Posted: 1/5/2014 7:08:06 PM EDT
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Cockchafer_(1915)
HMS Cockchafer was a Royal Navy Insect-class gunboat. She was built by Barclay Curle and launched on 17 December 1915 as the fifth Royal Navy ship to carry this name.[1][2] The Insect class was originally designed for service on the Danube River but most of them spent much of their service on Chinese rivers.[3] First World War During the First World War, Cockchafer was assigned to the defence of the south east coast of England, based at Brightlingsea.[1] During the Russian Civil War, she served with some of her sister ships as part of the British intervention forces fighting in support of White Russian forces on the Dvina River during 1919-1920. On 17 January 1920, the Insect-class ships Cricket, Cockchafer, Moth, Mantis and Scarab set out from Chatham, England for China. Cockchafer was stationed on the Yangtze River where her duties were patrolling and protection of British nationals and interests in China. In 1939 Cockchafer started the war still on Yangtze River patrol. After consideration for conversion to a minelayer, she was then transferred to the East Indies Squadron. In 1941 she assisted in the landings of British and Indian Army troops at Basra, Iraq during the Anglo-Iraqi War. She played host to the regent of Iraq, Amir Abdul Illah who had been deposed and fled an assassination plot in Baghdad.  [9]
She also played a part in the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran, which was the invasion of Iran by British and Commonwealth forces and the Soviet Union, codenamed Operation Countenance, from 25 August 1941 to 17 September 1941. The purpose of the invasion was to secure Iranian oil fields and ensure supply lines (see Persian Corridor) for the Soviets fighting against Nazi Germany on the Eastern Front.[9] In 1943, Cockchafer was transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet at Malta. She took part in support operations for Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily. Following the invasion of Italy and the invasion of Elba, Cockchafer was employed on harbour duties in Taranto in late 1944. In 1945, she was despatched to the Eastern Fleet in the Indian Ocean again to support operations in Burma.[10] After the end of the war against Japan in August 1945, she was sent to Singapore where she was placed in Reserve. In 1949 as the last surviving Insect class gunboat, she was sold for scrap and broken up.[2][11] 
Yeah, I've got nothing. I just laughed at the name and didn't want to put this in GD. Wikipedia is pretty boring sometimes, but always good for stuff like this. |
