River Gunboats
Page 35
At the end of hostilities, Pioneer was laid up at Port Waikato. On 24 December 1867 she dragged her anchor, and the unmanned vessel was swept 10 miles (16km) out to sea. A salvage team attempted to bring her back to harbour, but she had shipped a great deal of water and was virtually unmanageable. In trying to enter Manukau Heads she ran aground and was a total loss. Her two armoured cupolas survive her, kept on land and now used as monuments.
Launched:
1863 by Australian Steam Navigation Company, Sydney.
Dimensions:
Displ: 250 tons; L: 42.7m/140ft; B: 6.1m/20ft; D: 0.76m/2ft 6in.
Crew:
28.
Power/Speed:
Stern paddle wheel; steam engines, 2 × 30 nominal hp/9 knots.
Guns/Armour:
2 × 12-pounder Armstrong BL; 2 × 12-pounder Congreve rocket launchers; anti-boarder system/Bulletproof gun cupolas, iron plates around the helm and bulwarks.
Fate:
Wrecked 24 December 1867.
Koheroa
The government appreciated that both Avon and Pioneer drew too much water to safely navigate the river system, and they therefore ordered two shallow-draught armoured steam barges to be built in Sydney, by P N Russell & Co.
The first of these, Koheroa, arrived in sections on the sailing ship Beautiful Star, just at the time when Avon was out of action following her partial sinking. Such was the great demand for steamships to carry supplies to the Army, that the Koheroa was hastily assembled and launched as a bare hull, without any of the planned internal bracing. With her machinery installed, she was immediately despatched up river with a deeper-draught supply barge attached at each side. The inevitable happened, the combined unit almost immediately running aground. The strain on Koheroa’s unsupported hull was too great and one of her sides split open. She was recovered for emergency repairs and a plate was riveted over the crack, which was 2ft (0.61m) deep.
After repairs she continued on operations, a second harrowing episode involving her being borne stern-first by a fierce current with no chance of turning for several miles.
In November 1865 she struck a snag and sank. A great deal of effort and money was expended on raising her, and after her machinery was transferred to a barge, Koheroa was sold for scrap for the sum of just £7.
Launched:
1863 by P. N. Russell & Co., Sydney.
Dimensions:
L: 24.3m/80ft (hull); B: 6.1m/20ft; D: 0.41m/1ft 4in unloaded, 0.635m/2ft 1in loaded.
Crew:
?
Power/Speed:
Stern paddle wheel; steam engines, 40 nominal hp/8 knots.
Guns/Armour:
1 × 12-pounder Armstrong BL/Hull and shields of ¼in (6mm) plate.
Fate:
Sold March 1868.
Shallow-draught stern-wheeler Rangiriri. Note her iron stern cabin. (From a drawing by Harry Duncan, via Grant Middlemiss)
Shallow-draught stern-wheeler Koheroa in 1864. (From a drawing by Harry Duncan, via Grant Middlemiss)
Rangiriri
Koheroa’s virtually identical sister-ship Rangiriri arrived in New Zealand on 16 June 1864. Following the debacle of her sister’s hasty construction, this time she was fully assembled before being launched. Naval operations against the Maori had ceased by the time she entered service, but she continued to provide security for the white settlers. In November 1864 she was armed with a 6-pounder carronade. Abandoned by 1888, she eventually sank in the river, but her wreck was raised in 1981–2, partially restored, and put on display in Hamilton Gardens. For details see Koheroa above.
RHINE FLOTILLA
1918 – 1926
The following photos are included with the kind permission of Paul Robinson. They are from the album of his grandfather, Lieutenant John Robinson, DSO, RNVR, and appear on the excellent Website run by Jeffrey Charles, at: http://www.motorlaunchpatrol.net/history/post_war/rhine_patrol_flotilla/.
As part of the occupation and supervision of the western part of Germany, following the Armistice of 11 November 1918, the British sent a flotilla of MLs to join those from France, to patrol a specific section of the Rhine, as described in the relevant chapter on FRANCE.
Commander Acheson left for Germany on 17 December 1918, to take command of the flotilla of twelve MLs. Two were lost crossing the Channel: ML 121 sank off Le Havre, and ML 566 sank off Cape Barfleur. The numbers were made up by two other MLs at Le Havre.
