HMS Thrush (1889)
{{short description|Gunboat of the Royal Navy}}
{{other ships|HMS Thrush}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2017}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image=HMS Thrush.jpg |Ship caption=HMS Thrush, First Class gunboat by W. Fred Mitchell }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=United Kingdom |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}} |Ship name=Thrush |Ship ordered= |Ship awarded= |Ship builder=Scotts, Greenock |Ship laid down= |Ship launched=22 June 1889 |Ship christened= |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned= |Ship recommissioned= |Ship decommissioned= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship renamed= |Ship reclassified=*Coastguard 1906
|Ship refit= |Ship captured= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship fate=Wrecked on 11 April 1917 |Ship homeport= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption=Winfield (2004), pp.299-300 |Ship class={{sclass|Redbreast|gunboat}} |Ship displacement=805 tons |Ship length={{convert|165|ft|0|in|m|abbr=on|1}} pp |Ship beam={{convert|31|ft|0|in|m|abbr=on|1}} |Ship draught={{convert|11|ft|0|in|m|abbr=on |
|Ship draft=
|Ship power={{convert|1,200|ihp|kW|abbr=on|lk=in}}
|Ship propulsion=
- Triple expansion steam engine
- 2 × boilers
- Single screw
|Ship sail plan=Barquentine-rigged
|Ship speed={{convert|13|kn|km/h|abbr=on}}
|Ship range={{convert|2500|nmi|km|abbr=on}} at {{convert|10|kn|km/h|abbr=on}}
|Ship complement=76
|Ship armament=
- 6 × 4-inch/25-pounder QF guns
- 2 × 3-pounder QF guns
- 2 × machine guns
|Ship notes=
}}
|}
HMS Thrush was a {{sclass|Redbreast|gunboat|0}} composite gunboat,[https://archive.today/20080117034748/http://www.cmhg.forces.gc.ca/cmh/en/image_565.asp?page_id=595 Canadian Military Heritage site] the third ship of the name to serve in the Royal Navy.
Design and construction
The Redbreast class were designed by Sir William Henry White, the Royal Navy Director of Naval Construction in 1888. Thrush was launched on 22 June 1889 at Greenock.[https://web.archive.org/web/20110526061505/http://www.clydesite.co.uk/clydebuilt/viewship.asp?id=18917 Entry in Clydebuilt database] Her triple-expansion reciprocating steam engine was built by the Greenock Foundry, and developed {{convert|1200|ihp|lk=on}}, sufficient to propel her at {{convert|13|kn}} through her single screw.
Career
Her first station was the North America and West Indies Station based at the Royal Naval Dockyard in Bermuda and Halifax, Nova Scotia, where, under the command of Prince George, later to become King George V of the United Kingdom. Thrush arrived at Bermuda with Prince George in command on 18 July 1890, with a torpedo boat in tow, and later proceeded to Halifax.The Royal Gazette, Hamilton, Bermuda. 3 June 1890The Royal Gazette, Hamilton, Bermuda. 22 July 1890A king lived in this old Bermuda cottage, Page 11, The Royal Gazette, Hamilton, Bermuda. 1 February 1953 In 1896 Thrush, along with {{HMS|Sparrow|1889|2}}, played a part in the 40-minute Anglo-Zanzibar War.{{Harvnb|Patience|1994|p=7}}. She was also on active service during the Second Boer War, which lasted between October 1899 and June 1902 where she was commanded by Lieutenant Warren Hastings D'Oyly.{{Cite web |url=http://www.angloboerwar.com/rn_ships/thrush.htm |title=Anglo-Boer War site |access-date=17 September 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090108093309/http://www.angloboerwar.com/rn_ships/thrush.htm |archive-date=8 January 2009 |url-status=dead }} In early 1902 she helped a British force in Nigeria re-open trade routes on the Lower Niger, closed by piracy of some locals.{{London Gazette|issue= 27473|date=12 September 1902 |page=5879}} Lieutenant Hector Lloyd Watts-Jones was appointed in command on 5 July 1902.{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Naval & Military intelligence |date=8 July 1902 |page=11 |column=e |issue=36814|url=https://www.thetimes.com/archive/article/1902-07-08/11/7.html}}
From 1906 Thrush worked for HM Coastguard before becoming a cable ship in 1915. She then became a salvage ship in 1916.
In January 1917, Thrush was involved in the dramatic rescue of 46 submariners and shipyard officials, from the sunken {{HMS|K13}}. The unusual 'steam-powered', and newly built submarine suffered an uncontrolled descent to the bottom of the Gareloch, on the Firth of Clyde, during sea trials. Thrush was called in from a nearby mooring. Along with Gossamer and Ranger, they were able to partially raise the stricken vessel with cables, just enough to allow rescue of more than half the people on board.{{Cite web|title=The Unlucky K 13 - Shipping Wonders of the World|url=https://www.shippingwondersoftheworld.com/k13.html|access-date=2020-08-13|website=www.shippingwondersoftheworld.com}}
Thrush wrecked off Glenarm in Northern Ireland on 11 April 1917 in a snow storm. Her scattered wreckage was discovered by divers in 1969 at a point {{convert|50|yd}} off shore and at depths of {{convert|30| - |40|ft}}.{{cite web |title=Hms Thrush |url=https://canmore.org.uk/site/323187/hms-thrush |website=Canmore |access-date=13 December 2024 |language=en}}
References
{{Reflist}}
= Bibliography =
- {{citation|last=Patience|first=Kevin|title=Zanzibar and the Shortest War in History|publisher=Kevin Patience|location=Bahrain|year=1994}}
- {{winfield}}
External links
- [http://www.historicalrfa.org/rfa-thrush-ships-details HMS Thrush details at the Royal Fleet Auxiliary Historical Society] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201113015831/http://historicalrfa.org/rfa-thrush-ships-details |date=13 November 2020 }}
{{Redbreast class gunboat}}
{{April 1917 shipwrecks}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thrush (1889)}}
Category:Redbreast-class gunboats
Category:Ships built on the River Clyde
Category:Victorian-era gunboats of the United Kingdom
Category:Cable ships of the United Kingdom