After 2 lengthy voyage from England, where recently they were constructed, H.M.S. "Dragonfly and H.M.S. Grasshopper, latest additions to the British Yangtze River foti! have arrived in Shanghai. Under the command of Commdr. H. T.
Armstrong, R.N., the Dragonfly moored at the British naval bue; Saturday and was followed by the Grasshopper, under the command of Lieut, Commdr. E. Neville, yesterday afternoon. Both vessels have been undergoing extensive trials in Hongkong where they were formally handed over to the Royal Navy by Messrs. John I. Thorneycroft and Ca., Ltd., of Woolston, Southampton, the builders, Constructed to Admiralty design and specification, the two new gunboats arrived in Hongkong from Southampton manned by a mercantile crew. Following their lengthy voyage necessary work was carried out in the Colony by the Hongkong and Whampoa Dock Ca., Ltd, and the Dragonfly was handed over on June 5 and the Grasshopper on June 13.
It is interesting to recall that the frst naval vessels to navigate the Upper Yengtze were the British gunboats, H.M.S. Woodcock and H.M.S. Woodlark, which were built cly Messrs. John I. Thorneycroft & Ca. in 1898—forerunners of the type of which the Grasshopper is the latest example.
British Vessels First In May 1900 both vessels arrived at Chungking after a successful ascent of the rapids, the most noteworthy part of this feat being that the Woodlark had used only her own motive power and had not been "tracked through the rapids. This was the first occasion that any vessel had reached Chungking without any assistance' from trackers on shore.
Such was the success of these boats that orders were at once placed with Messrs. John I. Thorneycroft & Ca., by the French and Japanese navies for similar craft—the Argus. Vigilante and Sumifa, A special feature of these boats was their tunnel form of stern, which permitted the employment of propellers of considerably greater diameter than the draft of the vessels.
This form was patented by the late Sir John I. Thorneycroft F\R.S., the founder of the company, and was first used on vessels built for the Nile as long ago as the Gordon Relief Expedition.
Soudan Campaign For Kitchener's Soudan campaign the company built the Melik, which was very similar to the Woodcock and Woodlark, and the gunboat fleet contributed largely to the success of this expedition.
Although hit by shells on several occasions, neither vessel sustained any vital injury to either engines or boilers, which was a little surprising for, as an incentive to good marksmanship. the reward of a wife was promised to any gunner getting a shell into either of the boats.
These early Nile gunboats were all sent out in sections and re-erected on the river as, until recently, was the practice for the Yangtze Thus, H.M.S. Sandpiper, a special shallow draft vessel also constructed by Messrs. John I. Thorneyeroft & Ca. was despatched from Southampton in plates and angles and re-crocied at the Kiangnan Dockyard in Shanghai.
Panay Incident Incidentally this yard obtains most of its boilers from the company and quite recently built six river gunboats for the American Navy, in which these boilers were installed.
One of these was the ill-fated Panay, which was recently sunk by the Japanese.
Subsequently H.M.S. Sandpiper also figured in similar atfficks, fortunately without such serious consequences No lives were lost and the damage was confined to the bridge and superstructure decks.
The Dragonfly and her sister vessel were completed at Thorneycroft's yard and sailed from there to their destination. This was possible because of their increased size and draft over the original Woodcock type and because, though built of very light scantlings, they are really very strong With the arrival of the two vessels the British Yangtze flotilla now possesses three of the most modern gunboats in China, H.M.S. Scorpion. present flagship of Rear-Admiral Spectacular scene in Hyde Park, London, as members of the London Fire Brigade and Auxiliary Fire Service fought a fire which was started in a large tower specially erected for the purpose during a review of 20,000 firemen and women by the Duke of Kent.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.