|
Royal Navy third class cruisers of
the Pelorus Class. Ships in the class were HMS Pyramus, HMS Pelorus, HMS
Pandora, HMS Pegasus, HMS Perseus, HMS Pactolus, HMS Pioneer, HMS
Prometheus, HMS Proserpine, HMS Psyche and HMS Pomone Apart
from HMS Pandora, Perseus, and Prometheus, the cruisers of the class
served in overseas stations at the time of the outbreak of world war one. HMS Pomone had
been used for harbour service and as a training ship at Dartmouth in January
1910 and later sold to scrap in 1922. HMS
Pactulus had been converted to a submarine depot ship in September
1912 and during 1914 to 1918 served at Ardrossan, Scotland
with the 9th Submarine Flotilla during the war and sold to scrap in May
1921. HMS
Pelorus at the outbreak of world war one had been on patrol in the
Bristol Channel, and was sent to the Mediterranean station. In
1916 HMS Pelorus was
converted to a depot ship and after the war was scrapped in may
1920. HMS Pegasus at
the outbreak of world war one was at The Cape of Good Hope Station and
was immediately sent to Eats Africa. an don the 20th September 1914 ay
Zanzibar she was sunk by Gunfire from the German
Light Cruiser Konigsburg. HMS
Pyramus at the outbreak of world war one was serving in New Zealand and
was sent in February 1915 to the Persian Gulf and then transferred to
the Eats Indies. After the war was finally scrapped in January
1920 HMS Psyche at
the outbreak of world war one was serving in New Zealand and was
transferred to the New Zealand Navy and sent to China in July 1915 after
the war HMS Pyramus was scrapped at Melbourne Australia in June 1922. Displacement:
2135 tons Speed: 20 knots. Crew 224 Armament:
Eight 4 inch guns, Eight 3 pdr, 3 machine guns and Two
18-inch Torpedo Tubes |
| HMS Pandora |
17th January 1900 |
Sold for scrap in July 1913. |
| HMS Pelorus |
15th December
1896 |
Served as a depot ship in
1916 before being sold for scrap on 6th May 1920. |
| HMS Pegasus |
4th March 1897 |
Sunk by gunfire on 20th
September 1914.from the German
Light Cruiser Konigsburg |
| HMS Perseus |
15th July 1897 |
Sold for scrap on 26th May
1914. |
| HMS Pactolus |
21st December
1896 |
Served as a depot ship in
September 1912 before being sold for scrap on 25th October 1921. |
| HMS Pioneer |
28th June 1899 |
Served with the Australian
Navy from 1st July 1915 and sold in 1924. She was scuttled on 19th
February 1931. |
| HMS Pomone |
25th November
1897 |
Used for harbour service from
January 1910 until scrapped in June 1922. |
| HMS Prometheus |
20th October 1898 |
Sold for scrap on 28th May
1914. |
| HMS Proserpine |
5th December 1896 |
Sold for scrap on 30th
November 1919. |
| HMS Psyche |
19th July 1898 |
Served with the Australian
Navy from 1st July 1915 until sold for scrap in June 1922. |
|
HMS Pyramus |
15th May 1897 |
Sold for scrap on 21st April
1920. |
| HMS
Pandora
Displacement: 2135 tons Speed: 20
knots. Crew 224 Armament: Eight 4 inch guns, Eight 3
pdr, 3 machine guns and Two 18-inch Torpedo Tubes
|
HMS Pandora, 1901.
A
large image size 10" x 7" approx, is available. Reproduced
from the original negative / photo under license from MPL, the copyright
holder. A signed numbered certificate is supplied. Price
£25. Order photograph here Order Code
XMP1105
Original
republished © MPL Photograph (Postcard Size). Price £5 Click here
to order. Order Code MP1105 |
HMS Pandora c.1900
This photograph was taken as the Pandora steamed past the entrance
to Portsmouth Harbour. She was one of a class of 11 ships, The Pandora
was the last of this class to be built while Pelorus was the first. |
| HMS
Pelorus
HMS Pelorus at the outbreak of world war one had
been on patrol in the Bristol Channel, and was sent to the Mediterranean
station. In 1916 HMS Pelorus was converted to a depot ship and after the
war was scrapped in may 1920
Displacement: 2135 tons Speed: 20
knots. Crew 224 Armament: Eight 4 inch guns, Eight 3
pdr, 3 machine guns and Two 18-inch Torpedo Tubes
|
|
HMS Pelorus, 1897.
