River Gunboats

by River Gunboats- An Illustrated Encyclopaedia (retail) (epub)

  Soca and Vardar

  In December 1918 both Sava and Bosna (ex-Temes II) were interned at Belgrade, and incorporated in the Serbian Flotilla, Sava as Soca and Bosna as Vardar. In 1920 Soca was allocated to Romania as Bucovina, but Yugoslavia was allowed to keep Vardar. In April 1941 Vardar was blown up by her crew to avoid capture by the Germans, and was too badly damaged to be repairable. For her specifications, see AUSTRIA-HUNGARY.

  Bregalnica and Neretva

  Armoured patrol boats Wels and Barsch were interned by the Serbs in December 1918, and in January 1919 were incorporated in their Danube Flotilla as Bregalnica and Neretva respectively. The Allies did not, however, permit them to keep these patrol boats, and in April 1920 Bregalnica was allocated to Hungary as Szeged, and Wels returned to Austrian ownership under her original name of Barsch. For their Specifications, see AUSTRIA-HUNGARY.

  Graničar and Stražar

  These small patrol boats were built by Hitzler in 1930, for service on Lake Ohrid. Both were captured by the Germans in April 1941 and transferred to Italian control. With the Italian Armistice in 1943, the Germans seized them once more and transferred them to Bulgaria. In 1945 they were recovered by the Yugoslavs but were not returned to military use, being employed as passenger boats on the lake.

  Launched:

  1930 by Hitzler DY, Regensburg.

  Dimensions:

  Displ: 30 tons, 36 tons full load; L: 18.2m/59ft 8½in; B: 3m/9ft 10in; D: 1m/3ft 3in.

  Power/Speed:

  Single screw; 1 × 120bhp diesel engine/10.7 knots.

  Guns/Armour:

  2 × 7.92mm MG.

  Fate:

  1945, passenger boats on Lake Ohrid.

  THE PERIOD 1945–1991

  With the rebirth of Yugoslavia after the end of the Second World War, the navy built several river patrol vessels for use on the Danube. When a decade after the death of Tito the Yugoslav state imploded, the surviving naval units were once more parcelled out between the emerging separate states. With the breakup of the Yugoslav State and the dissipation of its vessels, the photographic history of this period is also fragmented. Future enthusiasts are to be encouraged to fill in the gaps.

  RP 111 River Patrol Boat

  One of the USN Rhine River Patrol vessels, built by Hitzler, and transferred to Yugoslavia in the late 1950s. For specifications, see SERBIA.

  RP 200 River Gunboats

  Two units designed for the German Donau Flotilla in 1945 were completed after the war for the Yugoslav Navy, and numbered 201 and 202. They displaced 30 tons, could attain 15 knots and were armed with two 3in/50 guns. Both were stricken in the late 1970s.

  Patrol Boats 213, 214 and 216

  See SERBIA.

  Neštin Class

  For details, see SERBIA.

  Bibliography

  BOOKS

  Alford, Lt. Henry S L and Sword, Lt. W Dennistoun, Egyptian Sudan, Its Loss and Recovery (Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 1992).

  Arthur, Max, The True Glory, The Royal Navy 1914-1939 (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1996).

  Baker, R, Holt, W J, Leneghan, J, Sims, A J and Watson, A W, Selected Papers on British Warship Design in World War II, from the Transactions of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects, 1947 (London: Conway Maritime Press, 1983).

  Bathe, B W, British Warships 1845-1945 (London: HMSO, 1970).

  Becker, Seymour, Russia’s Protectorates in Central Asia: Bukhara and Khiva, 1865-1924 (Central Asian Studies, Abingdon, Oxford: Routledge, 2009).

  Breyer, Siegfried, Soviet Warship Development Volume 1: 1917–1937 (London: Conway, 1992).

  Budzbon, Przemysław, Soviet Navy at War 1941-1945 (London: Arms and Armour Press, 1989).

  Buxton, Ian, His Majesty’s Monitor M33, 1915-2001 (Winchester: Hampshire County Council, 2001).

