HMS ''Clio'' was a of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

. She was launched in 1903, saw active service in the Middle East during World War I, was briefly involved in the 1920 British

Somaliland campaign The Somaliland campaign, also called the Anglo-Somali War or the Dervish rebellion, was a series of military expeditions that took place between 1900 and 1920 in modern-day Somaliland. The British were assisted in their offensives by the Ethiop ...

and was sold at Bombay in 1920.

Construction

Her keel was laid down at

Sheerness dockyard Sheerness Dockyard was a Royal Navy Dockyard located on the Sheerness peninsula, at the mouth of the River Medway in Kent. It was opened in the 1660s and closed in 1960. Location In the Age of Sail, the Royal Navy would often establish shore ...

on 11 March 1902, and she was launched on 14 March 1903.

Service history

Australia station

''Clio'' started her career on the

Australia Station The Australia Station was the British, and later Australian, naval command responsible for the waters around the Australian continent. Australia Station was under the command of the Commander-in-Chief, Australia Station, whose rank varied over t ...

, where she arrived in May 1904. In July she made an Island trip and visited

Nouméa Nouméa () is the capital and largest city of the French Sui generis collectivity, special collectivity of New Caledonia and is also the largest Francophone city in Oceania. It is situated on a peninsula in the south of New Caledonia's main i ...

Suva Suva (, ) is the Capital city, capital and the most populous city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rew ...

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

. The visit was in connection with the proposal of the Admiralty to examine the various reefs in the

Cook Cook or The Cook may refer to: Food preparation * Cooking, the preparation of food * Cook (domestic worker), a household staff member who prepares food * Cook (profession), an individual who prepares food for consumption in the food industry * C ...

and other groups, to make safe entrances for the surf boats, discharging and loading cargo. After visiting Mangain,

Aitutaki Aitutaki, also traditionally known as Araura and Utataki, is the second most-populated island in the Cook Islands, after Rarotonga. It is an "almost atoll", with fifteen islets in a lagoon adjacent to the main island. Total land area is , and the ...

, and other islands, the ''Clio'' proceeded to

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian language, Tahitian , ; ) is the largest island of the Windward Islands (Society Islands), Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France. It is located in the central part of t ...

. After blasting passages through the coral reefs at

Savage Island Savage Island or Savage Islands may refer to: Islands *Niue (formerly "Savage Island"), an island nation in the South Pacific Ocean *Savage Island (Alaska) *Savage Islands, a small Portuguese archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean off the Canary I ...

and other islands she reached

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

in September and stayed for two months in New Zealand waters. Planning to return to Sydney for Christmas, she visited

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

again, where she stayed at the disposal of the Governor because of political problems at Tonga, to which she made some tours. In February she finally returned to Sydney.

China station

After a visit to

Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...

''Clio'' left Australia in April 1905 for the

China Station The Commander-in-Chief, China, was the admiral in command of what was usually known as the China Station, at once both a British Royal Navy naval formation and its admiral in command. It was created in 1865 and deactivated in 1941. From 1831 to 1 ...

. In 1908, the Clio transported British journalist

Ernest Bethell Ernest Thomas Bethell (3 November 1872 – 1 May 1909) was a British journalist. He founded a newspaper that advocated for Korean independence from Japan, ''The Korea Daily News.'' He is also known by his Korean name (). Arrival in Korea In 19 ...

from

Chemulpo Incheon is a city located in northwestern South Korea, bordering Seoul and Gyeonggi Province to the east. Inhabited since the Neolithic, Incheon was home to just 4,700 people when it became an international port in 1883. As of February 2020, ...

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

to serve a sentence of imprisonment for inciting Koreans to oppose Japanese rule of Korea.

World War I

She re-commissioned at

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

in August 1914 and was initially based at

Sandakan Sandakan () formerly known at various times as Elopura, is the capital of the Sandakan District in Sabah, Malaysia. It is the second largest city in Sabah after Kota Kinabalu. It is located on the Sandakan Peninsula and east coast of the sta ...

, tasked with patrolling the Basilan Straits. In late 1914 she transferred to the Middle East and was in Port Said by the beginning of January 1915. At the end of that month she moved into the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...

and was active in the defence of the canal against Turkish troops. She fired on Turkish positions on 27 January and 1–3 February, receiving incoming rifle fire on the last. She was also hit by two heavier shells, but suffered no casualties.Log of HMS CLIO
Royal Navy Log Books of the World War 1 Era - HMS CLIO She formed part of the British expeditionary force in the

Shatt-al-Arab The Shatt al-Arab () is a river about in length that is formed at the confluence of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers in the town of al-Qurnah in the Basra Governorate of southern Iraq. The southern end of the river constitutes the Iran– ...

in April 1915, and in 1917 served in operations off Aden in March. At Dhubab on 6 May and again on 8 May at Ibn Abbas (near the island of

Kamaran Kamaran () is the largest Yemeni island in the Red Sea. The island is long and wide and is strategically located at the southern end of the Red Sea. It is a "shelf island" located in the shallow waters of the Arabian Peninsula's continental sh ...

) landings were carried out to punish smuggling.

Campaign against the "Mad Mullah"

In December 1919, after commissioning at

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

, she took part in the campaign against

Mohammed Abdullah Hassan Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monotheistic teachings of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, ...

("the Mad Mullah"). Sailors were landed, but by late February the campaign was complete.

Fate

She was sold at

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

on 12 November 1920 on the same day as her sister-ship .

References

*''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' 7 March 1903, Issue 37242. *''

'' 19 November 1903, Issue 37022.

External links

* Transcription of ship's logbooks October 1913 to May 1920 {{DEFAULTSORT:Clio (1903) Cadmus-class sloops Victorian-era sloops of the United Kingdom World War I sloops of the United Kingdom 1903 ships