A
large image size 10" x 7" approx, is available. Reproduced
from the original negative / photo under license from MPL, the copyright
holder. A signed numbered certificate is supplied. Price
£25. Order photograph here. Order Code
XMP1106
Original
republished © MPL Photograph (Postcard Size). Price £5 Click here
to order. Order Code MP1106 |
HMS Pelorus. Contributed
by email. |
HMS Pelorus, June 25th, 1896 |
HMS Pelorus. |
| HMS
Pegasus |
HMS Pegasus.
A
large image size 10" x 7" approx, is available. Reproduced
from the original negative / photo under license from MPL, the copyright
holder. A signed numbered certificate is supplied. Price
£25. Order photograph here Order Code
XMP1107
Original
republished © MPL Photograph (Postcard Size). Price £5 Click here
to order. Order Code MP1107 |
|
Deeds That Thrill The Empire. Page 369.
Volume II
The
Hopeless Fight Of The Little “Pegasus” With The “Konigsberg”
Some of the noblest deeds of heroism in British history have been
performed in the face not only of heavy odds, but also of certain defeat;
and not the least of these was the plucky but hopeless fight which the
little Pegasus put up against the German cruiser Konigsburg.
The Pegasus was a third class cruiser, of 2,125 tons, launched in
1897, during the opening weeks of the war she had done much good service
on the East Coast of Africa, destroying the German port of Dar-es-Salaam,
and sinking a gunboat and a floating dock in the harbour.
She had, too, made a special point of searching for the Konigsberg,
a German vessel of 3,350 tons, launched in 1905, and carrying ten 4.1-inch
35 ½-pounder guns against the eight 4-inch 25-pounder of the Pegasus. While out at sea the two vessels had often been in wireless
touch, and the Pegasus had urged the enemy to come and make a square fight
of it; but to no purpose. The
Kongisberg preferred to keep her distance.
Then, the Pegasus being an old ship, with machinery that had always
been troublesome, there came a time-only a few weeks after the outbreak of
war-when she had to go into harbour to pull herself together.
In the middle of September 1914, she steamed into Zanzibar and came
to anchor. All the fires were
allowed to die out, for the boilers were sadly in need of cleaning, while
the engines stood in need of many minor repairs.
There is good authority for the statement that the Pegasus had no
sooner come to anchor than the owner of a native dhow, bribed with a gift
of two hundred rupees, left the port to convoy the intelligence to the
German cruiser. However that
may be, at daybreak on Sunday, September 20th 1914, the
Konigsberg appeared off the entrance to the port of Zanzibar, and, quickly
settling the account of a little tug boat that was employed as a patrol,
opened her broadside on the Pegasus from a distance of nine thousand
yards.
On board the Pegasus everyone was at his war station in a minute;
but it would have taken hours to get up steam from her cold boilers and
unlighted furnaces, and she had to do her best as and where she stood.
She was absolutely outclassed from the start. Her guns, though almost equal in calibre to those of the
German cruiser, were obsolete by comparison, and the Konigsberg was able
to shell her from a distance, which her 4-inch guns could not cover.
For twenty-five minutes the Konigsberg poured in her relentless
broadside, steaming slowly in until she had reduced the range from nine
thousand to seven thousand yards; and still the shells of the Pegasus
failed to reach her. The shot
fell harmlessly into the water hundreds of yards short of the enemy
cruiser.
