Humber-class gunboats as improvised monitors

Vickers built the Humber class for Brazil as Javari-class river gunboats, so their shallow draught and low freeboard suited the Amazon better than a North Sea swell. The Royal Navy acquired Humber, Mersey, and Severn, then used them in East Africa against German positions and SMS Königsberg. At the Battle of the Frontiers, Rear Admiral Horace Hood directed their sustained six-inch fire against German advances. Land artillery could not move or concentrate quickly enough, while the monitors could remain close inshore and keep firing. German troops reportedly mistook the bombardment for the arrival of much larger elements of the Grand Fleet. Three small ships demonstrated how naval guns could supply sustained firepower beside a land campaign.