Insect-class gunboat

HMS Ladybird off Bardia in December 1940, showing her World War II configuration with the longer 50-calibre 6-inch guns installed in 1939
Class overview
NameInsect class
Operators Royal Navy
Completed12
Lost3
Retired9
General characteristics
TypeGunboat[1]
Displacement625 long tons (635 t)
Length237 ft 6 in (72.39 m)
Beam36 ft (11 m)
Draught4 ft (1.2 m)
Propulsion2 shaft VTE engines, 2 Yarrow type mixed firing boilers 2000 IHP
Speed14 kn (16 mph; 26 km/h)
Complement55
Armament
ArmourImprovised

The Insect-class gunboats (or large China gunboats) were a class of small but well-armed Royal Navy ships designed for use in shallow rivers or inshore.[a] They were intended for use on the Danube against Austria-Hungary (the China name was to disguise their function; however, they did see service on the Yangtze river in China). The first four ships—Gnat, Mantis, Moth and Tarantula—were first employed during the Mesopotamian Campaign of the First World War on the Euphrates and Tigris rivers.


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