River Gunboats
Page 42
LP 07 to LP 11
These five river patrol boats were built of steel in the Asunción Arsenal beginning in October 1987. It was intended to produce a total of thirteen, but production ended with the fifth boat. From 2000 LP 07 was based on Lake Itaipú, LP 08 was at Bahia Negra, LP 09 at Isla Margarita, LP 10 at Asunción and LP 11 at Encarnación.
Launched:
LP 07 March 1989, LP 08 and LP 09 3 February 1990, LP 10 and LP 11 2 October 1997, by Asunción Naval Arsenal.
Dimensions:
Displ: 18 tons full load; L: 14.7m/48ft 3in; B: 3.06m/10ft 0½in; D: 0.85m/2ft 9½in.
Crew:
4.
Power/Speed:
Single screw; 1 × 235bhp General Motors 6071-M diesel engine/12.5 knots.
Guns/Armour:
2 × 0.50 cal Browning HMG.
Fate:
In service.
LP 101 to LP 106
Sewart Type 701 patrol boats, built of aluminium, transferred under the American MAP. Still in service. LP 103 and LP 106 have been based on Lake Itaipú. LP 102 was renamed S/O AC Miguel Sotoa, and LP 105 as Teniente de Marina Manuel Trujillo, under pennant number LP 01.
Launched:
LP 101 and LP 102 1967, LP 103, LP 104 and LP 105 1970, LP 106 1971, by Sewart Seacraft, Berwick, USA.
Dimensions:
Displ: 15 tons full load; L: 12.3m/40ft 4in; B: 3.8m/12ft 6in; D: 0.92m/3ft.
Crew:
6 + 25 troops.
Power/Speed:
Twin screws; 2 × 235bhp General Motors 6071-M diesel engines/23 knots.
Guns/Armour:
2 × 0.50 cal Browning HMG.
Fate:
In service.
LP 201 to LP 204
The latest class of river boat is the aluminium CROQ 16 (right). These patrol boats built of aluminium by Armacraft follow the current trend towards troop exit doors mounted in the bows, as popularised by the Swedish CB90 designed by Dockstavarvet.
Launched:
2016 by Armacraft, Australia.
Dimensions:
Displ: 15 tons; L: 15.6m/51ft 2in; B: 4.2m/13ft 9in; D: 0.8m/2ft 7½in.
Crew:
12.
Power/Speed:
Twin waterjets; 2 × 800bhp diesel motors/50 knots.
Guns/Armour:
MG + the personal weapons of the troops carried.
Fate:
In service.
Centre: Arsenal-type river patrol craft of the LP 07 series.
Lancha Patrullera 102.
PERU
LAKE TITICACA
BAP Yavari and Yapura
BAP Yavari and Yapura are among the oldest working iron ships afloat. They were ‘pin-built’ gunboats ordered by Peru in 1861 to patrol Lake Titicaca, which was shared 60 per cent/40 per cent by Peru and Bolivia. The order was given to James Watt & Co, who prepared the design and built the steam machinery, but subcontracted the actual hull construction to the Thames Ironworks. The kits of parts – 2,766 in total for the two vessels – were despatched to Peru on board the sailing ship Mayola in June 1862. On their arrival at the port of Arica, the crates were transported by rail to the foothills of the Andes, where serious problems began. It was only with the greatest difficulty that the parts were transported on the backs of mules and porters up precipitous mountain tracks to the lake, some 12,500ft (3,840m) above sea level. Other delays were caused by a threatened Spanish takeover of the rich guano deposits which at the time were Peru’s main export. Eventually enough parts, mixed between the two ships, were assembled and construction of the first, the Yavari, could begin. She took to the water on Christmas Day 1870. Her sister followed her down the slip in 1873.
As no coal deposits could be found nearby, and the lake is above the treeline, there remained the problem of what fuel to use in their boilers. The answer was found in dried llama dung. The llama, being an extremely well-organised animal, normally likes to deposit its natural products in the same place, simplifying collection as fuel.
Model of BAP Yavari in her original configuration. (Photo from Website masamiandwill.com)
Yavari in 2016. (Photo The Yavari Project via Meriel Larken)
The gunboats had been accompanied from England by four Armstrong 24-pounder guns, two for each vessel, on pivot mounts fore and aft. Because of the war scare with Spain, the four Armstrongs were retained for coast defence and never arrived at the Lake. A photo of Yapura as coastguard ship BAP 306 Puna shows that she at least was armed, with what under a cover appears to be a Hotchkiss QF, probably a 3-pounder.