  __________, Big Gun Monitors (Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing, 2008).

  Cann, John P, Brown Waters of Africa, Portuguese Riverine Warfare 1961-1974 (Solihull: Helion & Co. Ltd., 2013).

  Carrico, John M., Vietnam Ironclads, A Pictorial History of the US Navy River Assault Craft, 1966-1970 (Charleston SC: Brown Water Enterprises, 2007).

  Cato, Conrad, The Shallow End of War (Driffield: Oakpast Ltd, 2013).

  Chernikov, I I, Pyccкиe peчнЬle флотилии за 1000 лет (907-1917) (Saint Petersburg: UN Publishing, 1999).

  Churchill, Winston, The River War: An Account of the Reconquest of the Sudan (reprint by Amazon, 2014).

  Clowes, William Laird, The Royal Navy: a history from the earliest times to the death of Queen Victoria, Vol 3 (London: Sampson Low, Marston and Company, 1903).

  Couhat, Jean Labayle, French Warships of World War II (London: Ian Allan, 1971).

  Crăciunoiu, dr. eng. Christian and Georgescu, Mihai, Danube Monitors (Bucharest: Modelism International, [undated]).

  Estival, Contre-amiral Bernard, Les Canonnières de Chine 1900-1945 (Nantes: Marines Editions, 2001).

  Fall, Bernard B, Street Without Joy (New York: Schoken Books, 1972).

  Friedman, Norman, US Small Combatants (Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1987).

  _________________, The Naval Institute Guide to World Naval Weapons Systems 1997-1998 (Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1998).

  Garrett, Richard, General Gordon (London: Book Club Associates/Arthur Barker Ltd, 1974).

  Gibbons, Tony, The Complete Encyclopedia of Battleships and Battlecruisers (London: Salamander Books Limited, 1983).

  Glantz, David M, August Storm: Soviet Tactical and Operational Combat in Manchuria, 1945, Leavenworth Papers No 8 (Fort Leavenworth, Kansas: Combat Studies Institute, 1983).

  Good, Charles M, The Steamer Parish: The Rise and Fall of Missionary Medicine on an African Frontier (University of Chicago Press, 2004).

  Gosnell, Lieutenant Commander H Allen, Guns of the Western Waters, The Story of River Gunboats in the Civil War (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1949; new edition by Kessinger Legacy Reprints, undated).

  Greger, René, The Russian Fleet 1914–1917 (London: Ian Allan, 1972). Hake, A Edmond, Events in the Taeping Rebellion (London: W H Allen & Co, 1891).

  Hampshire, A Cecil, Armed With Stings (London: New English Library, 1976).

  Hansen, Hans Jürgen, The Ships of the German Fleets 1848–1945, (Hamlyn, London, 1974).

  Heldenschiffe der sowjetischen Seekriegsflotte (Politische Verwaltung der Volksmarine in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Arbeitskreis für Schiffahrts – und Marinegeschichte des Deutschen Demokratischen Republik, March 1981).

  Horne, Alistair, The Fall of Paris, The Siege and the Commune 1870-71 (New York: St Martin’s Press, 1965).

  James, Captain E H, The Motor Patrol, Australian War Museum MSS 209, Chapter 6: The Dead Sea.

  Jane’s Fighting Ships of World War I (1919 Edition, reprinted London: Studio Editions Ltd, 1990).

  Jehenne, Contre-amiral, Historique des batteries de canonniersmarins et des canonnières-fluviales (Paris, Service Historique de la Défense, 1938, via Gallica, 2012).

  Jentschura, Hansgeorg, Jung, Dieter and Mickel, Peter, Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy 1860-1945, translated by Anthony Preston and J D Brown (Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1997).

  Károly, Csonkaréti and Benczúr, László, Haditengerészek És Folyam rök A Dunán 1870-1945 (Budapest: Zrínyi Kiadó, [undated]).

  Kemp, Paul J, Monitors of the Royal Navy (London: ISO Publications, 1997).

