HMS Mantis by Ivan Berryman [Print]

Artist: Ivan Berryman [browse all Ivan Berryman]

Print Size 15" x  10" (38.1cm x 25.4cm)

An Insect class river gunboat, HMS Mantis took part in operations on the River Tigris in modern-day Iraq in World War One. A British Army advance up the Tigris in 1915 took the town of Kut-al-Amara, but this army of more than 10,000 men were besieged by the Turks here, eventually surrendering in April 1916. With other river gunboats, HMS Mantis had attempted to help break the siege from early March 1916, and remained on the River Tigris until again called upon to assist an expedition in early 1917. As part of a fleet of nearly 20 river gunboats, HMS Mantis helped the forces of Sir Stanley Maude recapture Kut-al-Amara on 24th February 1917. The ship had a long career, briefly serving in north Russia during their civil war in 1919 before serving in China during the 1920s. Still operational at the beginning of World War Two, HMS Mantis was eventually scrapped in 1940.