HMS Pegasus (1897)
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| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | HMS Pegasus |
| Ordered: | 1893 |
| Laid down: | May 1896 at Jarrow |
| Launched: | 4 March 1897 |
| Commissioned: | 17 January 1899 |
| Motto: | "Excelsior" |
| Fate: | Sunk 20 September 1914 by SMS Königsberg in Zanzibar harbour |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Pelorus class cruiser |
| Displacement: | 2,135 tons 2,740 tons full load |
| Length: | 300 ft (91 m) |
| Beam: | 36.5 ft (11.1 m) |
| Draught: | 17 ft (5.2 m) |
| Propulsion: | Two triple expansion steam engines, 7,000 hp |
| Speed: | 20 knots (37 km/h) when new |
| Complement: | 224 |
| Armament: | 8 x 4-inch (102 mm) guns, 8 x 3 pdr guns, 2 x 18-inch (457 mm) torpedo tubes |
HMS Pegasus was one of eleven Pelorus class cruisers ordered for the Royal Navy in 1893 under the Spencer Program and based on the earlier Pearl class cruisers. The class were fitted with a variety of different boilers most of which were not entirely satisfactory and by 1914 four ships had been withdrawn. They had all been condemned in 1904 but were reprieved and remained in service with scrapping proposed in 1915.
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[edit] History
The Pelorus class cruisers were 2,135 ton displacement ships with crew complement of 224, a length of 95.55 m, beam of 11.13 m, and a draft of 4.88 m. They were powered by two triple-expansion engines with boilers rated at 5,000 ihp and a maximum speed of 20 knots (37 km/h). They were armed with eight 4-inch (102 mm) guns, eight 3 pounder guns, and two 18-inch (457 mm) torpedo tubes. Pegasus was completed in 1898 and in 1899 she was stationed off of the SE Coast of America. She then was stationed in the Mediterranean, Australia, China, and finally Africa.
[edit] The shipwreck
In the early morning of September 20, 1914 Pegasus was anchored in Zanzibar harbour, now part of Tanzania, having left her battlegroup, which included HMS Hyacinth and Astraea, to attend to boiler and engine problems. The German light cruiser SMS Königsberg launched a surprise attack on the ship. Out-ranged and out-gunned, Pegasus was incapacitated within eight minutes and the Captain, Commander Ingles, struck the colours to avoid further bloodshed. The ship sank later that day with the loss of 38 killed and 55 wounded. The hospital ship Gascon and Scottish ship Clan Macrae came to the aid of the survivors. The Pioneer, Pegasus’ sister ship, later assisted in the blockade of the Rufiji River where the Königsberg had taken refuge. Six of the eight guns were salvaged and two, named "Peggy III" and "Peggy IV", were used in the land campaign until 1916. Of the other four, two remained in Zanzibar, one was mounted on board the lake steamer Winifred and the last mounted at Mombasa where it survives to this day outside Fort Jesus museum. Twenty four of the British sailors that died in the battle were laid to rest in a mass grave in part of the naval cemetery on Grave island, Zanzibar, the remaining fourteen were buried in the town cemetery but in 1971 were moved to Dar es Salaam war cemetery. The wreck was sold in 1955 for £500 and broken up for scrap, although large amounts of debris still remain on the seabed.[1]
[edit] References
- Shipwrecks of the East African Coast, and Konigsberg - A German East African Raider, by Kevin Patience