  ____________, Gunboats of the Royal Navy (London: ISO Publications, 1997).

  Konstam, Angus, Mississippi River Gunboats of the American Civil War 1861-65 (Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2002).

  ______________, Yangtze River Gunboats 1900-49 (Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2011).

  ______________, Gunboats of World War I (Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2015).

  ______________, Nile River Gunboats 1882-1918 (Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2016).

  Körner, Karl Klaus, Die glatte Vorderladen-Artillerie der k.k. Marine 1750-1860 (Vienna, Verlag Militaria: 20
15).

  Larken, Meriel, The Ship, the Lady and the Lake (London: Bene Factum Publishing Ltd, 2012).

  Lin-Le, Ti-Ping Tien-Kwoh, The History of the Ti-Ping Revolution, Including A Narrative of the Author’s Personal Adventures, Volume II (London: Day & Son (Limited)/Cox and Wyman, 1866). Accessed through the Gutenberg Project Website.

  MARU SPECIAL, Japanese Naval Vessels No 45 (Tokyo: Maruzen Co. Ltd., 1980).

  MARU SPECIAL, Japanese Naval Vessels No 47 (Tokyo: Maruzen Co. Ltd., 1981).

  Mayo, Lida, United States Army in World War 2 ; The Technical Services, The Ordnance Department: On Beachhead and Battlefront (Government Printing Office, Washington D.C.: Center of Military History, United States Army, 2009).

  Middlemiss, Grant, The Waikato River Gunboats, New Zealand’s First Navy (self-published, Wellington, New Zealand, 2014).

  Moore, Captain J E, RN, FRGS (Naval Contributor), The Soviet War Machine (London: Salamander, 1980).

  Myoe, Maung Aung, Building the Tatmadaw: Myanmar Armed Forces Since 1948 (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2009).

  Nunn, Wilfred, Tigris Gunboats (London: Chatham Publishing, 2007).

  Prasky, Friedrich, Donaumonitoren Österreich-Ungarns Von 1872 bis zur Gegenwart (Vienna: NW Verlag, 2004).

  Prud’homme, Contre-amiral Georges, Oberlé, Roland and Kleimberg, Alain, Les Forces Maritimes du Rhin (Strasbourg: Carré Blanc éditions, 2007).

  Ropp, Theodore, The Development of a Modern Navy, French Naval Policy 1871-1904 (Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1987).

  Royle, Charles, The Egyptian Campaigns 1882 to 1885 (Library of Alexandria, 1900),

  Rutledge, Ian, Enemy on the Euphrates (London: Saqui, 2014).

  Steinböck, Erwin, Marine- und Flußkriegseinheiten in den Streitkräften des Ersten Österreichen Republik (Mistelbach, Austria: Herrausgegeben von der Arbeitsgemeinschaft für österreichische Marinegeschichte, July 1980).

  Storey, Neil R, Zeppelin Blitz: The German Air Raids on Great Britain during the First World War, (Stroud: The History Press, 2015).

  Thomazi, Capitaine, La Marine Française dans la Grande Guerre -Les Marins à Terre (Paris: Payot, 1933).

  Unterricht für die 12cm Schnellade-Kanone L/35 auf Thurm-Wiegenlafette (S.M.S. ‘Maros’, ‘Leitha’ und ‘Szamos’) (Pola: 1896) (k.u.k. Instruction Manual).

  Unterricht für das 12cm Geschütz L/35 C/87 auf Drehthurm-Lafette (S.M.S. ‘Körös’) (Pola 1896) (k.u.k. Instruction Manual)

  Watson, C M, Sudan Notes and Records Vol 12, No 2 (University of Khartoum, 1929).

  Whitley, M J, Destroyers of World War Two (London: Cassell, 2000).

  Williams, Mark, Captain Gilbert Roberts RN (London: Cassell, 1979).

  Wright, Richard N J, The Chinese Steam Navy 1862-1945 (London: Chatham Publishing, 2000).

