hms peterel

HMS Peterel was a river gunboat built by Yarrow Shipbuilders at Scotstoun and she was the sixth Royal Navy to carry the name. Her name differed from the accepted modern day spelling for Petrel as per the bird as it reprised the name of the original ship to bear the name (in the eighteenth century "Peterel" had been an accepted alternative spelling).After completion, she was dismantled and shipped to Hong Kong for re-assembly before being deployed for service on the China station, on the Yang Tse River to provide protection for British commerce and nationals. HMS Peterel was designed and equipped to patrol the upper reaches of the river (she had a shallow draft and her primary armament was a pair of 3-inch guns).