H.M.S. Upnor (1899)

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H.M.S. Upnor
Career Details
Pendant Number: Y2.3
Built By: Bow, McLachlan
Launched: 30 March, 1899
Sold: Circa 1952, for scrap
General Characteristics
Displacement: 600 tons
Length: 151 feet 6 inches (o.a.)
Beam: 24 feet
Draught: 10 feet 6 inches
Propulsion: 366 ihp
Speed: 21 knots
Range: 5,720 miles at 10 knots
Complement: Unknown
Armament:
  • 1 × QF 3-pdr (1.4 kg) [1.85"/50 (47 mm)] in single mount

On 29 March, 1922 Upnor left Haulbowline Dockyard bound for Devonport, loaded with 448 rifles, 748 revolvers, 39 machine guns, over 300,000 rounds of ammunition and a small quantity of explosives. Having cleared Cork harbour, Upnor was intercepted by the tug Warrior, which had been commandeered by the local I.R.A. brigade. The Upnor was captured and taken to Ballycotton Bay where the military stores were offloaded and transported away in a fleet of lorries. The crew were "treated with consideration" and a local hotel broken into so that a bottle of whiskey might be obtained. The next day, the Commander-in-Chief, Western Approaches, E. F. A. Gaunt, grew suspicious and despatched two destroyers to search for Upnor. Upon learning this the I.R.A. abandoned the store carrier and it was looted by locals.[1]

Upnor was eventually sold circa 1952.[2]

Footnotes

  1. McMahon. British Spies and Irish Rebels. p. 72.
  2. Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1918. p. 304.

Bibliography

  • Dittmar, F.J.; Colledge, J.J. (1972). British Warships 1914–1919. London: Ian Allan.
  • McMahon, Paul (2008). British spies and Irish rebels: British intelligence and Ireland, 1916-1945. London: Boydell Press. ISBN 184383376X.