by River Gunboats- An Illustrated Encyclopaedia (retail) (epub)
The second period which saw much more extensive use of riverine forces was the ‘brown water’ conflict with independence movements in the 1960s and 1970s, when the Portuguese took to heart the lessons of the Vietnam War, and waged successful riverine campaigns in Angola, Mozambique and Guinea.
Finally, there is the sole Portuguese China gunboat, Macau. Also included here are details of the old gunboat Pátria, which was sold to the Chinese Navy to be used as a river gunboat.
Rather than rely on scarce and often poor-quality photos, I have profited from the excellent collection of models in the Lisbon Maritime Museum to illustrate several of the following early gunboats.
Limpopo in later life, high and dry for careening. Note she has lost her ornate bow scroll as well as her sail outfit. (Illustration by Fernando Lemos Gomes, courtesy of John P Cann)
Limpopo
Limpopo was built for service on the river of the same name. She had an iron hull.
Launched:
1890 by Thames Iron Works, Blackwall.
Dimensions:
Displ: 288 tons; L: 37.8m/124ft; B: 6.4m/21ft; D: 2m/6ft 7in.
Crew:
42.
Power/Speed:
Twin screws; 2 × vertical compound steam engines, total 520ihp/11.3 knots.
Guns/Armour:
As built: 1 × 3-pounder QF; 1 × five-barrelled Nordenfelt MG. Later: 2 × 3-pounder QF; 1 × MG.
Fate:
Stricken 1943.
Capello
Launched:
1895 by Arsenal da Marinha, Lisboa.
Dimensions:
?
Power/Speed:
Stern paddle wheel; steam engine.
Guns/Armour:
4 × five-barrelled Nordenfelt MG.
Capello as built in 1895, armed with four Nordenfelt five-barrelled MG, two forward on the battery deck and one on each beam. The model even has deckchairs for officers on the upper deck behind the deckhouse. Note also her unprotected locomotive-type boiler, typical of these Yarrow-type stern-wheelers. (Model in the Lisbon Maritime Museum)
The virtually identical Serpa Pinto, on the Congo River, with just one funnel, and a different armament disposition, one MG forward and one aft on her battery deck, plus the two on the beam positions. (Photo from Website: http://steamboats.com/museum/davetphotos4.html)
The breech of the Nordenfelt five-barrelled hand-cranked MG. The crank handle works in a horizontal plane, back and forth to fire the gun. The vertical box magazine is not mounted on this example, but the loading slots can be seen on top of the receiver. (Photo Lisbon Maritime Museum)
Pedro d’Anaya, as built in 1896. (Model in the Lisbon Maritime Museum)
Pedro d’Anaya Class
Pedro d’Anaya, Diogo Cão and Honório Barreto were all built in 1895 for colonial service in Africa.
Launched:
1895 by Arsenal da Marinha, Lisboa.
Dimensions:
Displ: 93 tons; L: 30m/98ft 5in (between perpendiculars); B: 6m/19ft 8in; D: 0.80m/2ft 7½in.
Power/Speed:
Side paddle wheels; steam engine/9 knots.
Guns/Armour:
1 × five-barrelled Nordenfelt MG.
Fate:
Pedro d’Anaya and Honório Barreto stricken 1908; Diogo Cão stricken 1920.
Chaimite
Chaimite was a steel-hulled colonial gunboat built for service on the Zambezi.
Launched:
1897 by Arsenal da Marinha, Lisboa.
Dimensions:
Displ: 341 tons; L: 41m/134ft 6in (between perpendiculars); B: 8m/26ft 3in; D: 2m/6ft 7in.
Crew:
26.
Power/Speed:
Twin screws; 2 × VTE steam engines, 480ihp/11 knots.
Guns/Armour:
2 × 3-pounder Hotchkiss QF.
Fate:
Stricken 1921.
Chaimite. (Photo from the collection of H Parry & Son)
Cunene
The armed launch Cunene on the Angola River in the early years of the twentieth century. She appears to be armed with an MG on an Army tripod, probably a Hotchkiss Model 1900, under a canvas cover. (Photo posted by Mr. Nuno M. Cabeçadas on Website: http://www.hat.com/Othr7/Nuno28P.html)
Cacheu Class
Standard Yarrow-type shallow-draught stern-wheelers. The original Téte of this class is the Portuguese river gunboat most often seen in photos.
Téte seen in a period postcard at Chinde, where she was reassembled.
