HMS Mersey (1913)


HMS Mersey
Career (UK)
Class and type: Humber-class monitor
Name: HMS Mersey
Builder: Vickers
Laid down: August 24, 1912
Launched: September 30, 1913
Acquired: 3 August 1914
Fate: Sold 1921 for scrapping
General characteristics
Displacement: 1,260 tons
Length: 266.75 ft (81.3 m)
Beam: 49 ft (14.9 m)
Draught: 5.6 ft (1.7 m)
Propulsion: 2 shaft Triple Expansion; 2 Yarrow boilers 1450 ihp
Speed: 12 knots (22.2 km/h)
Complement: 140
Armament: 2×6-inch (152 mm) guns
2×4.7-inch (119 mm) howitzers
4×3 pdr gun
1×3 pdr (40mm) AA gun
Armour: Belt 3" - 1.5" (75mm - 40mm); Bulkheads 1.5" (40mm); Barbette 3.5" (90mm); turret face 4" (100mm)

HMS Mersey was a Humber-class monitor of the Royal Navy. Originally built by Vickers for Brazil and christened Madeira, she was purchased by the Royal Navy in 1914 on the outbreak of World War I along with her sister ships Humber and Severn.

She had a relatively successful career in World War I and had two prominent incidents. At the Battle of the Yser in 1914, off the coast of Belgium, she bombarded German troops as well as artillery positions. In July 1915 she was towed to the Rufiji River delta in German East Africa where she and Severn then assisted in the destruction of the Kaiserliche Marine cruiser Königsberg.

She later went to the Mediterranean and served on the River Danube. In 1921 she was sold to the breakers.

Battle honours

References