The Insect-class gunboats (or large China gunboats) were a class of small, but well-armed

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

ships designed for use in shallow rivers or inshore. They were intended for use on the

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against

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(the China name was to disguise their function). The first four ships—''Gnat'', ''Mantis'', ''Moth'' and ''Tarantula''—were first employed during the

Mesopotamian Campaign The Mesopotamian campaign was a campaign in the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I fought between the Allies represented by the British Empire, troops from Britain, Australia and the vast majority from British India, against the Central Po ...

of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

on the

Euphrates The Euphrates () is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia ( ''the land between the rivers''). Originating in Turkey, the Eup ...

and

Tigris The Tigris () is the easternmost of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian and Arabian Deserts, and empties into the ...

rivers.

Design

The ships were designed by

Yarrow ''Achillea millefolium'', commonly known as yarrow () or common yarrow, is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. Other common names include old man's pepper, devil's nettle, sanguinary, milfoil, soldier's woundwort, and thousand seal. The ...

to operate in shallow, fast-flowing rivers, with a shallow draught and a good turn of speed to counter river flow. They were fitted with two reciprocating (VTE) engines operating two propeller shafts to offer some redundancy. The propellers were housed in tunnels to minimise the operating draught. The main armament consisted of two 6-inch guns in single mountings fore and aft.

Deployment

''Aphis'', ''Bee,'' ''Ladybird'' and ''Scarab'' were deployed to Port Said, Egypt in 1915–16, ''Gnat'', ''Mantis'', ''Moth'' and ''Tarantula'' were sent to the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bod ...

in 1916. ''Glowworm'', ''Cicala'', ''Cockchafer'' and ''Cricket'' were deployed to the east coast of England in 1916 and had their main armament mountings modified to give higher elevation for anti-Zeppelin work. In 1919, during the

Russian Civil War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Russian Civil War , partof = the Russian Revolution and the aftermath of World War I , image = , caption = Clockwise from top left: {{flatlist, *Soldiers ...

, ''Glowworm'', ''Cicala'', ''Cockchafer'', ''Cricket'', ''Moth'' and ''Mantis'' served on the Dvina River (northern Russia, in Arkhangelsk Oblast), fighting in support of

White Russia White Russia, White Russian, or Russian White may refer to: White Russia *White Ruthenia, a historical reference for a territory in the eastern part of present-day Belarus * An archaic literal translation for Belarus/Byelorussia/Belorussia * Rus ...

n forces. ''Glowworm''s captain and some other crew members were killed when a nearby ammunition barge exploded. The crew of ''Cicala'' mutinied, as part of a wider wave of unrest in the Royal Navy and five "ringleaders" were sentenced to death, later commuted to five years' imprisonment. Between the two world wars, the class were mainly used in the

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The ter ...

and they were present during the Japanese invasion of China. In 1937, on the

Yangtze The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flows ...

river, the Japanese attacked , firing on her from a shore battery. A US gunboat, was also attacked by Japanese aircraft and sunk. ''Ladybird'' sailed the to the scene of the sinking, rescued some of the ''Panay'' survivors and took them to

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

. ''Scarab'' and ''Cricket'' were off Nanking in 1937 as the Japanese started to bomb the city. In 1939, the original two 6 inch Mk VII 45-calibre guns on and ''Ladybird'' were replaced by more modern and longer 6-inch Mk XIII 50-calibre guns from the decommissioned battleship . At the start of the Second World War, three vessels, ''Cricket'', ''Gnat'' and ''Ladybird'', were transferred to the Inshore Squadron of the Mediterranean Fleet. They joined the

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and provided bombardment support for the Eighth Army. Their shallow draught allowed them to act also as supply and landing vessels, able to get close to beaches. In June 1943, ''Aphis'' took part in the bombardment of

Pantelleria Pantelleria (; Sicilian: ''Pantiddirìa'', Maltese: ''Pantellerija'' or ''Qawsra''), the ancient Cossyra or Cossura, is an Italian island and comune in the Strait of Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea, southwest of Sicily and east of the Tunisi ...

(

Operation Corkscrew Operation Corkscrew was the codename for the Allied invasion of the Italian island of Pantelleria (between Sicily and Tunisia) on 11 June 1943, prior to the Allied invasion of Sicily, during the Second World War. There had been an early plan to ...

Ships in class

* : built by Ailsa shipbuilding, scrapped

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

, 1947 * : built by Ailsa shipbuilding, flagship of Rear Admiral, Yangtze (RAY), sold in March 1939. * : built by Barclay Curle, sunk by Japanese bombs on 21 December 1941. * : built by Barclay Curle, sold for scrap in 1949, the last surviving member of the class. * : built by Barclay Curle, heavily damaged by bombs on 29 June 1941; used as target by Royal Navy and sunk off Cyprus 1944. * : built by Barclay Curle, scrapped September 1928. * : built by

Lobnitz Lobnitz & Company was a Scottish shipbuilding company located at Renfrew on the River Clyde, west of the Renfrew Ferry crossing and east of the confluence with the River Cart. The Lobnitz family lived at Chapeltoun House in East Ayrshire. Th ...

, damaged by U-boat 21 October 1941, declared total loss, and then used as anti-aircraft platform. Scrapped 1946 * : built by

, sunk on 12 May 1941 off

Tobruk Tobruk or Tobruck (; grc, Ἀντίπυργος, ''Antipyrgos''; la, Antipyrgus; it, Tobruch; ar, طبرق, Tubruq ''Ṭubruq''; also transliterated as ''Tobruch'' and ''Tubruk'') is a port city on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near ...

during World War II, then used as an anti-aircraft position * : built by Sunderland Shipbuilding Company Ltd, sold in January 1940 and subsequently scrapped. * : built by Sunderland Shipbuilding Company Ltd, scuttled in Hong Kong 1941, captured and repaired by the Japanese and renamed ''Suma'', sunk by mines in Yangtze River on 19 March 1945. * : built by Wood, Skinner & Co, scrapped in 1948. * built by Wood, Skinner & Co, briefly flagship of the

British Pacific Fleet The British Pacific Fleet (BPF) was a Royal Navy formation that saw action against Japan during the Second World War. The fleet was composed of empire naval vessels. The BPF formally came into being on 22 November 1944 from the remaining ships o ...

, expended as a target 1946

Notes

Footnotes

References

External links

Summary of the China gunboats of various nations

* Transcription of ships' logbooks available for several members of the class. {{DEFAULTSORT:Insect Class Gunboat Gunboat classes World War I gunboats Riverine warfare