HMS Mimi and HMS Toutou

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HMS Mimi and HMS Toutou were motor launches of the British Navy. After undergoing an unusual journey from Britain to Lake Tanganyika in the interior of Africa, the ships played an important role in the naval struggle between Britain and Germany during World War I.

[edit] England to Tanganyika

The ship eventually named the Mimi was one of two being built at the Thornycroft Yards on the Thames at the beginning of the war. Originally commissioned for the Greek Air Force,^[1] the Mimi was requisitioned by the British Admiralty to meet the needs of a scheme to create an African inland navy. Both Mimi and her sister ship HMS Toutou had a beam of 40 ft and could travel at up to 19 knots by virtue of two 100 hp gasoline engines attached to twin screws. This would make the ships the fastest on Lake Tanganyika when they eventually arrived. The British armed them with a 3 pounder in the fore and a Maxim gun aft. Although it was discovered that the frames of the boats could not endure the 3 pounder's recoil when not fired straight ahead, it was hoped that the boat's impressive manoeuvrability would offset this limitation.

The launches underwent trials on June 8, 1915, and by the middle of the month were packed aboard a liner destined for Cape Town, South Africa. The vessels were nucleus of an expedition whose goal was to achieve naval superiority over the strategically important Lake Tanginyika. The expedition's leader was the colourful naval officer Geoffrey Spicer-Simson (he had originally named the launches Dog and Cat, only to have the names rejected by an apparently scandalized Admiralty^[2]). At the beginning of July they arrived in South Africa, where the ships were loaded onto a train bound for Elisabethville in the Belgian Congo, and finally the village of Fungurume, where the line ended. By August 6, the ships and equipment were offloaded and the expedition prepared to drive into the bush.

It took nearly a month and a half to travel the 100 or more miles from Fungurume to Sankisia, the railhead for a narrow-gauge railway. The terrain in between was mountainous and broken, requiring the construction of 150 bridges over various streams and gorges^[3]. The movement was accomplished by the brute force of two steam tractors, dozens of oxen, and hundreds of Africans employed for the expedition. At some points, even this was not enough, and complex winching systems were developed to lever the ships over the more formidable inclines. Even after the railroad was reached, the difficulties continued, as there were still some 500 miles to go. Streams which Spicer-Simson had depended on for navigation turned out to be nearly dry: the ships had to be raised on barrel rafts to float, and even then they had to be portaged dozens of times. Finally, however, the wearied expedition arrived at Lake Tanganyika on October 26.

[edit] Naval career

Mimi and Toutou were finally launched around the end of December, and by the 26th they had already experienced their first action. The German ship Kingani was sighted, and the Allied "fleet" gave chase. In the lead of the formation was Mimi, commanded by Spicer-Simson. After evading the initial German broadsides, Mimi and Toutou opened on the German vessel at noon, eventually puncturing her hull below the waterline. With water coming in and the commander dead, the German ship struck her colours. Perhaps overenthusiastic, Mimi rammed her while preparing to board, the damage of which put her own survival at risk. She managed to run ashore just before floundering, however, while the Kingani also limped to port under escort. Repaired, the prize was renamed the Fifi and added to the British armada.^[4].

The British got their second opportunity on February 9, 1916. This time the German customer was the warship Hedwig von Wissman. Fifi, now the Spicer-Simson's flagship, and Mimi, commanded by a Sub-Lieutenant A.E. Wainwright, gave chase. Fifi and Hedwig were evenly matched for speed, and due to unusual optical effects on the lake, Fifi rounds kept going wide of their mark. Ignoring orders to stay behind, Wainwright took advantage of Mimi's speed and zoomed ahead to harass the rear of the German ship. In order to fight back, Hedwig would have to turn around to bring her main guns to bear; whence Mimi would dodge away and Fifi could close her range. Eventually, Fifi scored a direct hit and the Hedwig sunk. For this action, Wainwright was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross^[5]

Although there were still German vessels on the lake (most notably the Graf von Götzen, armed with a formidable gun from the Königsberg), Spicer-Simson retreated to a cautious strategy, constraining himself to ineffectual support of the land campaign. Mimi would not be involved in further dramatic lake battles. She was apparently taken out and scuttled in the 1920s^[6]

[edit] Footnotes