River Gunboats
Page 53
The current Riverine Patrol Craft which replace the Project Xena craft are now entering service with the South African MRS. In order to demonstrate their capabilities to the public, on 12 July 2017 one of these new craft successfully negotiated the Knysna Heads, once described by the Royal Navy as the most dangerous inlet of all. At the time of writing very little information was released on these craft.
Launched:
First unit January 2016 by Marine & General Engineering, Durban.
Dimensions:
L: 12m/39ft 4½in.
Crew:
12.
Power/Speed:
Twin Castoldi waterjets; 2 × 450bhp Marine diesel VGT-series engines/40–45 knots.
Guns/Armour:
1 × 0.50 cal HMG; 2 × 7.62mm SS77 MG.
Fate:
In service.
The 12m Riverine Patrol Craft which negotiated the treacherous Knysa Heads. (Photo by CPO J.G. Grant, on Website: http://www.defenceweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=48634)
SOUTH VIETNAM 1955–1975
In order to supplement the limited manpower resources available to them, from 1952 the French began the formation of the Vietnamese Navy. While Vietnamese officers were undergoing training, the Vietnamese Government asked French officers to remain in command. This arrangement continued up until 20 August 1955, by which date Vietnamese officers took command of all units of the Republic of Vietnam’s Navy. From small beginnings with just 2,000 men and 22 vessels, by the close of 1972, following the handover of all American combat vessels to the Vietnamese, the Navy had grown to 1,500 vessels and more than 40,000 men. This chapter benefits from several rare photos which appear on the Website http://vnafmamn.com, which is a valuable source of reference for this tortuous period.
Ex-French armoured LCVPs coupled together. Note the monitor at right, armed with a 40mm Bofors and probably a 20mm MG151 cannon in the shielded bow mounting.
Sometimes called the STCAN – notably by Norman Friedman in his US Small Combatants – this is an 11m FOM in Vietnamese hands. Note that what appears to be a bow turret is in fact a three-sided faceted shield, open at the rear.
In its initial years the Navy was equipped with former French gunboats, the armoured LCVPs, 11m FOM, monitors, LSI(L) and LSSL. For details, see FRANCE. During the 1950s and 1960s the Vietnamese received a large number of vessels from the United States under the Mutual Defense Assistance Programme. These included the remaining 40ft Work Boats (the ‘Y-Cutters’) and a series of monitors based on the French designs and similarly converted from LCM-6 landing craft. They can easily be recognised by their lack of external bar armour protection, although no doubt this was retrofitted to the Vietnamese monitors at the same time as it was introduced on the USN versions.
RPCs – River Patrol Craft
The RPC was a specific design drawn up for South Vietnamese river patrol work. The first ten boats were built by Peterson Boatbuilding, the order being completed by 11 March 1965, and the remaining twenty-four by Birchfield Boiler, their order completed in February 1966. Although designed for use in South Vietnam, six were transferred to Thailand in March 1967.
The proposed armament of a single 20mm cannon in a completely enclosed bow turret and a single .50 cal in a similar rear turret was changed to twin .50 cal Brownings in open armoured gun tubs. Two single .30 cal Browning MG were planned for lateral gun tubs, but in the above photo none are fitted.
Although inspired by the French 11m FOM, the RPC turned out to be a failure in its intended role. It had a high profile, it was slow, and noisy, its draught was too great for riverine work, and the internal space was based on the small size of the proposed Vietnamese crewmen, so it was extremely cramped. Its armour gave limited protection against small-arms fire only, and was ineffective against 12.7mm HMG projectiles. It would not withstand a strike by an RPG, against which a higher speed would have been the best defence. Finally, the rear hull was w-shaped in profile, and tended to attract river vegetation. All in all, an unsuccessful design and highly unpopular.
Launched:
From 8 January 1965 by Peterson Boatbuilding, Wisconsin; from July 1965 by Birchfield Boiler, Tacoma.
Dimensions:
Displ: 29.22 tons; L: 10.9m/35ft 9in; B: 3.15m/10ft 4in; D: 1.14m/3ft 9in.
Crew:
6 + up to 12 troops.
Power/Speed:
Twin screws; 2 × Gray Marine 64HN9 225bhp diesel engines/15 knots.
