Iranian vessel Persepolis

This article is about a warship. For other uses, see Persepolis (disambiguation).

Persepolis (Persian: پرسپولیس) was the first modern vessel serving in the Persian navy.^[1] A three-island iron-hulled vessel, it had two masts, one funnel and ram bow.^[3] Officially was rated as a cruiser,^[4] its type has been alternatively described as a gunboat^[1] or dispatch.^[2]

History
Iran
Name	Persepolis
Namesake	Persepolis
Builder	AG Weser
Yard number	75
Launched	29 October 1884
Commissioned	1885
Stricken	c. 1925
Homeport	Khorramshahr
Fate	Scrapped, c. 1936
General characteristics
Displacement	1,200 tonnes[1][2][3]
Length	67.5 m (221 ft 5 in)[4]
Beam	10.0 m (32 ft 10 in)[4]
Installed power	Steam[5] 440 horsepower[4]
Propulsion	1 × Shaft[3]
Speed	10 knots (19 km/h)[2][3]
Armament	5 × Breech-loading gun (1903)[2]

Commissioned in 1885, she served for decades and as of mid 1920s was not in active service. An American diplomat reported in 1925 that Persepolis and Mozaffari were the two largest vessels of Iran.^[6] Persepolis and Susa, formed the only two equipment in the navy as of 1904.^[5]

Construction and commissioning

Persepolis was built by German AG Weser at Bremen, on orders from Persian government.^[4] The shipbuilder assigned production number 75 to the vessel and launched it on 29 October 1884.^[4] She was acquired by Persia in 1885, having been delivered by German crew to her home in Khorramshahr.^[1] In his travel book A Ride to India across Persia and Baluchistan, Harry de Windt wrote that she cost Persia over £30,000.^[7]

Service history

Following being commissioned, most of the German crew were repatriated.^[1] According to Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, she "spent most of her time at mooring, outwardly smart but rarely serviceable" because it was expensive for maintenance and its machinery was neglected.^[1] In c. 1925, the ship was discarded.^[3] Although Conway's reports that she was scrapped about 1936,^[1] the remains of her hull sit outside the Maritime Museum of the Sea and Persian Gulf in Bushehr, Iran.

See also

• List of former Iranian naval vessels

• Iran portal

References

1. Gray, Randal, ed. (1985), "Persia", Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921, Conway Maritime Press, p. 419, ISBN 978-0851772455
2. Brassey, Earl Thomas, ed. (1903), "Ships Belonging to Powers Whose Navies Are of Lesser Importance: Persia", The Naval Annual, Praeger Publishers, p. 329, ISBN 978-0851772455
3. Chesneau, Roger; Kolesnik, Eugene M., eds. (1979), "Persia", Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905, Conway Maritime Press, p. 418, ISBN 9780851771335
4. Thiel, Reinhold (2005), Die Geschichte der Actien-Gesellschaft "Weser" 1843–1983 (in German), vol. I, Bremen: H.M. Hauschild GmbH, ISBN 3-89757-271-0
5. Scott-Keltie, J., ed. (2016), "Persia", The Statesman's Year-Book 1904, Springer, p. 965, ISBN 9780230270336
6. Ward, Steven R. (2014). Immortal: A Military History of Iran and Its Armed Forces (Updated ed.). Georgetown University Press. p. 144. ISBN 9781626160651.
7. de Windt, Harry (1891), A Ride to India across Persia and Baluchistan, Chapman and Hall, p. 218