HMS Aphis was a Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 Insect class gunboat

Insect class gunboat

The Insect class patrol boats were a class of small, but well-armed Royal Navy ships designed for use in shallow rivers or inshore. They were intended for use on the Danube...

. She was built by Ailsa Shipbuilding Company

Ailsa Shipbuilding Company

-History:The company was founded in 1885 by the 3rd Marquess of Ailsa.In 1902 the Ailsa yard fitted out the polar exploration ship Scotia for the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition of 1902-04...

, launched on 15 September 1915 and completed in November 1915. She served in Romania

Romania

Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

 during World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, then the China Station

China Station

The China Station was a historical formation of the British Royal Navy. It was formally the units and establishments responsible to the Commander-in-Chief, China....

 until 1940. All of her fighting service was in the Mediterranean, taking part in the invasion of Pantelleria

Operation Corkscrew

During World War II, Operation Corkscrew was the Allied invasion of the Italian island of Pantelleria on 10 June 1943. There had been an early plan to occupy the island in late 1940 , but this was aborted when the Luftwaffe strengthened the Axis air threat in the region.The Allied focus returned...

 and landings in the south of France

Operation Dragoon

Operation Dragoon was the Allied invasion of southern France on August 15, 1944, during World War II. The invasion was initiated via a parachute drop by the 1st Airborne Task Force, followed by an amphibious assault by elements of the U.S. Seventh Army, followed a day later by a force made up...

, returning briefly to the Pacific in 1945. She was scrapped at Singapore

Singapore

Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

 in 1947. Her class was intended for shallow, fast flowing rivers and they also proved suitable for inshore operations when her relatively heavy weaponry could be used to support Army operations.

In February 1942 after a successful Warship Week

Warship Week

Warship Weeks were British National savings campaigns during the Second World War, with the adoption of a Royal Navy warship by a civil community. A level of savings would be set to raise enough money to provide the cost of building a particular naval ship...

 National Savings

National savings

In economics, a country's national savings is the sum of private and public savings. It is generally equal to a nation's income minus consumption and government purchases.- Economic model of national savings :...

 campaign, Aphis was adopted by the civil communities of Warminster

Warminster

Warminster is a town in western Wiltshire, England, by-passed by the A36, and near Frome and Westbury. It has a population of about 17,000. The River Were runs through the town and can be seen running through the middle of the town park. The Minster Church of St Denys sits on the River Were...

 and Westbury

Westbury, Wiltshire

Westbury is a town and civil parish in the west of the English county of Wiltshire, most famous for the Westbury White Horse.-Name:The most likely origin of the West- in Westbury is simply that the town is near the western edge of the county of Wiltshire, the bounds of which have been much the same...

 in Wiltshire

Wiltshire

Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...

.

Service

During 1917 Aphis was operated on the Danube

Danube

The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....

, in support of military operations, based at Bucharest

Bucharest

Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....

. She remained there until 1919.

In 1919 she transferred to the China Squadron for service in the Yangtze Flotilla to support British shipping and nationals in China. The situation in China remained volatile and Aphis remained with the Yangtze Flotilla until June 1940 when she was redeployed to the Mediterranean Fleet

Mediterranean Fleet

Several countries have or have had a Mediterranean Fleet in their navy. See:* Mediterranean Fleet * French Mediterranean Fleet* Mediterranean Squadron * United States Sixth Fleet...

 at Alexandria

Alexandria

Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...

.

For the next three years, Aphis provided artillery support for the Army. For example, in early December 1940, she bombarded Italian positions at Tobruk

Tobruk

Tobruk or Tubruq is a city, seaport, and peninsula on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near the border with Egypt. It is the capital of the Butnan District and has a population of 120,000 ....

 in company with her sister ships HMS Ladybird

HMS Ladybird (1916)

HMS Ladybird was an Insect-class gunboat of the Royal Navy, launched in 1916. This class are also referred to as "Large China Gunboats"....

 and Gnat

HMS Gnat (T60)

HMS Gnat was a Royal Navy Insect class gunboat. She was built by Lobnitz and launched in 1915.During the First World War, Gnat took part in the Mesopotamian Campaign as part of the gunboat squadron operating on the Euphrates and Tigris rivers....

 and the monitor

Monitor (warship)

A monitor was a class of relatively small warship which was neither fast nor strongly armoured but carried disproportionately large guns. They were used by some navies from the 1860s until the end of World War II, and saw their final use by the United States Navy during the Vietnam War.The monitors...