Guns/Armour:
2 × twin .50 cal Browning HMG in turrets bow and stern; 2 × single .30 cal Browning MG in lateral gun tubs/Bulletproof armour plating.
Fate:
Surviving vessels were taken over by the People’s Republic after the fall of Saigon.
In 1969 all the surviving US riverine combat vessels were handed over to the Vietnamese Navy. The next year, the US Navy transferred ten newly-built HSSCs (Heavy SEAL Support Craft) to South Vietnam. For details, see UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
In this photo the RPC lacks the lateral .30 cal MG gun tubs behind the bridge, and the armoured tub has been removed from the rear twin .50 cal Browning mounting. (Photo via John Bowden on Website www.papermodelers.com)
The official US Navy drawing of the RPC design as finalised in September 1964. The production craft would be fitted with a different profile bow turret armour, plus a framework for a tarpaulin cover over the rear deck.
SPAIN
With a colonial empire spanning the globe, it is not surprising to find some 120 steam gunboats listed as serving in the Spanish navy. However, with the independence of the Spanish colonies in the New World, the vast majority of them were employed patrolling the multitude of islands in the Philippines, and do not fall within the parameters of this work. However, several gunboats which were captured by the US Navy in the war of 1898 did see later service under the Stars and Stripes on the Chinese rivers – see UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
The rare true Spanish river gunboats were in fact the small number which patrolled the Rio Miño, the border with Portugal. In 1963 the Spanish Navy began to follow the Portuguese tradition of handing down the name of the withdrawn border patrol boat to its successor.
Their traditional role consisted of protecting their respective countries’ interests as laid down by treaty, and also to regulate fishing, hunting and sporting activities along the river. In addition they monitor work which may affect navigability, and cooperate with the police to control immigration, smuggling, drug trafficking and other illegal activities.
Perla Class
The class comprised Perla, Rubi and Diamante. Perla was the gunboat employed as the principal guardship on the River Miño. Her sisters, used for coastal patrols, were stricken in 1899, after only tenyears’ service, but Perla lasted in the freshwater of the river up until she was replaced in 1928.
Launched:
1889 by Levante, Valencia.
Dimensions:
Displ: 42 tons; L: 19m/62ft 4in; B: 3.6m/11ft 9¾in; D: 1.8m/5ft 11in.
Crew:
26.
Power/Speed:
Single screw; compound steam engine, total 110ihp/7 knots.
Guns/Armour:
Originally, 1 × two-barrelled 1in (25mm) Nordenfelt MG; probably replaced later by a more modern MG.
Fate:
Stricken 1928.
Cartagenera in 1919. (Photo Alferez de navio, by M. Mille)
Cartagenera
Cartagenera was employed as a guardship on the Rio Miño, probably to support the older and much slower Perla.
Launched:
1908 by Levante, Valencia.
Dimensions:
Displ: 27 tons; L: 16.3m/53ft 5¾in; B: 3.6m/11ft 9¾in D: 1.2m/3ft 11in.
Power/Speed:
Single screw; vertical compound steam engine, 120ihp/12 knots.
Guns/Armour:
As built: 1 × 3-pounder Nordenfelt QF. Later, probably + 1 × MG.
Fate:
Stricken 1925.
; Cabo Fradera
The replacement for Perla on the Rio Miño, Cabo Fradera was taken over by the Nationalists during the Spanish Civil War and used as a patrol boat. When she was retired from the river in 1963, her replacement took on her name.
Launched:
1928 by Levante, Valencia.
Dimensions:
Displ: 45 tons; L: 22.8m/74ft 11½in; B: 4.4m/14ft 5in; D: 1.2m/3ft 11in.
Crew:
16.
Power/Speed:
Twin screws; 2 × 101bhp Jistral petrol engines/10.7 knots.
Guns/Armour:
1 × 3-pounder QF; 1 × MG.
Fate:
Stricken March 1963.
(Spanish Navy official photo)
P-201 Cabo Fradera
The replacement Cabo Fradera is based in Tui (Pontevedra), and patrols the River Miño for some 140 days a year. Their busiest period is from December to April each year, during the angula (elver eel) and lamprey fishing season.
Launched:
1961 by the Bazán National Company, La Carraca.
