Chinese dispatch boat Tientsin

Tientsin (Chinese: 天津; pinyin: Tiānjīn; lit. 'Tianjin') was a British-made dispatch boat launched in 1863.

Tientsin
Lay-Osborn Flotilla
Name
  • Tientsin (天津)
  • San Wei (三衛)
NamesakeTianjin
BuilderLaird Brothers Limited
Yard number296
Laid down1862
Launched2 February 1863
Out of service1863
FateSold, 30 December 1865
General characteristics
Class and typeDispatch boat
Displacement448 long tons (455 t)
Tons burthen448 bm
Length150 ft 0 in (45.72 m)
Beam25 ft 0 in (7.62 m)
Draught12 ft 10 in (3.9 m)
Installed power
  • Single shaft engine
  • 80 nhp
  • 320 hp (240 kW)
Complement70

History

Tientsin was ordered by Horatio Nelson Lay, Inspector General of the Qing Dynasty Chinese Maritime Customs Service as part of an effort to bolster the Qing Dynasty naval force in response to the ongoing Taiping Rebellion.[1][2] Thereafter she became part of the Lay-Osborn Flotilla commanded by Sherard Osborn.[3] She was put under the command of Captain Beville Granville Wyndham Nicolas.[4] Upon her arrival in China, the Qing government ordered the ship to be renamed as San Wei (Chinese: 三衛; pinyin: Sānwèi).[5][6]

Disagreements between the Qing government and Lay over the command and composition of the Lay-Osborn Flotilla led to its disbandment in 1863, and Tientsin returned to the United Kingdom. She was originally intended for sale, but an embargo on sales, due to the concurrent American Civil War and fear of the vessel joining the Confederate States Navy, prevented any sales.[7] When the American Civil War ended in 1865, she, along with China and Pekin, were sold in an auction to Egypt on 30 December 1865 for £20,500.[5][6]

Tientsin in the Guangdong Fleet

A Tientsin with identical characteristics was part of the Guangdong Fleet c. 1867. Richard Wright speculated that Tientsin was eventually (or alternatively) acquired by the Imperial Maritime Customs Service in Britain, 1868.[8] She was used as a customs cruiser at Canton.[9]

Citations
  1. Chen 2013, p. 7.
  2. Wright 2000, p. 16.
  3. Chen 2013, p. 10.
  4. Davis.
  5. Chen 2013, p. 12.
  6. Chen 2002, p. 142.
  7. Wright 2000, p. 19.
  8. Wright 2000, pp. 19–20.
  9. Chesneau 1979, p. 398.

References
  • Chesneau, Roger (1979). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-133-5. OCLC 5834247.
  • Chen, Zhenshou (2002). Túshuōzhōngguóhǎijūnshǐ: Gǔdài-1955 图说中国海军史: 古代-1955 [A Pictorial History of the Chinese Navy: Antiquity-1955]. Fujian Education Publishing House. ISBN 978-7-5334-3536-3. Archived from the original on 2019-01-12. Retrieved 2019-12-28.
  • Chen, Yue (2013). Zhōngguójūnjiàntúzhì 1855-1911 中國軍艦圖誌1855-1911 [Album of Chinese Warships 1855-1911] (in Chinese). Hong Kong: The Commercial Press (Hong Kong). ISBN 9789620703614.
  • Davis, Peter. "Biography of Beville Granville Wyndham Nicolas R.N." William Loney RN. Peter Davis. Retrieved 2019-12-31.
  • Wright, Richard (2000). The Chinese Steam Navy, 1862-1945. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 9781861761446.
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