The poor little Pegasus was in a bad way from the start. The enemy’s shooting was not good, but with the advantage
of range they were able to take their own time, and the British ship soon
began to suffer severely. One
of the first to be hit was the gunnery officer, Lieutenant Richard Turner,
whose legs were shattered by a shell.
As he lay stricken and bleeding to death his thoughts were all for
the honour of his ship and his service “Keep it up, lads,” he said to
his men. “We’re
outclassed and done for; but d--- them, and keep it up!”
So, having asked for brandy and a cigarette, Lieutenant Turner
died; but the men “kept it up.” In
fifteen minutes all the guns of the Pegasus had been silenced and not one
of their shells had reached the enemy, whose guns had a range greater by
two thousand yards. The
cruiser’s flag was shot away from its staff.
Instantly a Marine ran forward, seized the flag, and waved it
aloft; and when he was struck down another came and took his place.
The flag flew until the end.
There was no braver man that day than the medical officer of the
Pegasus, Staff-Surgeon Alfred J. Hewitt.
Nearly all the casualties occurred on deck, and there he was from
the start to the finish, giving what help he could to the wounded men.
On one occasion he was holding a ruptured artery in the neck of one
man, and, with his other hand, stanching the flow of blood in the leg of
another, while his assistants went for bandages.
He could do nothing to help in the fighting, but there was
certainly no braver man in the ship.
When she had fired about two hundred shells, the Konigsberg
withdrew, leaving the Pegasus a battered and fast sinking wreck.
At the beginning of the action there were 234 officers and men on
board the British vessel, and of these 35 were killed and 53 wounded.
The proportion of casualties was high; but it would have been
greater if the Konigsberg had had sufficient pluck to stay and carry on
with her work. She left it
half finished, apparently fearing the approach of British vessels from the
seaward.
No officer or man was rewarded for the fight the Pegasus made; but
it will be admitted that those who stand up unflinchingly to odds in this
manner are at least equally worthy of recognition with, let us say, those
who approach an unsuspecting enemy in an invisible submarine.
Sir Richard Grenville was beaten when he fought his great fight of
the “one against fifty-three; “but the story of his defeat is one of
the proudest in our naval history. The
Pegasus, like Grenville’s Revenge, was lost, but she was lost in glory. |
| HMS
Perseus
Displacement: 2135 tons Speed: 20
knots. Crew 224 Armament: Eight 4 inch guns, Eight 3
pdr, 3 machine guns and Two 18-inch Torpedo Tubes
|
HMS Perseus of the Pelorus Class.
A
reproduction of this original photo / photo-postcard size 10" x
7" approx available. Order photograph here © Walker
Archive. Order Code PHC020 |
| HMS
Pioneer |
HMS Pioneer.
A
reproduction of this original photo / photo-postcard size 10" x
7" approx available. Order photograph here © Walker
Archive. Order Code PHC761 |
| HMS
Pomone |
HMS Pomone, 1899.
A
large image size 10" x 7" approx, is available. Reproduced
from the original negative / photo under license from MPL, the copyright
holder. A signed numbered certificate is supplied. Price
£25. Order photograph here Order Code
XMP1109
Original
republished © MPL Photograph (Postcard Size). Price £5 Click here
to order. Order Code MP1109 |
| HMS
Proserpine
Displacement: 2135 tons Speed: 20
knots. Crew 224 Armament: Eight 4 inch guns, Eight 3
pdr, 3 machine guns and Two 18-inch Torpedo Tubes
|
 HMS
Proserpine, 1899.
A
large image size 10" x 7" approx, is available. Reproduced
from the original negative / photo under license from MPL, the copyright
holder. A signed numbered certificate is supplied. Price
£25. Order photograph here. Order Code
XMP1111
Original
republished © MPL Photograph (Postcard Size). Price £5 Click here
to order. Order Code MP1111
Original
Photograph. Published by P A Vicary c.1970 Price £18.
Click here to order. Order Code PHC010 |
| HMS
Psyche
HMS Psyche at the outbreak of world war one was serving
in New Zealand and was transferred to the New Zealand Navy and sent to
China in July 1915 after the war HMS Pyramus was scrapped at Melbourne
Australia in June 1922.
