HMS Manica

HMS Manica was a merchant steamship that was built in England in 1901 and was scrapped in Japan in 1931. She was built as a dry cargo ship but spent the latter part of her career as an oil tanker.

Manica prepares to launch her kite balloon off Gallipoli, 1915
History
Name
  • 1900: Manica
  • 1915: HMS Manica
  • 1918: Huntball
  • 1920: Phorus
Namesake
  • 1901: Manica
  • 1920: Phorus
Owner
Operator
  • 1901: Bucknall Brothers
  • 1915: Royal Navy
Port of registry
  • 1901: London
  • 1915:
  • 1919: London
BuilderSir James Laing & Sons Ltd, Sunderland
Yard number580
Launched25 September 1900
CompletedDecember 1900
Commissionedinto Royal Navy, March 1915
Decommissionedout of Royal Navy, October 1919
Identification
  • UK official number 112782
  • 1901: code letters SDGP
  • 1915: pennant number Y4.17
  • 1917: pennant number Y3.313
  • by 1930: code letters TVRP
FateScrapped 1931
General characteristics
Type
Tonnage
  • 1914: 4,120 GRT, 2,621 NRT
  • 1930: 4,247 GRT, 2,753 NRT
Length360.5 ft (109.9 m)
Beam47.0 ft (14.3 m)
Depth28.3 ft (8.6 m)
Decks2
Installed power530 NHP
Propulsiontriple expansion engine
Speed12 knots (22 km/h)
Armamentby 1916: 1 × 4-inch gun
Aircraft carried
Notessister ships: Barotse, Bantu, Baralong

She is most notable for her service in the First World War. In 1915 she was converted into the Royal Navy's first kite balloon ship. Later in the war the Navy had her converted into an oiler. The Admiralty sold her back into civilian service in 1920.

She was renamed Huntball in 1917 and Phorus in 1920. Her original owner was Bucknall Steamship Lines Ltd, which in 1914 became part of Ellerman Lines and was renamed Ellerman & Bucknall. After the First World War she was owned by Anglo-Saxon Petroleum, which is part of Royal Dutch Shell.

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