HMS Severn (1914)

HMS "Severn" was a "Humber"-class monitor of the Royal Navy. Originally built by Vickers for Brazil, she was purchased by the Royal Navy in 1914 on the outbreak of World War I along with her sister ships "Humber" and "Mersey". She had been christened "Solimoes" by the Brazilians, but was renamed by the British. [Farwell, Byron. "The Great War in Africa, 1914-1918. WW Norton & Company. p 145] The three ships were the first of a new type of specialised shore-bombardment warships. She was 265 feet long and 49 feet wide. Her draft when fully loaded was only 6.5 feet, but very un-manoeuvrable and unseaworthy in open waters in anything more than a Force 5 wind.

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 "Mersey" then assisted in the destruction of the Kaiserliche Marine cruiser SMS "Königsberg".

She was sold for breaking up on 9 May 1921 to Ward, of Preston, and arrived at their yards on 23 March 1923.

References

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* Jane's Fighting Ships of World War One (1919), Jane's Publishing Company

Battle honours

* Battle of the Yser 1914 - 1915
* SMS "Königsberg" 1915