Getting there by the long way round: MLs being towed along the Canal de la Marne et Rhin.
ML 291 cruising the Rhine. On board is The Honourable P G E C Acheson, MVO, DSO, RN, commanding the Flotilla.
Profile of the 80-foot ELCO motor launches designed to British Admiralty specifications for anti-submarine and general patrol work. (From Selected Papers on British Warship Design in World War II)
The Flotilla was obliged to pass by the French river and canal system in order to reach the Rhine, due to the desire of the Dutch to remain neutral. The MLs moved up the Seine to Paris, then on the Marne to Vitry-le-Françoise, where they joined the Marne-Rhine Canal. Passing through Nancy they eventually reached the Rhine at Strasbourg. The original twelve MLs were then reinforced by an additional four, which sailed from the UK on 11 January 1919. By late January the flotilla was on station at Cologne. Here their French liaison officer was Capitaine de Corvette Darlan, later head of the French Navy.
In late 1919 one vessel, ML 229, was destroyed by an explosion while refuelling, and two years later, following recalls to the UK, the Flotilla only had five MLs. They remained on station until 27 January 1926, when all were recalled, and the work of the Flotilla came to a close.
Launched:
1917–18 by ELCO in their Canadian yard.
Dimensions:
Displ: 30 tons (35 tons full load); L: 25m/80ft; B: 3.8m/12ft; D: 1.2m/4ft.
Crew:
8–10.
Power/Speed:
Twin screws; 2 × petrol engines, total 440bhp/20–22 knots.
Guns/Armour:
1 × 3-pounder Hotchkiss QF; Lewis MG.
Fate:
All stricken 1926 onward.
1945–1959
Ex-Luftwaffe ASR Launches
When in 1945 the Rhine Flotilla was re-established, along with the French, American and Belgian units, the RN contingent was composed of seventeen ex-Luftwaffe Flugbetriebsboote, or AirSea Rescue launches, similar in design to the R-Boote or coastal minelayers/escorts of the Kriegsmarine. These ASR boats were all built between 1940 and 1944 to the same design. By 1959 they had been handed to the West German Navy.
Launched:
ML 6012 1944 by Gebr. Kröger, Warnemünde.
Dimensions:
Displ: 75 tons; L: 27.64m/90ft 8in; B: 5m/16ft 5in; D: 1.52m/5ft.
Crew:
10.
Power/Speed:
Twin screws; 2 × Daimler Benz DB602 16-cyl diesel engines, total 2,640bhp/30.5 knots.
Guns/Armour:
Original 1941–4: 8 × 15mm MG151 or 7 × 20mm MG 151/20 cannon. As ML 1945: 2 × 20mm Oerlikon.
Fate:
To West Germany 1959.
Ex-Luftwaffe Air-Sea Rescue launch FL-B 5051. Photographed on the Rhine as ML 6012 in June 1953. Note she has been re-armed with 20mm Oerlikons without shields.
MLs of the Rhine Flotilla at a Paris Nautical Exhibition in 1954. Now their Oerlikons have shields. At the left rear is possibly the French light aircraft carrier Dixemude (ex-HMS Biter) carrying helicopters. (Photo by Fred J)
Royal Albert
The RN Flotilla also used one larger ex-German vessel, the former Customs cutter Freiherr vom Stein, built in 1939. During the Second World War she had operated as anti-submarine vessel UJ.172, then as UJU.1702. In British hands she was named firstly Royal Harald, then Eileen, and lastly Royal Albert. Sold in 1951 to Greek interests, she was converted to a passenger ship/ferry and renamed Maxi.
HMS Royal Albert as rearmed with British guns for service in the Rhi
ne Flotilla.
Launched:
10 March 1939 as Zollkreuzer Freiherr vom Stein, by Nobiskrug, Rendsburg.
Dimensions:
L: 42.85m/140ft 7in; B: 6.63m/21ft 9in; D: 2.57m/8ft 5in.
Power/Speed:
Twin screws; 2 × 10-cyl diesels, total 3,200bhp/23.8 knots.
Guns/Armour:
In 1945: 1 × 40mm Bofors (bow); 2 × 20mm Oerlikon (stern).
Fate:
Sold to Greek company 1951.
