HMVS Cerberus and HMS Glatton

The period between 1860 and 1900 saw massive developments in warship designs. Iron and then steel replaced wood, sail was replaced by steam-power, and the calibre of guns grew as the numbers of guns carried aboard a warship diminished. Things developed so fast at times that ships could be designed, built, and then be obsolete by the time they entered service.

In the UK, the old enemy France was first an ally (during the Crimean War), then a threat (in the run up to the Franco-German War), and then a colonial rival. At the same time, the power of Imperial Russia waxed and waned and the new German Empire began to emerge as a serious rival.

It is against this background that HMVS Cerberus and HMAS Glatton were built.

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HMVS Cerberus

By the middle of the 1860s, Russia was expanding its influence in the Pacific and this was perceived as a threat to the British colonies in Australia. As a result, the government of the Victoria ordered a ship to supplement the existing coastal defences at Port Philip Bay. The ship was a breastwork monitor and was named HMVS Cerberus.

She and her sistership HMS Magdala (which was built by Thames Iron Works, Blackwall) were designed by designed by Edward James Reed, Chief Constructor to the Royal Navy and was constructed by Palmers Shipbuilding at their Jarrow-on-Tyne shipyard. (HMS Magdala was ordered by the India Office for the Bombay Marine and was based at Bombay, now Mumbai.)

HMVS Cerberus was laid down on 1st August 1867, launched on 2nd December 1868, and completed in August 1870. The British Admiralty paid 80% of the cost (£117,556) on the understanding that if she required to perform any role other than the defence of Victoria, she would come under Admiralty control.

Her characteristics were as follows:

• Displacement: 3,340 tons
• Dimensions:
• Length: 225ft (68.6m)
• Beam: 45ft 1in (13.7m)
• Draught: 15ft 6in (4.7m)
• Propulsion: 5 x coal-fired boilers providing steam to 2 x Maudslay Sons & Field horizontal twin-cylinder, double-acting, steam engines each driving a propellor
• Speed: 9.75 knots (maximum); 6 knots (economical)
• Complement: 12 officers, 84 sailors (plus 40 additional in wartime)
• Armament:
• 2 x twin 10-inch (254mm) rifled muzzle loading guns
• 2 x single 12-pdr bronze howitzers
• 4 x 4-barrel 1-inch Nordenfelt revolving barrel guns (1883)
• 2 x single Nordenfelt 6-pdr quick-firing guns (1890)
• 2 x single Maxim-Nordenfelt 14-pdr quick-firing guns (1897)
• Armour:
• Belt: 6-inches to 8-inches (150mm to 200 mm), backed by 9-inches to 11-inches (230mm to 280mm) of teak
• Breastwork: 8-inches to 9-inches (200mm to 230mm)
• Turrets: 9-inches to 10-inches (23mm0 to 250mm)
• Deck: 1-inch to 1.25-inches (25mm to 32mm)

In 1887, HMVS Cerberus was fitted with torpedo nets, but soon afterwards she was reclassified as a storeship. When the Federation of Australia was created in 1901, she became part of the Commonwealth Naval Force. When the Commonwealth Naval Force became the Royal Australian Navy in 1911, she became HMAS Cerberus.

During the Great War she served as a guard ship and storeship even though her main armament was no longer operable. Her low freeboard made her an ideal candidate to act as a submarine tender when six J-class submarines were transferred to the Royal Australian Navy, and she was re-named HMAS Platypus II on 1st April 1921. She kept this name until she was sold for scrapping on 23rd April 1924.

After all the salvageable material had been removed, the remains of her hull was sold to Sandringham Council who scuttled her on 26th September 1926 at Half Moon Bay to serve as a breakwater for the Black Rock Yacht Club ... and her hull still remains in situ.

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HMS Glatton

Whereas HMVS Cerberus was designed with the threat of the Imperial Russian Navy in mind, HMS Glatton's expected opponent was the French Navy. Like HMVS Cerberus, HMS Glatton was designed by Edward Reed ... but her task in time of war was to defend Britain's coast and to maintain a close blockage on enemy (i.e. French) ports. As a result, her design was quite different from that of HMVS Cerberus. For example, she had a deeper draught so that she could operate in deeper water and a higher top speed.

HMS Glatton was laid down at Chatham Dockyard on 10th August 1868, launched on 8th March 1871 and completed on 24th February 1872. She was immediately commissioned into the Dockyard reserve and served as a tender to the school of naval gunnery, HMS Excellent.