Displacement: 2135 tons Speed: 20
knots. Crew 224 Armament: Eight 4 inch guns, Eight 3
pdr, 3 machine guns and Two 18-inch Torpedo Tubes
|
The stern of HMS Psyche in 1916, after transfer to the Australian
Navy in 1915.
A
reproduction of this original photo / photo-postcard size 10" x
7" approx available. Order photograph here © Walker
Archive. Order Code PHC546 |
HMS Psyche, 1900.
A
large image size 10" x 7" approx, is available. Reproduced
from the original negative / photo under license from MPL, the copyright
holder. A signed numbered certificate is supplied. Price
£25. Order photograph here. Order Code
XMP1112
Original
republished © MPL Photograph (Postcard Size). Price £5 Click here
to order. Order Code MP1112 |
| HMS
Pyramus
HMS Pyramus at the outbreak of world war one was
serving in New Zealand and was sent in February 1915 to the Persian Gulf
and then transferred to the Eats Indies. After the war was finally scrapped
in January 1920
Displacement: 2135 tons Speed: 20
knots. Crew 224 Armament: Eight 4 inch guns, Eight 3
pdr, 3 machine guns and Two 18-inch Torpedo Tubes
|
The third class cruiser HMS Pyramus which served in
both the Australian and New Zealand navies during the first world war.
|
HMS Pyramus, 1900.
A
large image size 10" x 7" approx, is available. Reproduced
from the original negative / photo under license from MPL, the copyright
holder. A signed numbered certificate is supplied. Price
£25. Order photograph here. Order Code
XMP1113
Original
republished © MPL Photograph (Postcard Size). Price £5 Click here
to order. Order Code MP1113 |
| |
|
Naval Historians, Crew & Family
Noticeboard
Pelorus Class cruiser, Notice Board for naval
enthusiasts and ex Crew families of Pelorus Class cruisers. This website is
not part of any governmental body or official websites of Pelorus Class
cruisers.
Photographs and information on historical events about HMS Pyramus, HMS
Pelorus, HMS Pandora, HMS Pegasus, HMS Perseus, HMS Pactolus, HMS Pioneer,
HMS Prometheus, HMS Proserpine, HMS Psyche or HMS Pomone requested for this
new website. If you have any information you would like to send us
including photographs of crew members serving on HMS Pyramus, HMS Pelorus, HMS
Pandora, HMS Pegasus, HMS Perseus, HMS Pactolus, HMS Pioneer, HMS
Prometheus, HMS Proserpine, HMS Psyche or HMS Pomone and also photographs of the ship
please USE
OUR MESSAGE FORM
MESSAGES
HMS PACTOLUS
ARTHUR REEVE.. My grandfather
was on Pactolus from 27th June 1899 to 16th January 1900. It was his first
naval tour of duty in the engine room. Any photographs or information of
this period featuring Pactolus would be appreaciated. Contact me at reeve.mjr@lineone.net
HMS PROSERPINE My
grandfather served as a stoker on the Proserpine during WWI. He was K27319
A BAMBRIDGE. He was awarded the War Medal, the Victory Medal and the Long
Service Medal. I would like to know if he qualified for any other medals.
Also I am looking for a good picture of HMS Proserpine. Contact Mike
Barnes at Barnesfamily01@aol.com
HMS PYRAMUS
JOHN (JACK) MAY.. My grandfather John
(Jack) May ran away to sea at 15. Initially serving on the Pioneer, but
during W.W.I he spent most of the period on H.M.S. Pyramus. I have been
trying to follow the movements of the Pyramus using the information left to
me as clues - from the Pacific to East Africa and Turkey - troop ship escort
- hunting German raiders - punitive shore parties, etc. If anyone comes
across this message and has any information on these ships and their movements, I would love to hear from
you. email here
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO LEAVE A MESSAGE USE
OUR MESSAGE FORM |
|