 HMS Terror

HMS Terror (I03)

HMS Terror was an Erebus-class monitor built for the Royal Navy in 1915-16 at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Govan, Scotland.The Erebus-class monitors were of displacement, long, with a maximum speed of produced by reciprocating engines with two shafts, and a crew of 223. The ship's main...

 and later that month, she bombarded harbour installations at Tobruk (three merchant ships were sunk). This continued into February 1941, when she was joined by three Australian destroyers (HMAS Stuart, Vampire

HMAS Vampire (D68)

HMAS Vampire was a V class destroyer of the Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy . Launched in 1917 as HMS Wallace, the ship was renamed and commissioned into the RN later that year. Vampire was loaned to the RAN in 1933, and operated as a depot tender until just before World War II...

 and Voyager

HMAS Voyager (D31)

HMAS Voyager was a W class destroyer of the Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy . Commissioned into the RN in 1918, the destroyer remained in RN service until 1933, when she was transferred to the RAN...

). Army support operations continued into April when Aphis bombarded enemy positions at Bomba

Bomba, Libya

Bomba is a village in eastern Libya on the Gulf of Bomba. It is located south of Derna.Greek historian Herodotus said that Cyrene was founded in mid-7th century BC, when a group of Greek immigrants from Thera landed at the Gulf of Bomba, and stayed there for years, then, they moved to place of...

 and Gazala

Gazala

Gazala, or Ain el Gazala , is a small Libyan village near the coast in the northeastern portion of the country. It is located west of Tobruk....

 during the 8th Army

Eighth Army (United Kingdom)

The Eighth Army was one of the best-known formations of the British Army during World War II, fighting in the North African and Italian campaigns....

's withdrawal.

Aphis remained based at Alexandria until Malta became available for use as a naval base in March 1943. Based at Malta, nearer to the landings on the Italian islands and mainland Europe, she provided artillery support for the attack on Pantalleria

Operation Corkscrew

During World War II, Operation Corkscrew was the Allied invasion of the Italian island of Pantelleria on 10 June 1943. There had been an early plan to occupy the island in late 1940 , but this was aborted when the Luftwaffe strengthened the Axis air threat in the region.The Allied focus returned...

 in June (deployed with Headquarters ship HMS Largs

HMS Largs

HMS Largs was a former French ship captured by the Royal Navy five months after the Battle of France while docked at Gibraltar in November 1940 and commissioned as an "Ocean Boarding Vessel"...

 and destroyers HMS Petard

HMS Petard (G56)

HMS Petard was a "P"-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service during World War II. She was one of the three "P" class ships, out of the original eight, to survive the war in a serviceable condition....

 and Paladin

HMS Paladin (G69)

HMS Paladin was a P-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service during the Second World War. She was built by John Brown and Co. Ltd., Clydebank...

. Her planned deployment in support of the Sicily landings was cancelled in view of the class' vulnerability to air attack. Instead, after a period at Malta, Aphis supported British landings in Calabria

Calabria

Calabria , in antiquity known as Bruttium, is a region in southern Italy, south of Naples, located at the "toe" of the Italian Peninsula. The capital city of Calabria is Catanzaro....

 in early September. She was deployed with her sister HMS Scarab and monitors HMS Erebus

HMS Erebus (I02)

HMS Erebus was a World War I monitor launched on 19 June 1916 and served in both world wars. She and her sister HMS Terror are known as the Erebus class...

, Roberts

HMS Roberts (F40)

HMS Roberts was a Royal Navy Roberts class monitor of the Second World War. She was the second monitor to be named after Field Marshal Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts....

 and Abercrombie

HMS Abercrombie (F109)

HMS Abercrombie was a Royal Navy Roberts class monitor of the Second World War. She was the second monitor to be named after General Sir Ralph Abercrombie....

 to bombard enemy positions on the coast between Reggio Calabria

Reggio Calabria

Reggio di Calabria , commonly known as Reggio Calabria or Reggio, is the biggest city and the most populated comune of Calabria, southern Italy, and is the capital of the Province of Reggio Calabria and seat of the Council of Calabrian government.Reggio is located on the "toe" of the Italian...

 and Pessaro before the Operation Baytown

Operation Baytown

Operation Baytown was a part of the Allied invasion of Italy during World War II on 3 September 1943.The operation consisted of the landing by sea of the British 13th Corps of British 8th Army at Reggio di Calabria...

 landings by the British XIII Corps

XIII Corps (United Kingdom)

XIII Corps was a British infantry corps during World War I and World War II.-World War I:XIII Corps was formed in France on 15 November 1915 under Lieutenant-General Walter Congreve to be part of Fourth Army. It was first seriously engaged during the Battle of the Somme in 1916. On the First day on...

