River Gunboat

River Gunboat
was built by David from posterboard, balsa, and corrugated cardboard. It is a gaming interpretation of the Nile gunboat Safieh, converted from a small sidewheel river steamer, which participated in Wolesley's unsuccessful expedition to relieve Gordon at Khartoum, 1884-85.

The design attempts to reproduce the lines and proportions of the Safieh, while reducing the overall size to usable gaming dimensions (7.5" length, 4" beam, 1 gun).

A contemporary etching showing Safieh at anchor stern-on to batteries at Wadi Habashi, while the crew repairs a boiler burst by a Mahdist shell.

 

 

















Contemporary engraving showing the deck of the Safieh in action, running the Mahdist batteries to rescue the grounded steamer Bordein at Mirnat Island. Her battery included two 4-pdr guns, two Gardner guns (multi-barrel inline hand-machine guns, similar to Gatlings), and 20 picked marksmen.

These engravings are reproduced in Khartoum 1885 - General Gordon's Last Stand, by Donald Featherstone, Osprey Books, 1993. The Major General strongly recommends this book for anyone interested in the Nile gunboats or the Khartoum Relief Expedition.


Copyright©1998 David Helber. No commercial distribution of images or text from any page on this site without written permission.

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