RUSSIA GUNBOATS
North Russia
During the First World War, the Royal Navy had traditionally sent warships to North Russia to act as guardships, commencing with the old pre-dreadnought HMS Jupiter which broke through to the ice-locked port of Archangelsk in February 1915. In the Author’s collection is a Tsarist silver medal awarded in gratitude for the British presence to one of his family, who was a humble stoker reservist on board Jupiter. During the chaotic situation following the Russian Revolution, in 1917 Royal Marines were despatched to Archangelsk to guard the large quantities of materials stocked there, which included some 600,000 tons of munitions and 650,000 tons of coal. When the Russian Civil War broke out, an Allied expedition arrived to aid the White Russians in their struggle against the Bolsheviks.
Naval support in the White Sea and on the Dvina River was supplied by several of the smaller monitors, and six of the of the ‘Insect’ class river gunboats, plus the larger river monitor HMS Humber with her three 6in guns and extensive armour protection. It was planned to rearm Humber with a triple 4in mounting as fitted to M.27, but she sailed for Russia before the transformation was carried out.
‘Insect’ Class
In October 1918 the four ‘Insects’, Cicala, Cockchafer, Cricket and Glowworm, which had been retained in the UK for Home Defence, had their HA 6in guns replaced with LA guns, their 12-pounders replaced by 3in AA guns, and their Maxims augmented by four Lewis LMGs. Thus rearmed, they sailed for Archangelsk. Their sisters Mantis and Moth joined them in the Summer of 1919. The Insects with their heavy armament were useful in countering the Bolshevik riverine forces, which included several 6in guns mounted on towed rafts. They did not, however, escape without loss, Cicala being damaged by a floating mine, Cricket being holed by a Bolshevik shell and grounded, and Glowworm being severely damaged, with heavy casualties, by the explosion of a barge loaded with ammunition. It is likely that this latter injury was the cause of Glowworm’s early demise, the first of the class to be scrapped.
The Small Monitors
The small monitors were hurriedly designed, specifically for coastal bombardment. However, as with many other categories of warship, if they were available and their draught suited the proposed zone of operations, then they were employed in riverine work as gunboats. One problem with the small monitors was that they were designed to carry just one large-calibre gun, ideal for bombarding enemy positions on the river banks from a range outside that of opposing field guns. Best suited to ship-to-ship combat was M.27 with her large triple 4in mounting. However, as is patently obvious from the above photo of such a mounting on HMS Repulse, it is extremely cumbersome, and the large gun crew make good targets for splinters and shrapnel, if nothing else. Evidently a high degree of teamwork would be required to work these guns with such a large number of gunners and ammunition numbers.
M.27 as rearmed with a triple 4in mounting, seen in Russia with another monitor alongside. (Abrahams postcard Ref 1236)
Triple 4in mount, showing the large gun crew, seen here on HMS Repulse. Although considered as clumsy, it was capable of a rate of fire of almost fifty rounds a minute.
Some of the monitors accompanying the British ground forces stayed in the White Sea. But M.23, M.25, M.27, M.31 and M.33 fought on the Dvina River. With the decision to withdraw from Russia, M.23, M.31 and M.33 accompanied Humber in retreating down the Dvina to the sea. M.25 and M.27, however, were trapped by the rapidly falling water level, and after their guns and other equipment had been removed, on 16 September 1919 they were blown up by guncotton charges to prevent them from falling into the hands of the Bolsheviks.
M.27
Launched:
8 September 1915, by Sir Raylton Dixon & Co., Middlesborough.
Dimensions:
Displ: 610 tons full load; L: 54m/177ft 3in; B: 9.45m/31ft; D: 2m/6ft 7½in.
Crew:
69.
Power/Speed:
Quadruple screws; 4 × 2-cyl Bolinder semi-diesels, total 560bhp/10.5 knots.
Guns/Armour:
1 × triple 4in BL Mk IX; 1 × 3in HA; 2 × 2-pounder Pom-Poms/Triple gunshield only.
Fate:
Blown up in Dvina River 16 September 1919.
M.33
Launched:
22 May 1915, by Workman, Clark & Co., Belfast.
Dimensions:
Displ: 580 tons full load; L: 54m/177ft 3in; B: 9.45m/31ft; D: 1.8m/5ft 11in.
Crew:
72.
Power/Speed:
Twin screws; 2 × VTE steam engines total 400ihp/9 knots.