Her characteristics were as follows:

• Displacement: 4,912 tons
• Dimensions:
• Length: 245ft 9in (74.9m)
• Beam: 54ft (16m)
• Draught: 19ft 5in (5.92m)
• Propulsion: 2? x coal-fired boilers providing steam to 2 x Laird​ twin-cylinder steam engines, each driving a propellor
• Speed: 12.11 knots
• Complement: 185
• Armament:
• 1 x twin 12-inch (305mm) 25-ton rifled muzzle loading guns
• 3 x single 6-pdr Hotchkiss quick-firing guns (1881)
• 3 x single machine guns (1881)
• 2 or 3 x 14-inch (356mm) torpedo launchers (1881)
• Armour:
• Belt: 10-inches to 12-inches (250mm to 300 mm)
• Breastwork: 12-inches (3000mm)
• Turrets: 14-inches (360mm) on the turret face & 12-inches (300mm) on the sides and back
• Deck: 3-inches (76mm)

HMS Glatton joined the Particular Service Squadron in 1873 and was fired at during a live firing exercise. In 1881 she was fitted with the equipment needed to launch 14-inch (360mm) torpedoes as well as three 6 pounder Hotchkiss quick-firing guns and 4 machine guns. She was then returned to the reserve.

Six years later HMS Glatton was fully commissioned so that she could take part in that year's fleet manoeuvres, and 'defended' the Thames estuary alongside HMS Prince Albert. She then became part of the fleet's second class reserve, where she remained until she was sold in for scrap in July1903 as part of Admiral Fisher's pruning of the reserve fleet.

Forging the First Fantasy Wargame

The History of Wargaming Project is a wargame publishing house that was started in 2008 by John Curry to preserve, reprint, and expand classic and professional wargaming materials. By 2015 it had published sixty books and by 2015 this number had reached over a hundred ... and the total continues to grow.

The latest publication is FORGING THE FIRST FANTASY WARGAME: A COMPANION TO TONY BATH'S HYBORIAN CAMPAIGN, and it is probably the ultimate compilation of articles and documents that relate to Tony Bath's famous Hyboria campaign ... which was taking place as the earliest iteration of DUNGEON & DRAGONS was emerging.

The book is also a follow-on to TONY BATH'S ANCIENT WARGAMING: INCLUDING SETTING UP A WARGAMES CAMPAIGN AND THE HYBORIA CAMPAIGN, which included:

• The text of Tony’s PELAST AND PILA Ancient Wargame Rules
• The text of his campaign rules, which contained the following chapters:
• Map movement
• Contact, battles and after effects
• Playing with umpires and without
• Supplies and replacements
• Guidelines on running campaigns in other periods.

It has taken John Curry many years to search for and acquire copies of Tony Bath's numerous articles, maps, and other documents and meld them into a highly readable book that will fascinate anyone who has even a passing interested in this famous fantasy wargaming campaign.

The book has 246 pages and the following chapters and appendices:

• Foreword
• The Hyborian Campaign and Early Role-Playing Games
• Introduction to the World of Hyboria
• A Fantasy Game in an Ancient Setting
• Potted Biographies of the Main Characters of Hyboria
• Maps of Hyboria
• Part 1: Hyboria, the Campaign that Grew
• 1: Small Steps
• 2: Leaders with Personality
• 3: The Rise of Conan
• 4: The Road to Empire
• 5: Zembabwei and Shem
• 6: Treachery and Skullduggery
• 7: War for Sea Power
• 8: The Battle for Zembabwei
• 9: Battle for Kyblos
• 10: The Postal Campaign Begins
• 11: The Battle of the Wargaming Giants
• 12: The Battle of Nippur
• 13: Politics and Role-playing
• 14: The Battle of Zarka
• 15: Tax and Propaganda
• 16: The Final Settlement
• Part 2: A Wargamer's Guide to Hyboria
• 1: Empires, Confederacies Etc
• 2: Large National Units
• 3: Provinces, Principalities
• 4: Duchies, Counties, Etc
• 5: Towns
• 6: Royal Family Trees
• 7: General Notes
• 8: Sample Shadizar Herald
• Appendix A: Amphibious Campaigns: Greeks versus Persians
• Appendix B: Medieval Rules by Tony Bath
• Appendix C: Micro Ancients by Tony Bath
• Appendix D: Tony Bath's History of World War II
• Appendix E: The Society of Ancients
• Bibliography

The map of Hyboria that was included in the Second Portable Wargame Compendium.