The breech end of the Hotchkiss 37mm Model 1885 1-pounder QF, showing the shoulder stock used to train the gun, the breech operating lever on the right (tied in place for safety), the brass handgrip and trigger unit, and the brackets at the front for a shield. Note there is no recoil cylinder used on this weapon. The mounting and the deck must absorb the recoil force. (Photo Lisbon Maritime Museum)
Launched:
Cacheu and Farim 1902; Téte 1903; Sena 1904, by Yarrow.
Dimensions:
Displ: 70 tons; L: 27.1m/89ft; B: 6.1m/20ft; D: 1.22m/4ft.
Power/Speed:
Stern paddle wheel; steam engines 80ihp/9 knots.
Guns/Armour:
2 × 37mm (1-pounder) Hotchkiss Model 1885 QF; 2 × MG/Bulletproof hull and superstructure.
Fate:
Téte destroyed by boiler explosion Zambezi River February 1917; Cacheu, Farim and Sena stricken 1918.
Lúrio Class
A pair of small colonial gunboats, unarmoured and lightly armed.
Launched:
Lúrio 1907, Save 1908, by Arsenal da Marinha, Lisboa.
Dimensions:
Displ: 305 tons; L: 42.8m/140ft 5in; B: 7.2m/23ft 7½in; D: 1.8m/5ft 11in.
Crew:
51.
Power/Speed:
Twin screws; 2 × VTE steam engines, 240ihp/9 knots.
Guns/Armour:
2 × 3-pounder QF; 1 × MG.
Fate:
Lúrio stricken 1926; Save stricken 1929.
Flecha
She was built to the order of the Colonial Department, and in official records was alternatively referred to as Flexa.
Launched:
1909 by Arsenal da Marinha, Lisboa.
Dimensions:
Displ: 44 tons; L: 21m/68ft 10¾in; B: 4m/13ft 1½in; D: 0.70m/2ft 3½in.
Flecha seen prior to the First World War. Note how similar she is in overall design to the earlier Pedro d’Anaya class. But now her sides have been plated in with bulletproof protection. And she is armed with what appear to be a 1-pounder forward (behind a shield), a five-barrelled Nordenfelt MG with shield in a fighting top, and a second Nordenfelt aft on the battery deck.
Crew:
7.
Power/Speed:
Side paddle wheels; VTE steam engine, 45ihp/10 knots.
Guns/Armour:
1 × 37mm (1-pounder) Hotchkiss Model 1885 QF; 2 × five-barrelled Nordenfelt MG/Bulletproof superstructure plating.
Fate:
Stricken 1933.
Beira Class
These colonial gunboats were launched over a period spanning nineteen years, from 1910 to 1929.
Launched:
Beira 1910, Ibo 1911, Mandovi, Bengo and Quanza 1917, Zaire February 1925, Damão 1927, Diu October 1929, by Arsenal da Marinha, Lisboa.
Dimensions:
Displ: 397 tons; 492 tons full load; L: 45m/147ft 7½in; B: 8.3m/27ft 2¾in; D: 2.1m/6ft 10¾in.
Crew:
First five vessels, 51. Last three vessels, 67.
Power/Speed:
Twin screws; 2 × VTE steam engines, 700ihp/13 knots.
Ibo at Madeira.
Guns/Armour:
The earlier series all originally armed with 2 × 3-pounder Hotchkiss QF, continually up-armed, finishing with typically 3in L/40 AA or even 3in/50 DP, plus several 6-pounder or 3-pounder Hotchkiss QF. The three later gunboats had 2 × 3in L/40 and 2 × 3-pounder Hotchkiss QF.
Fate:
Bengo and Quanza st
ricken 1933; Damão stricken 1937; Beira, Mandovi and Ibo survey ships in 1936, 1945 and 1948 respectively; Zaire stricken 1958; Diu training ship 1963, stricken 1969.
Téte (II)
A classic Yarrow stern-wheeler river gunboat, the replacement Téte was built in Scotstoun in 1918, then dismantled for transport to Chinde, where she was reassembled in 1920. Modernised for anti-guerrilla duties in the 1960s, under Pennant No P 137, Téte served on the Zambezi River. She was withdrawn from service in 1975 after Mozambique gained its independence.
Launched:
1918 by Yarrow.
Dimensions:
Displ: 100 tons; 130 tons full load; L: 23.4m/76ft 9in; B: 6.1m/20ft; D: 0.70m/2ft 3½in.
Crew:
20.