.

After another period at Malta, she participated in the support of the landings in the south of France

Operation Dragoon

Operation Dragoon was the Allied invasion of southern France on August 15, 1944, during World War II. The invasion was initiated via a parachute drop by the 1st Airborne Task Force, followed by an amphibious assault by elements of the U.S. Seventh Army, followed a day later by a force made up...

, this time operating under United States command. She joined the Western Task Force, in June 1944, attached to the Special Operations GroupThe eastern section of the Special Operations Group included gunboat HMS Scarab, destroyers HMS Antwerp and Stuart, HMS Ulster Prince, four Motor Launch

Motor Launch

A Motor Launch is a small military vessel in British navy service. It was designed for harbour defence and submarine chasing or for armed high speed air-sea rescue....

es and 12 US Navy PT Boat

PT boat

PT Boats were a variety of motor torpedo boat , a small, fast vessel used by the United States Navy in World War II to attack larger surface ships. The PT boat squadrons were nicknamed "the mosquito fleet". The Japanese called them "Devil Boats".The original pre–World War I torpedo boats were...

s. at Ajaccio

Ajaccio

Ajaccio , is a commune on the island of Corsica in France. It is the capital and largest city of the region of Corsica and the prefecture of the department of Corse-du-Sud....

. The group was to mis-direct German resources by simulating large Allied landings and in mid-August they carried out bombardments between Antibes

Antibes

Antibes is a resort town in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France.It lies on the Mediterranean in the Côte d'Azur, located between Cannes and Nice. The town of Juan-les-Pins is within the commune of Antibes...

 and the Var river. The operation was a complete success. A second diversionary operation took place off La Ciotat

La Ciotat

La Ciotat is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southern France. It is part of the metropolitan area of Marseille Provence. La ciotat is located to the east of Marseille at an equal distance from Marseille and Toulon...

; HMS Aphis and Scarab and US destroyer USS Endicott

USS Endicott (DD-495)

USS Endicott , a Gleaves-class destroyer, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for Samuel Endicott, who served as a quarter gunner on board Enterprise in the Barbary Wars. He volunteered to participate in the expedition under Lieutenant Stephen Decatur, Jr., which destroyed the...

 bombarded the area. During the action, the allied ships were engaged by two German warships, the corvette UJ6082 and armed yacht UJ6083. Both German ships were sunk.

In mid-August 1944, Aphis resumed duty with the Mediterranean Fleet and in September she was deployed in the Adriatic to support of Army operations, based at Ancona

Ancona

Ancona is a city and a seaport in the Marche region, in central Italy, with a population of 101,909 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region....

. She returned to Malta in January 1945.

In July 1945, she left the Mediterranean to join the British Pacific Fleet

British Pacific Fleet

The British Pacific Fleet was a British Commonwealth naval force which saw action against Japan during World War II. The fleet was composed of British Commonwealth naval vessels. The BPF formally came into being on 22 November 1944...

 at their forward base at Manus Island

Manus Island

Manus Island is part of Manus Province in northern Papua New Guinea and is the largest island of the Admiralty Islands. It is the fifth largest island in Papua New Guinea with an area of 2,100 km², measuring around 100 km × 30 km. According to the 2000 census, Manus Island had a...

 in the Admiralty Islands

Admiralty Islands

The Admiralty Islands are a group of eighteen islands in the Bismarck Archipelago, to the north of New Guinea in the south Pacific Ocean. These are also sometimes called the Manus Islands, after the largest island. These rainforest-covered islands form part of Manus Province, the smallest and...

. By the time she arrived, Japan had surrendered and she did not join the Fleet until after VJ Day. Subsequently, she was paid-off on arrival at Singapore

Singapore

Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

and placed on the Disposal List in 1946. She was sold for scrapping in May.

Sources

• Warships of World War II, by H. T. Lenton & J. J. Colledge, pub. Ian Allen Ltd.