Guns/Armour:
2 × 6in LA; 1 × 6-pounder HA/Gunshields 76mm front.
Fate:
Museum ship Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.
Kama River
During the Russian Civil War, a small RN detachment operated on the Kama River in the fighting on the Siberian Front. Men from the cruisers Kent and Suffolk disarmed railway wagons and remounted 12-pounders on a large river paddle steamer, which they renamed Kent. The steamer had been built in 1891, and was capable of 10 knots. In all she carried four 12-pounders and three Maxim MG. A 6in naval gun was also mounted on a barge towed by a river tug. The barge was appropriately named Suffolk.
They first went into action with the spring thaw of 1919, covering the withdrawal of White gunboats attacked by the Bolshevik Volga Flotilla near the confluence of the Kama and Viatka Rivers. Suffolk’s 6in gun caused the Reds to retreat. On 23 May Kent led the attack on the large Bolshevik flotilla at Elabouga, setting on fire the leading Red gunboat Terek, which beached in a sinking condition. Kent’s gunners then turned their attention to the Red flagship Roosal, and again she was knocked out of the fight and beached. During the pursuit of the fleeing Bolsheviks, the White gunboat Gordi came under heavy fire, but Kent laid down a smokescreen into which Gordi escaped. Later that month Kent helped cover the withdrawal of the White flotilla past the town of Sarapul, which had fallen to the Reds who had installed artillery in and between the houses lining the river bank.
With the imminent collapse of Kolchak’s White Army units, on 20 June 1919 it was decided to remount the ships’ guns on railway wagons, and the RN detachment left for Vladivostok, which they reached in safety on 18 August 1919.
TAILPIECE
Royal Marine Commandos Offshore Raiding Craft
The Royal Navy has been trialling the Swedish CB90H for rapid insertion work and riverine assault. In the meantime, the Royal Marines have been using the Offshore Raiding Craft (ORC), both for duties in Iraq, and also on the River Clyde as close escorts for arriving and departing nuclear submarines. The boats have an aluminium hull, and can be airlifted by C130 Hercules transport or slung beneath Chinook or Merlin helicopters. The ORC can accelerate from zero to 36 knots in 15 seconds.
Launched:
Starting in 2005, by Holyhead Marine Services, Holyhead.
Dimensions:
Displ: 4.68 tons; 5.9 tons full load; L: 9.1m/29ft 10in; B: 2.9m/9ft 6in; D: 0.56m/1ft 10in (light), 0.69m/2ft 3in (full load).
Crew:
Helmsman, gunner + up to 8 Marines.
Power/Speed:
Twin waterjets; 2 × 250bhp Steyr diesel engines/40 knots (light); 36 knots full load.
Guns/Armour:
2 × 0.50 cal HMG; 1 × twin 7.62mm GPMGs; 40mm grenade launchers or GAU-17 Minigun; Smoke dischargers/Ballistic armour protection to defeat 7.62mm ball at 20m (65ft) range.
Fate:
In service.
A heavily-armed and
armoured Royal Marines Offshore Raiding Craft at speed. (Photo courtesy of Trevor Muston, Copyright MOD (Navy))
A plan of the armoured variant. The troops carried are seated at the rear of the craft. (Illustration courtesy of Ian Huband, of Holyhead Marine)
GUINEA
Project 1400 ME Grif Class
In 1987 Guinea received seven units of this class from the Soviet Union: three of Project 1400, two of Project 1400M and two of Project 1400ME. For details, see RUSSIA Part II.
Shanghai Type 062 Class
In the 1970s, China transferred to Guinea six Shanghai II Type 062 class gunboats. For details, see CHINA.
HUNGARY
At the end of hostilities in 1918, several of the Austro-Hungarian river monitors were at Budapest, and some were briefly taken into service by the new Hungarian state. Their continued existence, and the potential menace they represented, especially under the short-lived Marxist regime of Bela Kun, meant that the Royal Navy’s Danube Flotilla was constantly on guard against an attack by the Hungarian vessels, which, however, never materialised.
In 1919 Körös and Szamos fought under the Hungarian flag against Czechoslovak forces, before being disarmed in 1921. Enns became the Hungarian Drava in October 1918. In April 1919, Inn was renamed Ujvidek in Hungarian service, then under the Communist regime became Marx.