  Yakubov, Vladimir, and Worth, Richard, Raising the Red Banner, The Pictorial History of Stalin’s Fleet 1920-1946 (Stroud: Spellmount Limited, 2008).

  Ziegler, Philip, Omdurman (London: Book Club Associates/William Collins, 1973).

  ARTICLES

  Brown, David K, ‘Nemesis, The First Iron Warship’, WARSHIP No 8 (1978).

  Craciunoiu, Christian, ‘Une Canonnière Française de 1884’, MRB Magazine No 274 (May 1986).

  Dittmar, Fred, ‘Gunboat Muzaffir’, Warship International No 2 (1997).

  Feron, Luc, ‘Les Canonnières’, Marines Magazine Hors Série No 4 (January 2004).

  __________, ‘Les Canonnières Type Achéron’, MRB Magazine No 346 (September 1992); No 347 (October 1992); No 348 (November 1992).

  Gardiner, Robert (ed), Yangtsze River Gunboats, in WARSHIP 1990 (1990).

  Garidel, Gilles (ed), ‘Les canonnières fluviales au combat’, Marines Magazine No 52 (October 2008).

  Gratz, George A, ‘The Brazilian Imperial Navy Ironclads, 1865-1874’, WARSHIP 1999-2000 (1999).

  Hind, Andrew, ‘The Naval War on Lake Ladoga’, World at War 28 (February-March 2013).

  Lamaison, D., Une Canonnière sur l’Approuague, in Une Saison en Guyane, Hors Série No 02, Cayenne, June 2013.

  Ludbrook, Alan, ‘HMS Alecto (1892)’, Model Shipwright No 141 (March 2008).

  Montembaud, Raynald, ‘San Pablo, La Canonnière du Yang Tse’, MRB Magazine No 578 (January 2012).

  Penman, W G S and Brown, David K, ‘The Chindwin Flotilla’, WARSHIP No 19 (July 1981).

  Perestiuk, Ihor, ;River Warships from the Heart of Ukraine’, Warship International No 2 (1997).

  Reid, P H S, ‘Naval Gunnery Life 1917-1961’, The Naval Review Vol 68 No 3 (July 1980).

  Sabiène, Marc, ‘Les canonnières fluviales 1915-1917’, Marines Magazine No 58 (April 2010).

  Sienicki, Ignacy and Jedrysik, Piotr, ‘Polish River Monitors 1919-1939’, Warship International No 1 (1988).

  Strobino, Jean-Michel, ‘Laos: le chemin de fer des canonnières’, La Vie du Rail No 2329 (January 1992).

  Todorov, Ilia, ‘Fifty Years of the Bulgarian Navy’, Warship International No 1 (1996).

  WEBSITES

  The following are the Websites which provided information, often including photographs. Where a site has been used uniquely as the source of an illustration, the site is instead mentioned in the appropriate caption.

  http://www.aidmen.it/topic/75-cer-uno-o-due/page-2 (Stražar and Grani ar in Bulgarian service)

  http://americamilitar.com/articulos/518-la-armada-colombianafirma-un-nuevo-contrato-para-la-construccion-de-dos-paf-l-encotecmar.html#gsc.tab=0 (PAF-L)

  http://www.anai-asso.org/NET/img/upload/792_CaractpercentC3percentA9ristiquesdescanonnipercentC3percentA8resfluviales.pdf (French Indochina gunboats)

  http://www.anaiasso.org/NET/document/le_temps_de_la_guerre/la_guerre_dindochine/marins_kaki/index.htm

  http://www.anaiasso.org/NET/document/loeuvre_de_la_france/loeuvre_de_la_france/infrastructures_terrestres_et_portuaires/les_voies_ferrees/le_chemin_de_fer_des_canonnieres/index.htm (La Grandière & Massue on the Mekong)

  https://www.armada.mil.co/es/content/documentos-de-interes-dememoria-historica (Colombian Navy site)

  http://www.armyamphibs.com/html/company_a.htm (LCMGs in the Philippines)

  http://www.cherini.eu (Drawings of Italian warships)

