HMS Shah
Two vessels of the British Royal Navy have been named HMS Shah.
- The second Shah was the escort aircraft carrier Jamaica (CVE-43) loaned from the US from 1943 to 1945.
The first HMS Shah was a wooden hulled frigate launched in 1873. She was named in honour of the Shah of Persia who was paying a State visit to Britain at the time of her building.
As flagship of the British Pacific Squadron she fought an action in company with the corvette HMS Amethyst on 29 May 1877 with the Peruvian armoured turret ship Husacar which had been taken over by rebels opposed to the Peruvian Government and, it was feared, could be used to attack British shipping.
In the course of this action the Shah fired the first torpedo to be used in action (it missed).
The Husacar, being armoured was virtually impenetrable as far as the British were concerned and the Shah and the Amethyst, having no armour, had to keep clear of the Husacar’s turret guns.
As a result, the action was inconclusive and British prestige was felt to have suffered by the failure to obtain a decisive victory.
Returning home at the end of her commission in the Pacific, the Shah was diverted to South Africa where the ship’s company took part in the Zulu War of 1879.
Probably only in the Victorian Navy could a man say that he had fought against an enemy with the latest in modern scientific weapons and also against warriors armed with spears and shields.
There is a monument to the men of HMS Shah in Victoria Park, Portsmouth.
References:
J Winton: Hurrah for the Life of a Sailor
P Padfield: Rule Britannia