While nominally remaining navy ships, both were leased to the railway company, and operated passenger and goods services on the Lake as part of a growing commercial fleet. At the end of the nineteenth century Yavari was cut in two and enlarged, with the addition of an additional 50ft (15.2m) section to increase her cargo capacity. In 1914 her by now overloaded steam engine was replaced with a Bollinder hot-bulb semi-diesel engine from Sweden. Yapura was not lengthened, but was also converted to diesel power at an unrecorded date.
Yavari was discovered in 1982, laid up as a discarded hulk in a corner of the lake, by Meriel Larkin, Alfred Yarrow’s great-granddaughter. By Meriel’s efforts Yavari has not only been saved from scrapping, but has been restored to her 1914 condition. She runs tourist excursions on the lake, where she is kept as a museum. Her Bollinder engine is the largest and oldest-surviving example in the world. Sister Yapura was taken back by the Peruvian navy as BAP 306 Puna, and armed as a coastguard ship. She still survives, now used as a floating hospital.
Launched:
Yavari 1870, Yapura 1873 by workmen from Thames Ironworks, at Puna, Lake Titicaca.
Dimensions:
Displ: 500 tons; L: 30.48m/100ft, Yavari lengthened to 45.7m/150ft; B: 5.2m/17ft; D: 1.82m/6ft.
Power/Speed:
Single screw; 60ihp steam engine and sails (lifting screw for use under sail alone)/9 knots. Replaced (Yavari) by 320bhp Bollinder semi-diesel in 1914.
Guns/Armour:
2 × 24-pounder Armstrong (never fitted in Peru); Puna later armed with 1 × 3-pounder QF.
Fate:
Still in existence.
THE RIVER GUNBOATS
BAP Morena and Pastaza
Unarmed river steamers operated by the Peruvian Navy. The two vessels served the settlements of Loreto and Yurimaguas.
Launched:
1862 by Samuda Bros., Poplar.
Dimensions:
Displ: 500 tons; L: 54.86m/180ft; B: 7.62m/25ft; D: 2.29m/7ft 6in (forward) 2.13m/7ft (aft).
Crew:
?
Power/Speed:
Side paddle wheels; steam engines 160 nominal hp.
Guns/Armour:
Small arms of the crew only.
Fate:
Sold 1878 to Compañía de Navegación Peruana.
BAP Iquitos
Launched:
1875 as commercial river steamer. Rebuilt 1896.
Dimensions:
Displ: 500 tons; L: 54.86m/180ft; B: 7.62m/25ft; D: 2.29m/7ft 6in (forward) 2.13m/7ft (aft).
Power/Speed:
Twin screws; compound steam engines/7.5 knots.
Guns/Armour:
2 × 37mm (Pom-Poms?); 2 × AA MG/Bulletproof plating.
Fate:
Stricken 1967.
Iquitos seen in 1935. (Official Peruvian Navy photo)
BAP Cahuapanas
BAP Cahuapanas is the oldest steamer still active on the Amazon, having been bought by private individuals and renamed for naval hero Teniente Primero Manuel Clavero. She has been restored to full working order by AmazonEco as a passenger steamer, and regularly carries scientific expeditions and eco-tourists up the Amazon.
During a long military career between 1876 and 1927, Cahuapanas cruised the Amazon to protect Peru’s frontiers, to explore unknown tributaries and maintain vital communication links through her mail runs. In 1900 she opened up the Putumayo River, and in 1903, carrying twenty soldiers, she pa
rticipated in the military expedition to expel Ecuadorian invaders from the Napo River. Under Captain Numa P Leon, in 1905 she took part in the joint Peruvian-Brazilian exploration of the Upper Purus River, during which the frontiers between the two nations were fixed. After 1900 she was rebuilt and repaired countless times, her value being recognised despite many calls to have her scrapped. Her nickname at the time was ‘Charapanas’, after the Charapas, a slow-moving breed of river turtle.
Between 1938 and 2007 she worked as a barge on the rivers around Iquitos, before being purchased by AmazonEco, and restored. Her longevity has probably been enhanced by the use of galvanised steel in her construction.
BAP Cahuapanas. Enlarging this photo clearly shows the port 37mm Pom-Pom; the barrel of her starboard Pom-Pom appears behind the group of crewmen. (Photo from Website historicboatmuseum.org/site/es/clavero-2/)
Launched:
1876 by Claparede Frères, Paris.