Dimensions:
Displ: 28 tons; L: 17.85m/58ft 6¾in; B: 4.25m/13ft 11in.
Crew:
7.
Power/Speed:
Twin screws; 2 × Pegaso-Guascor diesel engines, total 550bhp.
Guns/Armour:
2 × 7.92mm MG42 MG.
Fate:
In service.
(Official Spanish Navy photo)
SUDAN, MAHDIST STATE
With the fall of Khartoum and the withdrawal of the British forces from the Sudan, the forces of the Mahdi were free to salvage several Nile steamers to add to the Fasher and Musselemieh previously captured by the Mahdists at Berber in May 1884, the Mohammed Ali captured on the Blue Nile and the Ismailiah which surrendered to the Mahdi at Khartoum.
In the Sixth Cataract north of Omdurman they discovered and salvaged the Bordein and the Tel el Hoween. Further north at Gubat, they found the two steamers Safia and Tewfikieh which had been immobilised by Baker’s engineers when the British left. Parts of their machinery had been removed, but it is likely the parts had simply been thrown overboard. Both vessels were soon put into service with the Mahdi’s navy. Spare parts could also have been sourced from the worn-out steamer Shebeen which Gordon had kept at Khartoum for spares. It is likely the Mahdi also took over the Husseinieh and the Zubair which had been assembled by Gordon from the parts stored at Khartoum.
As with his captured artillery, the Mahdi was shrewd enough to keep Egyptian crews to man and maintain his fleet of steamers. During the thirteen years before the return of the British, no doubt native Sudanese were also trained to take over the work of crewing the gunboats and manning their armament.
In October 1888, Bordein, Safia, Tel el Hoween, Ismailiah and Mohammed Ali steamed up the White Nile as part of the Mahdist expedition to attempt to crush the forces of Emin Pasha, Governor of Equatoria. But Emin Pasha refused to join battle with the overwhelming numbers of Dervishes, and simply withdrew his troops further to the south.
Ismailiah met her end on 17 August 1898. The Khalifa had been trying to counter the dominance of the approaching Egyptian gunboats by building batteries on the banks of the river. He also decided to mine the Nile near Omdurman. Accordingly an Egyptian officer held prisoner since 1885 was ordered to construct two mines using old boilers filled with explosives. Each one was to be fired by planting a loaded revolver inside, connected to the bank by a cord. The Ismailiah was being used to plant the first mine in the centre of the river, when it accidentally detonated, demonstrating its lethality by killing the Egyptian officer and the whole crew, and sinking the Ismailiah. Spies related the news to Kitchener’s camp, along with the fact that the head of the arsenal, who was brought in to lay the second mine, had wisely taken the precaution of allowing water to enter and dampen the powder.
On 25 August 1898 Safia and Tewfikieh, towing barges, were sent by the Khalifa with a force of Dervishes estimated at between 2,000 and 3,000 men, up the Blue Nile to Fashoda, to crush the small French force under Commandant Marchand which had taken over the abandoned Egyptian fort there. The French force comprised nine officers and NCOs and just 120 Tirailleurs Sénégalais, but they were armed with Lebel magazine repeating rifles. Arriving in sight of the fort, the Dervish gunboats opened up with cannon fire, but the French had reinforced the ramparts, and the fire was ineffectual. The Dervishes continued to advance until just opposite the fort, the Safia broke down, leaving her crew and the Dervish warriors in the barges she was towing in full view of the French troops. The latter fired off volley after volley and killed some 500 of the Dervishes. Eventually the Tewfikieh came up and secured a tow line to the Safia, pulling her and her barges out of range. While the Dervish force retreated down river, a detachment of the Senegalese under Mangin on the river bank followed their progress, determined to stop any further attempt to land.
On 7 September 1898 Tewfikieh was returning down river when she ran into the Anglo-Egyptian flotilla at Khartoum. On seeing himself surrounded her captain wisely surrendered. He mentioned that they had fought with foreign soldiers at Fashoda, but did not recognise their flag. Crewmen of the flotilla prised some bullets out of the timber cladding around the Dervish steamer, and discovered that they were small-calibre modern projectiles. Based on this discovery, Kitchener decided to proceed up the Nile to investigate.
