River monitors are military craft designed to patrol rivers.They are normally the largest of all riverinewarships in river flotillas, and mount the heaviest weapons. The name originated from the US Navy'sUSS Monitor, which made her first appearance in theAmerican Civil War, and being distinguished by the use of revolvinggun turrets, which were particularly useful in rivers, whose narrow channels could severely limit the directions vessels could face.
River monitors were used oninland waterways such as rivers, estuaries, deltas and lakes. Usually they had a shallowdraft which was necessary for them to be able to operate in enclosed waters; but their displacement, size and draft varied depending on where they were used.
Most river monitors were lightly armored although this varied, with some carrying more armor. Exceptional examples, however, most notably theRoyal Navy'sLord Clive-classmonitors, which could operate in coastal or certain riparian/estuarine situations, bore extra-thick armor plating and heavy shore-bombardment guns, up to a massive 18 inches (457 mm) in size. Typically, however, river monitors displayed a mixture of gun sizes from 3-inch (75 mm) to 6-inch (152 mm), plusmachine guns. This type of vessel overlaps with theriver gunboat that would be armed with relatively small caliber cannons, or a mix of cannons and machine guns.
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River monitors were used during theAmerican Civil War, playing an important role in theMississippi River Campaigns. They also played a role in theBattle of Mobile Bay. The American Civil War river monitors were very large, weighing up to 1,300 tons.
On 18 December 1965, the US Navy, for the second time in one hundred years, authorized the reactivation of abrown-water navy for riparian operations inSouth Vietnam. In July 1966, Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara authorized the formation of aMobile Riverine Force (MRF);[1] a force that would bring back the river monitor.
The US Navy operated itsMonitors as part of their River Assault Flotilla One, which initially consisted of four River Assault Divisions (RAD); with RAD 91 containing three monitors, RAD 92 having two monitors, RAD 111 having three monitors, and RAD 112 operating two monitors.[3]
The Vietnam monitors were divided into two programs; program 4 would consist of the 40 mm gun monitors, while the later program 5 would entail the eight Monitor (H) Howitzer versions, and the six Monitor (F) Flamethrower models.[4] All of the monitors were converted fromWorld War II 56-foot (17 m) longLanding Craft Mechanized (LCMs) Mk 6s.[5] When completed, they were 60 feet (18 m) long, 17 feet (5.2 m) wide, with adraft of3+1⁄2 feet (1.1 m), had two screws driven by two Gray Marine model 64NH9diesel engines, could do 8.5knots (15.7 km/h; 9.8 mph) and were manned by usually 11 or more crewmen.[6] They usually carried about ten tons of armor.
| US Navy Brown Water Navy River Monitors (Vietnam)[7] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Generation-One Type | Generation-Two Type/Flame | Generation-Two Type/Howitzer | |
| Length | 18.6 m (61 ft 0 in) | 18.4 m (60 ft 6 in) | |
| Width | 5.3 m (17 ft 6 in) | ||
| Draft | 1.1 m (3 ft 6 in) | ||
| Engines | 2 Gray Marine 64HN9 diesels; 160 kW (220 hp) at 2100 rpm | ||
| Speed | 8.5 knots (15.7 km/h) | ||
| Crew | 11 | ||
| Armament |
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On Asian rivers, theAmur Military Flotilla on theAmur used largeTaifun-class river monitors of theImperial Russian Navy from around 1907; theImperial Japanese Navy captured some of these ships in 1918.[8] They were up to 1,000 tons displacement, armed with 130 mm guns. Some of these Russian monitors, such as the recommissionedSverdlov, were still in use by theSoviet Navy in the 1945Soviet invasion of Manchuria.[9] The most powerful and largest riverine vessels were threeKhasan-class monitors from 1940s, with 2,400 ton full displacement and limited seagoing capabilities.[10]
During theVietnam War, theUnited States Navy, in conjunction with other riverine craft, commissioned 24 monitors, ten of which mounted a single 40 mm cannon in a Mk 52 turret, eight which mounted an M49 105 mmhowitzer within a T172 turret,[11] and six monitors which mounted two M10-8 flamethrowers from two M8 turrets located on either side of the vessel's 40 mm cannon. Referred to as "river battleships"[12] by their crews, they provided the firepower of thebrown-water navy.
On theDanube, river monitors were employed duringWorld War I byAustria-Hungary andRomania. The Austro-Hungarian river monitorBodrog fired the first shots ofWorld War I, against the city ofBelgrade, and later also fought in theRomanian Campaign, notably during theFlămânda Offensive in October 1916, when she was damaged. Another river monitor,Körös, was also heavily damaged by Romanian artillery, taking 12 hits and ran aground after her steam lines were severed.[13] On 22 September 1917, theEnns-class river monitorInn was sunk by a Romanian mine nearBrăila.[14][15][16] She was refloated but her repairs were not completed before the War ended, and she was eventually handed over to Romania as war reparation, being renamedBasarabia.[17]
During World War I, the RomanianBrătianu class were the largest river monitors on the Danube, displacing 680 tons, armed mainly with three 120 mm guns and protected by at least 70 mm of armor around the belt, turrets and conning tower. They were built in sections atTriest inAustria-Hungary, transported to Romania by rail and assembled by the Romanians at theGalați shipyard in 1907–1908.[18][19][20] They did not engage enemy ships, however, instead they were used to support ground forces during theBattle of Turtucaia and theFirst Battle of Cobadin, and also took part in the1917 campaign, contributing to the stemming of the enemy advance.[21] During the Interwar period, the Romanian Danube Flotilla was the most powerful riverine fleet in the world.[22] In 1924, the Romanian river monitors helped suppress theTatarbunary Uprising, along with the entire Romanian Danube Flotilla. In late 1980s and 1990s Romania commissioned newly builtSmârdan-class river monitors (classified as large armoured boats), and three bigMihail Kogălniceanu-class river monitors, used still in the 21st century.[23]
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Czechoslovakia had one monitor,President Masaryk, of about 200 tons displacement. She was however classified as a patrol boat (hlídková loď). She was captured by the Germans in 1939 and commissioned asBechelaren. She was extensively rebuilt in 1943 and her armament was also modified in February 1945. She supported German troops duringOperation Spring Awakening and later fought in Austria, sinking two Soviet gunboats.
Yugoslav river monitors were former Austro-Hungarian warships received as reparations. They were renamedVardar (ex-Bosna),Sava (ex-Bodrog),Drava (ex-Enns) andMorava (ex-Körös). After thefall of Yugoslavia in April 1941,Morava (renamedBosna) andSava were commissioned by the newly createdIndependent State of Croatia.
Six smaller monitors (70–100 ton displacement) were used byPoland in 1939 on shallowPripyat River. Captured by theSoviet Union, they were used in 1941 by the Soviets on the Pripyat andDnepr rivers, along with Soviet riverine ships. The Soviet Union also had fiveZheleznyakov-class monitors of 263 tons, which served with theDanube Flotilla andDnieper Flotilla in World War II.
Hungary also used river monitors, five of them notably taking part during theKozara Offensive in 1942.
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The Brazilian river monitorParnaíba was built for the navy inRio de Janeiro andcommissioned on 9 March 1938. It participated in theSecond World War and is currently the world's oldest commissioned warship still in active service.[24] It is assigned to the Brazilian navy'sMato Grosso Flotilla.
In terms of operational and active ships doing military work, perhaps only the Russian salvage shipKommuna is older...