Steamer armament in early Sudan campaigns?

[olicana]

Please, can someone tell me what type of guns the British (including Gordon) used on Nile paddle steamers in 1884/85.

Thanks.

[carlos marighela]

Gordon's paddle steamer the Bordein was  armed with 2 X bronze 9 pounder howitzers, as apparently was the Telahawiya his other 'gunboat'. These were ex- Turco-Egyptian vessels,  presumably the ordinance came with them.  Egypt seems to have bought its arms from just about everywhere, so the exact provenance of those guns is anyone's guess.

The Bordein, believe it or not, still exists and is/was undergoing restoration in Khartoum.

[carlos marighela]

Hmm, just found a reference that describes the armament as canon rayé, which is the French expression for a rifled gun, so they may well have been fairly modern pieces.

[dadlamassu]

Quoted from:  https://www.melik.org.uk/discover/nile-gunboats/send-a-gunboat/

Armed steamers and gunboats on the Nile, 1884-99
BORDEIN. Length 140 ft. Beam 12ft. Draught 3 ½ ft. 40 HP engine by Penn. Built by Samuda Bros of Poplar in 1864 and assembled at Boulak near Cairo. Armament: two 9pdr Canon Rayes (rifled). Used by Hicks and Gordon and by Wilson in Gordon Relief Expedition when wrecked at Mernat Island. In Terence Cuneo’s famous painting “The Last Dispatch”, her deck is protected by a kind of wooden palisade. Salvaged by the Mahdists, she was recaptured after the Battle of Omdurman and used for transport until 1905, then laid up in Khartoum North dockyard. Neglected for many years, she has now been transported to a heritage site in Omdurman where she is undergoing reconstruction for preservation on land.

TELAHAWIYA (or Tel el Hoween). Length 160ft. Beam 14 ft. Draught 3 ½ ft. Engine 40/60 HP by Penn. Built by Samuda Bros of Poplar 1860s. Armament two 9pdr Canon Rayes. Wrecked in Gordon Relief Expedition and never salvaged Safiya . Specifications as for Bordein. Captured by Mahdists 1885 and recaptured after Battle of Omdurman. Used for transport until 1905. Last seen in 1912.

ZAFIR, NASR and FATTEH (known as large stern-wheelers). Built in the 1890s for the Dongola (1896) campaign but, arriving too late to take part in the campaign, were assembled above the Second Cataract early in 1897. Drew about 2ft 9ins of water. Armament: two 12pdr QF guns, two 6pdr QF guns and three .45 Maxim MGs. TAMAI, METEMMEH and HAFIR (known as small stern wheelers). Built in the 1880s. Length 90ft. Draught 2ft 6ins. Armament: one 90mm Krupp gun and two .45 Nordenfelt MGs. Later, Maxims were brought on board as well.

MELIK, SHEIKH and SULTAN (known as twin-screw gunboats). Melik was built by Thorneycroft at Chiswick; Sheikh and Sultan by Yarrow at Poplar on the Isle of Dogs. Shipped out in sections and assembled on the Nile at Abadiya in summer 1898. Length 145ft. Draught 2ft. Beam 24ft 6ins. Two twin cylinder compound steam engines. Armament: two 12pdr QF guns, one 4in howitzer and four Maxim MGs.

In 1926 Melik became the clubhouse of the Blue Nile Sailing Club and remained as such for about sixty years (apart from being temporarily recommissioned during WW2), until she was swept up onto the river bank by an exceptionally high flood. Now she lies in a sand berth on the premises of the club awaiting restoration. In 1939 she featured in the film version of The Four Feathers.

The crews of all the gunboats were a mixture of Royal Navy and army officers, Royal Marine NCOs, Royal Navy Petty Officers, civilian engineers of various nationalities and Egyptian and Sudanese crewmen. Among the officers on board Zafir was no less a personage than Brevet Major His Highness Prince Christian Victor of Schleswig-Holstein, a grandson of Queen Victoria.

EDIT: Probably the same reference as above

[olicana]

Thank you for that very full answer. The guns are bigger and better than I expected.