Power/Speed:
Stern paddle wheel; VTE steam engine, 70ihp/8 knots.
Guns/Armour:
2 × 3-pounder QF; 2 × MG/Bulletproof hull and superstructure.
Fate:
Stricken 1975.
THE BROWN WATER NAVY
Between 1961 and 1975 the Portuguese Navy was involved in three anti-colonial struggles, in Angola, in Mozambique including Lake Nyasa, and in Guinea, perhaps the most difficult combat zone of the three. Considered unfavourably as a colonial power during a period of major decolonisation, Portugal received no aid from her traditional supporters the Americans and British. She therefore had to look to her own resources to fight the insurrectionists driven by Marxist ideology. Learning lessons from the experiences of the French in Indochina and the Americans in Vietnam, the Portuguese Navy carried out its missions successfully. An excellent account of the conflicts can be found in John P Cann’s book Brown Waters of Africa.
From left to right are P 1151 Arcturus of the Bellatrix class, P 1131 Sagitário and P 373 Cassiopeia, both of the Argos class, seen at Beira in 1971. (Photo Estado-Maior da Armada and Revista da Armada)
Each of the three colonies presented particular difficulties: the vast expanse of Angola, with its long frontiers shared with unfriendly neighbours, made halting infiltration by insurgents virtually impossible. The Navy’s best option was to continually harass them and keep them off guard. The current in the Zaire River, known to the locals as ‘the river that swallows all rivers’, could reach as much as 7 knots, meaning that the patrol boats used in that zone needed a fair turn of speed. On the other hand, the slow and underpowered second-hand landing craft assembled by the Portuguese found it extremely difficult, nay impossible, to fight their way upstream against the flow. In Guinea the tidal rise and fall of the shallow and serpentine river systems made navigation extremely difficult, and the vegetation which came right down to the narrow channels made excellent ambush locations. The maze of small islands was used by the insurgents to install a myriad of bases. In Mozambique the main avenue for insurgent infiltration was across the waters of Lake Nyasa, and a monumental effort was made to transport a gunboat and landing craft force overland to the lake.
The provision of armament for the river patrol craft was always a problem, as the main armament of 40mm Bofors and 20mm Oerlikon cannon had been designed primarily for anti-aircraft or anti-boat use, and they were only marginally suitable for the anti-personnel role. In particular the Portuguese keenly felt the lack of the powerful Browning 0.50 cal heavy machine gun, with its effective rounds and long reach, which was widely used and appreciated in Vietnam. One palliative was the replacement of the old German Dreyse machine guns by MG42s, with their extremely high cyclic rate of fire. In particular in Guinea, the insurgents were armed with weapons up to 122mm in calibre which heavily outgunned the patrol vessels. In an attempt to compensate, several craft began to mount multiple rocket launchers, firing 37mm rockets from a bank of thirty-two tubes. Also, mortars were mounted in the well decks of certain landing craft. A key addition to the offensive capabilities of the patrol boats was not extra weapons, but rather the carriage or towing of Zodiac rubber boats to quietly land and retrieve their Fuzileiros (Marines).
With the introduction of heavy machine guns and RPGs in the arsenal of the insurgents, armour protection was soon found to be necessary, particularly on the underpowered and slow-moving landing craft. It was proposed to convert certain landing craft into heavily-armed and armoured river monitors, as the French had done in Indochina and the Americans were doing in Vietnam, but such dramatic weight additions would have slowed them down even more, and increased their draught to an extent which would have literally left them stranded in the rivers and creeks of Guinea. The defensively armed and protected landing craft were therefore mainly relegated to a logistics role, leaving the offensive operations to the gunboats.
Ocean - Going Frigates and Patrol Boats
As the Japanese had found in China, the deep African rivers were navigable for long distances from the sea by quite large ocean-going warships. The Portuguese Navy was therefore able to deploy its ex-British frigates and ex-American patrol boats hundreds of miles up the Zaire River.
Álvares Cabral Class
In 1959 the Portuguese Navy purchased the first two of an eventual four of the RN ‘Bay’ class AA frigates completed at the end of the Second World War. They carried a useful armament of 4in DP guns, 40mm Bofors and 20mm Oerlikons, and were able to travel considerable distances from the coast, landing parties of sailors and later transporting Fuzileiros to trouble spots, where they were ready to provide substantial fire support. For example, on 26 March 1961 Pacheco Pereira arrived at the town of Noqui on the Zaire River, situated some 150km (95 miles) from the sea, in order to defend or evacuate the town as necessary.
