behind. Fashionable phaetons used at horse shows included the Stanhope, typically having a high seat and closed back, and the Tilbury, a two-wheeled carriage with an elaborate
HMS Phaeton (1883) steam steering gear broke down on 25 May. The "Phaeton" left Plymouth on 27 May to continue her cruise. By June 1887 was serving in the Mediterranean. In her initial months of service, the "Phaeton" suffered from a series of break-downs of her engines. For instance in one accident a piston-rod broke due to a manufacturing defect, and when it broke, cracked one of the cylinders. The January 1887 Navy List listed her commissioned and warrant officers as follows: "Phaeton" was recommissioned at Malta by Captain Reginald N. Custance on 18 March 1890. The January 1887 Navy List listed her