Dimensions:
Displ: 30 tons; L: 19.7m/64ft 7½in; B: 3.8m/12ft 5½in; D: (stern) 1.2m/3ft 11in (bow) 0.2m/8in.
Crew:
15.
Power/Speed:
Single screw; compound steam engine/6.4 knots.
Guns/Armour:
2 × 3-pounder QF; Later, 2 × 37mm Pom-Poms; 1 or 2 Nordenfelt MG (?)/Bulletproof plating.
Fate:
Stricken 1927, sold for commercial use, renamed Clavero. Still in use.
BAP Santa Rosa
The Santa Rosa was a small gunboat originally built as a merchant vessel in Glasgow in 1883. She was discarded in 1920.
BAP Coronel Portillo
Launched:
1902 as the commercial river steamer San Pablo.
Dimensions:
Displ: 49 tons; L: 24.5m/80ft 6in; B: 4.95m/16ft 3in; D: 1.2m/4ft.
Power/Speed:
Twin screws; compound steam engines/Less than 7 knots.
Guns/Armour:
2 × 3-pounder QF; 2 × 37mm QF; 3 × AA MG/Bulletproof plating.
BAP America
America, named after America Nunez Flores de Millan, was built at Birkenhead in 1904, and arrived in the Amazon under her own power in May 1905. For many years she remained the most powerful Peruvian naval unit on the Amazon. She was built of ¼in (6.4mm) thick galvanised steel plates, which are perhaps the secret behind her longevity, with four watertight compartments.
Coronel Portillo. (Official Peruvian Navy Photo)
America making a port call during the early twentieth century. At that time she was the most powerful warship in the area.
By the 1960s she carried Bofors fore and aft, and four Oerlikons.
America took part in several conflicts with Peru’s neighbours over territorial claims, notably in 1911, when Colombian forces constructed a fort at La Pedrera on the Putumayo River, on territory claimed by Peru. America and three transports carried Peruvian troops under the command of Colonel Oscar R Benavides to confront the invaders. In a lengthy engagement at La Pedrera, the Colombian forces were defeated, but not before causing damage to America from small-arms fire.
Launched:
1904 by Tranmere Bay Development Co., Birkenhead, Yard No 232.
Dimensions:
Displ: 240 tons; L: 41.1m/135ft; B: 6.1m/20ft; D: 1.07m/3ft 6in.
Crew:
30.
Power/Speed:
Twin screws; converted to oil-firing 1946; 2 × 175ihp VTE steam engines/15 knots.
Guns/Armour:
1904: 4 × 3-pounder Armstrong QF; 2 × .303in MG. 1930s: 2 × 65mm Schneider QF; 1 × 3-pounder QF; 2 × 20mm Madsen. 1960s: 2 × 40mm Bofors; 4 × 20mm Oerlikon/Bulletproof plating.
Fate:
Since 1984: Museum ship at Clavero Naval Base, Iquitos.
Napo
A small shallow-draught gunboat built by Yarrow. During the 1930s she was modernised, and two 20mm cannon were added, probably Madsens. She served for many years on the Amazon, only being discarded in 1971.
Launched:
1920 by Yarrow.
Dimensions:
Displ: 98 tons full load; L: 30.94m/101ft 6in; B: 5.49m/18ft; D: 0.91m/3ft.
Crew:
22.
Power/Speed:
Single screw; VTE steam engine 250ihp/12 knots.
Guns/Armour:
4 × 3-pounder Hotchkiss QF; 2 × 20mm AA/Bulletproof plating.
Fate:
Scrapped 1971.
Napo as seen in 1942. (Official Peruvian Navy Photo)
Lima
In May 1933 the old Peruvian cruiser/gunboat Lima together with the destroyer Teniente Rodríguez was sent to Iquitos to guard the port during the conflict with Colombia. Happily, the League of Nations was called in to settle the dispute, and Lima saw no action.
Cruiser Lima seen late in her career. (US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 87837)
Launched:
1881 by Howaldtswerke, Kiel.
Dimensions:
Displ: 1,800 tons (2,255 tons full load); L: 79.04m/259ft 4in; B: 11m/35ft; D: 5m/16ft 5in.
Crew:
160+.
Power/Speed:
Twin screws; 2 × steam engines, total 1,800ihp/16.2 knots.
Guns/Armour:
4 × 4in Armstrong; several 3-pounder Hotchkiss QF/Unarmoured.
Fate:
Stricken 1950, reported still in existence in 1999.