Launched:
F 336 Alvares Cabral, ex-RN Burghead Bay, 3 March 1945 by Charles Hill & Sons Ltd., Bristol; F 337 Pacheco Pereira, ex-RN Bigbury Bay, 16 November 1944 by Hall Russell.
Dimensions:
Displ: 1,600 tons, 2,530 tons full load; L: 93.65m/307ft 3in; B: 11.73m/38ft 6in; D: 3.89m/12ft 9in.
Crew:
157.
Power/Speed:
Twin screws; 2 × 4-cyl VTE steam engines, 5,500ihp/19.5 knots.
Guns/Armour:
2 × twin 4in; 2 × twin 40mm Bofors; 2 × twin 20mm Oerlikons; Hedgehog; 50 depth charges.
Fate:
Alvares Cabral scrapped 1971; Pacheco Pereira scrapped 1970.
Pacheco Pereira seen off Lourençuo Marques on 23 February 1964. (Photo by Manuel Silva Nunes Paula, on Website: http://www.prof2000.pt/users/secjeste/arkidigi/LourenMarq01.htm)
332 Nuno Tristāo. (Portuguese Navy photo)
Diogo Gomes Class
These two frigates were ex-RN Type II ‘River’ class anti-submarine vessels, from which the specialised anti-aircraft version described above was developed. They nevertheless carried an impressive array of 4in, 40mm and 20mm weapons.
On 4 March 1961, in a precursor to the initial insurgent assault on Angola, the frigate Nuno Tristāo came under heavy fire in the Zaire River opposite the city of Boma, around 45 to 50 miles (72 to 80km) upriver from the coast.
Launched:
F 331 Diogo Gomes, ex-RN Awe, 28 December 1943 by Fleming & Ferguson Ltd., Paisley; F 332 Nuno Tristāo, ex-RN Avon, 19 June 1943 by Charles Hill & Sons Ltd., Bristol.
Dimensions:
Displ: 1,370 tons, 1,830 tons full load; L: 91.8m/301ft 3in; B: 11.1m/36ft 6in; D: 2.7m/9ft, 4m/13ft full load.
Crew:
181.
Power/Speed:
Twin screws; 2 × 4-cyl VTE steam engines, 5,500ihp/20 knots.
Guns/Armour:
2 × 4in QF; 6 × 40mm Bofors; Hedgehog (later: Squid); 150 depth charges.
Fate:
Diogo Gomes scrapped 1968; Nuno Tristāo scrapped 1970.
Príncipe Class
Six ex-USN PC-461 class sub-chasers were transferred to Portugal in 1948, and three took part in the initial stages of the Angola conflict: P 584 Sal, P 585 Sāo Tomé and P 586 Sāo Vicente.
Sal and Sāo Vicente were part of the naval force which operated on the Zaire River in 1960 to ensure free naviga
tion on this important waterway, and they were joined the following year by Sāo Tomé. These ex-USN sub-chasers were not, however, involved in subsequent riverine operations in any of the three combat zones.
P 585 Sāo Tomé, ex-PC 1256. (Photo from Website: http://osrikinhus.blogspot.fr)
Launched:
P 584 Sal, ex-USN PC-809, P 585 Sāo Tomé, ex-USN PC-1256, 4 December 1943 and P 586 Sāo Vicente, ex-USN PC-1259, 7 October 1944, by Luders Marine Construction Co., Stamford.
Dimensions:
Displ: 450 tons; L: 52.93m/173ft 8in; B: 7m/23ft; D: 1.05m/10ft 10in.
Crew:
65.
Power/Speed:
Twin screws; 2 × 1,440bhp Hooven-Owen-Rentschler RB-99DA diesel engines/20.2 knots.
Guns/Armour:
1 × 3in/50 DP; 1 × 40mm Bofors; 5 × 20mm Oerlikons; 2 × rocket launchers; Depth charges.
Fate:
Scrapped 1970.
Sabre
An old paddle steamer Chire, owned by Empresa Sena Sugar, was impressed into service on the Zambezi River in 1974, and renamed Sabre, with Pennant No P 128. She was struck from the Naval List on 16 January 1975, and was transferred in a disarmed state to FRELIMO.
Chire as modified for naval service and renamed Sabre. Note the 20mm Oerlikon at the front of the battery deck. From her more modern funnel set well back, it could be that she had been re-boilered. (Photo Estado-Maior da Armada and Revista da Armada)
