Nemesis (ship)
The Nemesis (in Greek mythology is Nemesis , the goddess of "just anger ") was a steamer frigate of the British East India Company , which in the First Opium War was used and because of their devastating effect on the Chinese war junks from the Chinese side as "hell ship" was designated. With its steam propulsion and shallow draft , it had the ability, like a gunboat , to penetrate deep into Chinese river systems. In fact, it ushered in the age of gunboat politics in China . She was one of the first warships constructed almost entirely of iron , although she was not a member of the Royal Navy .
Construction and technical data
The Nemesis was in 1839 at the shipyard of Birkenhead Iron Works from the stack and was found in March 1840 in service. At 184 feet (= 56 m) length, 29 feet (= 8.8 m) width and 6 feet (= 1.8 m) draft, she was measured at 660 tons according to Builder's Measurement . She was with two masts as brigantine rigged . Your engine system consisted of two steam engines from George Forrester and Company from Liverpool , each with 60 hp ; their speed under steam is unknown, as is their crew size . The armament consisted of two 32-pounders, four 6-pounders and a rocket launcher .
Calls
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Apparently the Nemesis was specially designed for use in Chinese waters. In late 1840 she traveled from Liverpool to China. During the First Opium War, she took part in the Battle of Canton on January 7, 1841 . In the further course of the war, she sank the Cambridge , an American merchant ship that had been bought by China and converted as a warship. The Nemesis also served as a tug for other warships as well as a troop transport. Their commitment led to the imperial special representative in Canton, Lin Zexu (1785–1850), campaigning for an adaptation of western weapons technology. According to Eberspächer, the use of the nemesis was the model of future gunboat policy:
“The NEMESIS was the prototype of the actual gunboat, which gave its name to the diplomacy that is so closely linked to this type of ship . The first opium war was thus not only one of the outstanding examples of gunboat politics in its classic age, but also of considerable military historical importance due to these technical innovations . "
After the war, the wheel frigate was used in the waters of the Philippines , at that time still a Spanish colony , and in the Dutch East Indies to fight pirates . Its end is unknown.
literature
- Cord Eberspächer: The German Yangtze Patrol. German Gunboat Policy in China in the Age of Imperialism 1900–1914. (= Small series of publications on military and naval history. Volume 8). Publishing house Dr. Dieter Winkler, Bochum 2004, ISBN 3-89911-006-4 .
- Daniel R. Headrick: The Tools of Empire. Technology and European Imperialism in the Nineteenth Century. New York / Oxford 1981, ISBN 0-19-502831-7 .