Iranian vessel Persepolis

Persepolis (Persian: پرسپولیس‎) was the first modern vessel serving in the Persian navy.[1] A three-island iron-hulled vessel, it had two masts, one funnel and ram bow.[3] Officially was rated as a cruiser,[4] its type has been alternatively described as a gunboat[1] or dispatch.[2]

This article is about a warship. For other uses, see Persepolis (disambiguation).
History
Iran
Name: Persepolis
Namesake: Persepolis
Builder: AG Weser
Yard number: 75
Launched: 29 October 1884
Commissioned: 1885
Stricken: c. 1925
Homeport: Khorramshahr
Fate: Scrapped, c. 1936
General characteristics
Displacement: 1,200 tonnes[1][2][3]
Length: 67.5 m (221 ft 5 in)[4]
Beam: 10.0 m (32 ft 10 in)[4]
Installed power:
Propulsion: 1 × Shaft[3]
Speed: 10 knots (19 km/h)[2][3]
Armament: 5 × Breech-loading gun (1903)[2]

Commissioned in 1885, she served for decades and as of mid 1920s was not in active service. An American diplomat reported in 1925 that Persepolis and Mozaffari were the two largest vessels of Iran.[6] Persepolis and Susa, formed the only two equipment in the navy as of 1904.[5]

Construction and commissioning

Persepolis was built by German AG Weser at Bremen, on orders from Persian government.[4] The shipbuilder assigned production number 75 to the vessel and launched it on 29 October 1884.[4] She was acquired by Persia in 1885, having been delivered by German crew to her home in Khorramshahr.[1] In his travel book A Ride to India across Persia and Baluchistan, Harry de Windt wrote that she cost Persia over £30,000.[7]

Service history

Following being commissioned, most of the German crew were repatriated.[1] According to Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, she "spent most of her time at mooring, outwardly smart but rarely serviceable" because it was expensive for maintenance and its machinery was neglected.[1] In c. 1925, the ship was discarded.[3] She was scrapped about 1936.[1]

See also

References
  1. Gray, Randal, ed. (1985), "Persia", Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships: 1906–1921, Conway Maritime Press, p. 419, ISBN 978-0851772455
  2. Brassey, Earl Thomas, ed. (1903), "Ships Belonging to Powers Whose Navies Are of Lesser Importance: Persia", The Naval Annual, Praeger Publishers, p. 329, ISBN 978-0851772455
  3. Chesneau, Roger; Kolesnik, Eugene M., eds. (1979), "Persia", Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships: 1860–1905, Conway Maritime Press, p. 418, ISBN 9780851771335
  4. Thiel, Reinhold (2005), Die Geschichte der Actien-Gesellschaft "Weser" 1843–1983 (in German), I, Bremen: H.M. Hauschild GmbH, ISBN 3-89757-271-0
  5. Scott-Keltie, J., ed. (2016), "Persia", The Statesman's Year-Book 1904, Springer, p. 965, ISBN 9780230270336
  6. Ward, Steven R. (2014). Immortal: A Military History of Iran and Its Armed Forces (Updated ed.). Georgetown University Press. p. 144. ISBN 9781626160651.
  7. de Windt, Harry (1891), A Ride to India across Persia and Baluchistan, Chapman and Hall, p. 218
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