Euphrates-class troopship

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Hms-jumna.jpg
Class overview
NameEuphrates-class troopship
OperatorsNaval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg  Royal Navy
Built1865 – 1867
In service1866 – 1922
Completed5
Retired5
General characteristics
Type Troopship
Displacement6,211 long tons (6,310.7 t)
Tons burthen
  • 4,206 bm
  • Malabar: 4,189 bm
Length360 ft (109.7 m) (overall)
Beam49 ft 1.5 in (15.0 m)
Depth of hold22 ft 4 in (6.81 m)
Installed power
Propulsion
  • As built:
  • 2-cylinder horizontal single-expansion trunk engine
  • Single screw
  • Except Serapis:
  • 4-cylinder horizontal compound-expansion engine
  • Single screw
Sail plan Barque
Speed11 kn (20 km/h) to 15 kn (28 km/h)
ArmamentThree 4-pounder guns

The Euphrates class was a five-ship class of iron screw troopships built for the Royal Navy during the 1860s. They were used for carrying troops to India, with two of them being later hulked and surviving into the early 20th Century.

Contents

Design

The Crimean War and Indian Mutiny in the 1850s both required that large numbers of troops be moved across the globe at short notice. Although for both these conflicts commercial shipping companies were able to fulfil all the immediate requirements, it became apparent that there were severe handicaps to the system; in particular the availability of commercial shipping for trooping could not be guaranteed. It was decided to set up a regular service of Government transports and the Navy was ordered to build five specially-designed troopships. [2]

With the Suez Canal due to be opened in 1869, the class was designed within the constraints of the new waterway. Designed to carry an entire battalion of infantry, the result was a magnificent barque-rigged steamer of considerable size; with a top speed of 15 knots, and able to take the direct route via the Suez Canal, they were able to reduce the length of the voyage significantly, but perhaps more importantly, the uncertainty in the time needed to make the journey round the Cape of Good Hope was also reduced. [2]

The five ships were ordered from various British shipbuilders, with Malabar being built to a slightly different and smaller design. [1] They were lightly armed with three 4-pounder guns, and were initially fitted with a single-expansion trunk engine (except Serapis) and single screw, producing 700 nhp. [1] However the engines were refitted on all of these ships during their active careers. Serapis was completed with a 4-cylinder horizontal compound-expansion engine, but was re-engined in 1869 with a 2-cylinder single expansion engine. [1] Jumna's engines were originally 3-cylinder versions, and were modified to the compound type in 1873. The two-cylinder engines of Euphrates and Malabar were also replaced with compound engines in 1873. Crocodile was also re-engined, albeit somewhat later than her sisters. [1] [Note 1]

Career

The ships spent most of their active careers conveying British troops to and from the Indian subcontinent, although other voyages were made, most notably to Canada. Obsolete by the mid-1890s, Serapis, Euphrates and Crocodile were sold for breaking up. [1] Malabar became a base ship at Bermuda in 1897, and was renamed HMS Terror in 1901. She was put on the disposal list in 1914 and was sold off in 1918, [3] while Jumna survived as a coal hulk, eventually being sold off in 1922. [1] [4]

Jumna, Malabar and Euphrates at Bombay c.1880. The vessel on the extreme left is HMS Orontes Troop-Ships Orontes, Jumna, Malabar, and Euphrates at Bombay, waiting to bring Home Troops from the Afghan War - ILN 1880.jpg
Jumna, Malabar and Euphrates at Bombay c.1880. The vessel on the extreme left is HMS Orontes

Ships

NameShip BuilderOrderedLaunchedFate
Jumna Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company 186524 September 1866Became coal hulk C110 in 1893
Sold as hulk Oceanic in July 1922 [1] [4]
Serapis Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company 186526 September 1866Sold for breaking up on 23 November 1894 [1] [5]
Euphrates Laird Brothers 186524 November 1866Sold on 23 November 1894
Resold for breaking up in August 1895 [1] [6]
Malabar Robert Napier and Sons 18658 December 1866 [Note 2] [3] [7] Became a base ship in 1897
Renamed HMS Terror on 1 May 1901
Sold for breaking up in January 1918. [1] [3]
Crocodile Money Wigram and Sons 18657 January 1867Sold for breaking up on 11 May 1894. [1] [8]

Identification

All the ships of the class could be distinguished by a different coloured hull band, with Crocodile wearing yellow, Euphrates blue, Jumna red, Malabar black and Serapis green. [9] Jumna’s blue hull band was to become the traditional identification feature for HM troopships.

Notes

  1. ↑ Winfield does not show a re-engining of Crocodile; this is a misprint and the Errata should be consulted.
  2. ↑ Although Winfield has 1865, this is a misprint and should read 1866. Copies of the Errata may be requested from the author.

Related Research Articles

Five ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Serapis, after the god Serapis of Hellenistic Egypt.

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HMS <i>Serapis</i> (1866)

HMS Serapis was a Euphrates-class troopship commissioned for the transport of troops to and from India. She was launched in the Thames on 26 September 1866 from the Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company at Leamouth, London and was the third Royal Navy ship to bear the name. She was sold in 1894.

HMS <i>Jumna</i> (1866)

HMS Jumna was a Euphrates-class troopship launched at Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company at Hebburn on 24 September 1866. She was the third vessel of the Royal Navy to carry the name.

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HMS <i>Euphrates</i> (1866)

HMS Euphrates was an iron-hulled troopship of the Euphrates class. She was designed for the transport of British troops to India, and launched in the River Mersey on 24 November 1866 by Laird Brothers of Birkenhead. She was the fourth and last Royal Navy ship to bear the name.

HMS <i>Crocodile</i> (1867)

HMS Crocodile was a Euphrates-class troopship launched into the Thames from the Blackwall Yard of Money Wigram & Sons on 7 January 1867. She was the fourth and last vessel of the Royal Navy to carry the name.

HMS <i>Malabar</i> (1866)

HMS Malabar was a Euphrates-class troopship launched in 1866, and the fifth ship of the Royal Navy to employ the name. She was designed to carry troops between the United Kingdom and British India, and was employed in that role for most of her life. She became the base ship at the Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda in 1897, was renamed HMS Terror in 1901 and was sold in 1918. Her name was later used as the stone frigate to which shore personnel in Bermuda were enrolled, and later for Her Majesty's Naval Base Bermuda, after the 1950s, when the dockyard was reduced to a base.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Lyon & Winfield. "8". The Sail and Steam Navy List. p. 283.
  2. 1 2 "Troopships and Trooping - By R G Robertson". Archived from the original on 5 September 2012. Retrieved 24 June 2009.
  3. 1 2 3 Colledge. Ships of the Royal Navy. p. 213.
  4. 1 2 Colledge. Ships of the Royal Navy. p. 181.
  5. ↑ Colledge. Ships of the Royal Navy. p. 317.
  6. ↑ Colledge. Ships of the Royal Navy. p. 118.
  7. ↑ "HMS Malabar at William Loney RN website" . Retrieved 23 June 2009.
  8. ↑ Colledge. Ships of the Royal Navy. p. 83.
  9. ↑ The Royal Navy at Malta, Volume One: The Victorian Era - 1865-1906, page 51, by Richard Ellis & Lt. Cdr. Ben Warlaw RN - ISBN   0907771432
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