Loreto Class
BAP Loreto CF-404, (ex-CF-12), and BAP Amazonas CF-403 (ex-CF-11) broke new ground in 1934 with their diesel engines which gave them very long legs. The excellence of their design, plus the fact that they operate in a fresh-water environment, have kept them in service up to the date of writing.
Launched:
1934 by Electric Boat, Groton.
Dimensions:
Displ: 250 tons; L: 46.7m/153ft 2½in; B: 6.71m/22ft; D: 1.37m/4ft 6in.
Crew:
35.
Power/Speed:
Twin screws; 2 × Diesel engines, total 750bhp/15.5 knots.
Guns/Armour:
1934: 3 × 3in/50 DP; 2 × 3-pounder QF; 2 × MG/Bulletproof plating. 1960s: + 3 × 40mm Bofors; + 2 × 20mm Oerlikon.
Fate:
In service.
BAP Amazonas photographed in 1934, with her original armament of QF guns. This view shows to advantage her block superstructure, copied from that of Napo. It certainly provides large accommodation space, but would make a huge target for anything bigger than a machine gun. (Photo from Website files.balancer.ru)
A more recent photo, this time of Loreto, with her modern fit of 3in DP and Bofors guns. (Photo from Website worldmilitaryintel.blogspot.fr)
BAP Ucayali CF-402, ex-CF-14 followed by BAP Loreto. (Photo by Kodak 1864 on Photobucket)
Marañón Class
BAP Marañón and Ucayali are easily recognised by their lofty bridge structure which gives an excellent command of the surrounding river banks. Based on the Upper Amazon, they were still in service at the time of writing.
Launched:
1951 by Thornycroft, Woolston.
Dimensions:
Displ: 365 tons full load; L: 47.22m/154ft 11in; B: 9.75m/32ft; D: 1.22m/4ft.
Crew:
40.
Power/Speed:
Twin screws; diesel engines, total 800bhp/10 knots.
Guns/Armour:
1 × 3in/50 DP; 2 × 40mm Bofors; 2 × 20mm Oerlikon; 2 × MG/Bulletproof plating.
Fate:
In service.
Clavero Class
These impressive armoured river gunboats took some years to construct, launch and commission, as SIMA Peru decided to undertake the project themselves without outside aid. The process was not helped by a serious engine room fire which disabled Clavero in 2010. Clavero’s sister-ship Castilla followed her down the slip four years later.
Clavero now carries her planned armament of five SACAF electro-mechanically worked dual armament turrets, operated by remote control from inside her armour protection. Each gyro-stabilis
ed turret is armed with a .50 cal Browning HMG and an automatic 40mm grenade launcher. They have cameras in the central vision slot, and are controlled by joystick. For close-in air defence she carries at least six 9K38 Igla Manpad missiles. She can launch two Bora Zodiacs from her stern ramps, rapidly disembarking or embarking her complement of Jungle Infantry.
Unfortunately for SIMA, which has invested considerable resources into the design and construction of the two Clavero class gunboats, the decision by Peru to join in the Joint Amazon Gunboat Project with Colombia and Brazil, means that the two will probably remain the only members of the class to be built.
Launched:
CF-15 Clavero 2009, CF-16 Castilla 2013, by SIMA Peru, Iquitos.
Dimensions:
Displ: 344 tons; L: 43.5m/142ft 9in; B: 10.6m/34ft 9in; D: 0.61m/2ft.
Crew:
51 (3 officers + 28 sailors + 20 men of Jungle Infantry Battalion No 1.
Power/Speed:
Triple screws; 3 × 355bhp Caterpillar 3408C Turbo diesel engines/14 knots (8 knots max in shallow water).
Guns/Armour:
5 × SACAF turrets, each with 1 × .50 cal Browning HMG + 40mm grenade launcher; 6+ Manpad AA missiles/Bulletproof hull and citadel.
Fate:
In service.
Clavero under way, carrying her full armament fit of four dual-weapon turrets aft and one forward.
One of her five SACAF remote-controlled turrets.
POLAND
During the final stages and the immediate aftermath of the First World War, the reborn Polish nation had to cope with invasion from Russia and also from the Ukraine. The best, and often the only, means of transport in the marshy areas to the east of the reformed country were the rivers, and both the Bolsheviks and the Poles resorted to arming river steamers in their struggle for dominance. Towards the end of the conflict, the Poles decided to up the stakes by investing in the construction of four purpose-built armoured monitors, and thus began the between-wars story of the Vistula and later the Pińsk Flotillas.