  http://civilwarnavy150.blogspot.fr/2010/09/uss-tyler-rather-useful-timberclad.html

  https://civilwartalk.com/threads/css-louisiana-a-new-perspective.116578/(CSS Louisiana development)

  http://civilwartalk.com/threads/sassacus-class-double-ended-gunboats.27273/

  https://civilwartalk.com/threads/the-origin-of-the-css-jackson-plan.129641/

  http://www.combinedfleet.com/Hokan.htm (Website of Bob Hackett, Sander Kindsepp & Peter Cundall)

  http://www.conflict-news.com/articles/kazakhstan-vessel-belaru-sian-turret (Sarbaz)

  http://www.dearsan.com/dunya-basininda/naval-forces-article-related-tuzla-class-patrol-boat.html

  https://dialogo-americas.com/en/articles/first-lpr-40-manufactured-brazil-begins-testing

  http://dossiersmarine.free.fr (Alain Clouet’s site)

  http://englishrussia.com/2012/06/18/great-ice-breaker-of-a-sad-destiny (Icebreaker Baikal’s demise)

  http://felvidek.ma/2016/07/komaromban-epitettek-a-hajdanicsehszlovakia-elso-es-egyetlen-hadihajojat/(President Masaryk/Bechelaren)

  http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=118099 (SMS Nachtigal episode)

  http://forums.clydemaritime.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=47&p=76445 (RIM P.6)

  https://forum.dobroni.pl/f/flotylla-pinska (The Polish Pinsk Flotilla)

  https://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/6113-volga-boatmen-and-their-vessels/(Illustration of BKA 1124)

  http://forum.panzer-archiv.de/viewtopic.php?p=196133 (Nachtigal in action)

  http://forum.valka.cz/topic/view/72094#254324 (President Masaryk)

  http://www.frankstaylorfamilyandroyalnavyhistory.net/(HMBS Scarab)

  https://gillww1.wordpress.com/tag/rnas/page/2/(Aerial view of Königsberg wreck)

  http://www.gracesguide.co.uk
/The_Engineer_1897/02/19, mention of Nile gunboats under reference ‘Alfred-Yarrow’

  http://gutenberg.polytechnic.edu.na/3/9/7/3/39735/39735-h/39735-h.htm

  http://www.gwpda.org/naval/caspian.htm (The RN in the Caspian)

  http://heninen.net/folder_e.htm (Finnish Lake Ladoga gunboats)

  http://www.histarmar.org/Armadapercent20Argentina/Buques1852-1899/BuquesRioNegro/Choele-Choel-VapHel.htm (Rio Negro gunboat)

  http://www.historicboatmuseum.org/site/es/clavero-2/(BAP Cahuapanas/Clavero)

  https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs.html/(DANFS is the official Dictionary of American Fighting Ships)

  http://history-sites.com/cgibin/bbs62x/lacwmb/webbbs_config.pl?md=read;id=15817 (Discovery of the wreck of USS Eastwood)

  http://www.hongkongescape.org/Escape-1.htm (HMS Robin)

  https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/UN/India/RIN/RIN-13.html (Sutlej Class sloops in the Arakan)

  http://www.iesm.pt/s/index.php/en/home/85-destaques/latest-news/949-seminar-portugal-and-the-campaigns-of-africa-from-the-imposition-of-sovereignty-to-the-great-war (Portuguese colonies in Africa)

  http://images.maritimehistoryofthegreatlakes.ca/33523/data?n=11

  http://indochine54.free.fr/index.html#top

  http://www.iquitostimes.com/amazon-gunboat.htm (Peruvian gunboat America)

  http://www.irononthered.com/Covington.htm

  http://www.janes.com/article/69946/zenit-shipyard-launches-fourth-project-250-class-patrol-ship-for-kazakh-navy

  http://www.kaiserscross.com/188001/424043.html (Lake Victoria)

  http://www.laststandonzombieisland.com (Despite its strange choice of name – webmaster Christopher Eger writes zombie novels – this site has excellent warship articles)