The Khalifa’s ‘navy’ fought its last brief action on 11 September. The gunboat flotilla arrived at Reng, and observed the Safia moored with steam up, and some 500 Dervishes camped on the bank. They fired on Sultan, while the Safia attempted to escape. One 12-pounder shell from Sultan struck her boiler, which exploded, and Safia was seriously damaged.
SWEDEN
Sweden does not have a river or lake gunboat flotilla, even though the country has an extensive system of interconnected rivers and canals. The Trollhatte Canal and the Gota Canal cross Sweden from the North Sea to the Baltic, connecting two major lakes. Six other minor canals connect to inland lakes. The Swedes, however, are providers of fast patrol boats to other countries which use them on their own riverine systems. The Combat Boat 90 (CB90) design has been chosen by several countries, including Brazil and the US Navy. For details, see UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
(Photo and general arrangement drawing from Docksta Vartet)
SWITZERLAND
With rising tensions in Europe during the 1930s, the Swiss began to become aware of the need for armed patrol boats to secure their frontiers formed by lakes, so in 1938, the General Staff asked the KTA (Kriegstechnische Abteilung, War Technical Department) in Bern for recommendations for suitable patrol boats to equip the Frontier Guards and the Army. At the same time the Swiss military commissioned a design project from consulting engineer Hr. Jelinek in New York.
While events in Europe accelerated towards war, the Swiss moved cautiously, with the principal aim of producing as many of the elements of the desired patrol boats in Switzerland.
On 18 September 1939, a fortnight after the start of the Second World War, they contacted Werner Risch, designer of a successful speedboat Risch II. The hull of this home-grown vessel was constructed in a novel way, with the traditional planking replaced by longitudinal aluminium profiles, bolted together to form a light, strong and rigid structure (a method covered by Patent No 191399 granted on 16 August 1937). Impressed by what they saw, the army purchased the Risch II on 4 November 1940 for the sum of 75,000 Swiss francs. She was armed with a 20mm Solothurn anti-tank rifle in the bows and a twin Model 38 water-cooled MG mounting amidships. Performance trials and firing tests were satisfactory, so it was decided to produce a series of eight patrol boats based on the design of Risch II. Much later, on 7 July 1941, the prototype was renamed Uri.
Risch II/Uri
Launched:
1937/1938 as a touring boat, by Schiffbau Werner Risch AG, Zurich-Wollishofen. Hull of aluminium planks (Peraluman 2), bolted longitudinally; deck of mahogany.
Dimension
s:
Displ: 4 tons; L: 11.8m/38ft 8½in; B: 2.85m/9ft 4in; D: 0.65m/2ft 1½in.
Crew:
7.
Power/Speed:
Single screw; Sterling 12.5 litre 6-cyl petrol engine, 225bhp at 2,150 rpm/27 knots.
Guns/Armour:
1 × 20mm Solothurn anti-tank gun forward; 1 × twin 7.5mm MG Flab Doppel G 38 mounting.
Fate:
Stricken 1983, restored 1993–5. Preserved in Rütenen.
Profile drawing of speedboat Risch II before receiving her armament. (From Website http://pbooturi.ch/geschichte/index.html)
20mm Tankbüchse Solothurn S18–100 AT gun. (Photo Museum Altes Zeughaus Solothurn)
Uri restored. (Photo from Website http://www.pbooturi.ch/bilder-uri/)
Type 41 Patrol Boats
Meanwhile, finding themselves cut off on all sides by Axis countries, the Swiss began desperately to prepare the defences of their National Redoubt, in case of a Nazi attack. At the same time they began the construction of a flotilla of patrol boats based on Risch II, to cover the frontiers which were formed by Lake Constance and Lake Garda. But then on 12 July 1940 it was decided to pull the planned future patrol boats back from Lake Constance and Lake Leman, and station them in the lakes forming the boundaries of the National Redoubt.
Approval for construction was given on 27 January 1941, and they were delivered in three batches: December 1941: Thun and Brienz; July 1943: Sargans, Schwyz and Unterwalden; April 1944: Spiez, Böntigen and Brunnen. The late introduction of the final boats of the flotilla would have still been in time to face the third and final Nazi invasion plan, drawn up by the SS in 1944.