Reading this book filled in a lot of the holes in my knowledge and understanding of the famous Hyboria Campaign and it now occupies a prominent position on my bookshelf of important wargame books ... and I suspect that a lot of other wargamers will enjoy reading and be inspired by this book.

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FORGING THE FIRST FANTASY WARGAME: A COMPANION TO TONY BATH'S HYBORIAN CAMPAIGN was written by Tony Bath, compiled by John Curry, and published in 2026 by The History of Wargaming Project (ISBN: 979 8 1747 6787 4 [Paperback]; ISBN: 979 8 1709 7398 9 [Hardback]).

New YouTube video: The Russian protected cruiser Aurora

I have just uploaded a new YouTube video to the Wargaming Miscellany YouTube channel about the Russian protected cruiser Aurora.

It lasts approximately seven and three-quarter minutes.

The video can be found here on the Wargaming Miscellany YouTube channel.

Two British coastal defence ironclads in 1/1200th-scale

I have always liked the look of the British mid-nineteenth century coastal defence ironclads ... so when 1/1200th-scale  models of a couple of them came on sale on eBay, I could not resist putting in some (successful) bids!

I am now the proud owner of models of HMVS (later HMAS) Cerberus ...

... and HMS Glatton.

In due course, I will write longer blog posts about these two ships, but it is worth mentioning that the hull of HMAS Cerberus is still extant!

She was sunk as a breakwater in Half Moon Bay in September 1926, and despite the ravages of time and tide, the hull and the remains of her turrets and funnel still remain. In 2001, the Friends of the Cerberus was formed, with the goal of preserving her, and since then they have raised funds to remove her guns for preservation and to combat corrosion in order to stabilize the wreck. This remains ongoing.

The Fleet that Fought Itself

One aspect of the Spanish Civil War that rarely features in the military histories of that conflict is the naval war that was fought by the two sides. Recently, Professor David Manley has published an excellent set of rules for the war entitled A FLEET TORN ASUNDER, and this has sparked considerable interest in the naval aspects of the war.

But where can the interested reader find out more about the Nationalist and Republican navies, how they evolved after the outbreak of the war, what ships they operated, and what naval operations did they mount? One place is Leonard R Heinz's THE FLEET THAT FOUGHT ITSELF: THE SPANISH NAVY AND THE CIVIL WAR 1936-39.

The book has eleven chapters and six appendices:

Chapters

1. Backdrop
2. Revolt and Response
3. The Crucial Strait
4. Moves North, Moves South
5. The Divided War
6. Blockades and Convoys
7. The Struggle Shifts Southwards
8. Wear and Tear
9. Multi-Dimensional Warfare
10. Finale
11. Conclusions

Appendices

1. Abbreviations
2. Table of Equivalent Officer Ranks
3. Ship Characteristics
4. Aircraft Characteristics
5. Chronology of the Land War
6. The Third Ship, or the Mystery of Cape Cherchell

The book has thirty monochrome photographs and six very useful maps that cover:

• Regions of Spain
• Spain and Its Environs
• Action off Cartagena
• Battle of Cape Cherchell
• Action off Barcelona
• Battle of Cape Palos

This book fills an important gap in the military histories of the Spanish Civil War and will no doubt be of great interest to anyone who shares my interest in the Spanish Civil War.

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THE FLEET THAT FOUGHT ITSELF: THE SPANISH NAVY AND THE CIVIL WAR 1936-39 was written by Leonard R Heinz and published by Seaforth Publishing in 2025 (ISBN 978 1 0361 1398 8).

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For any reader who wants to find out more about the naval aspects of the Spanish Civil War, I would recommend:

• My own book LA ULTIMA CRUZADA: SPANISH CIVIL WAR MILITARY SOURCE BOOK (which was published in 2017 by Eglinton Books (Hardback: ISBN 978 0 2446 4645 5; Softback: ISBN 978 0 2440 7031 1; Kindle: ISBN 978 0 2446 7050 4))
• WARSHIPS IN THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR (which was written by Angus Konstam, illustrated by Paul Wright, and published in 2021 by Osprey Publishing (ISBN 978 1 4728 4866 6)).
• THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR AT SEA: DARK AND DANGEROUS WATERS (which was written by Michael Alpert and published in 2021 by Pen & Sword Books Ltd (ISBN 978 1 5267 6436 2)).

New YouTube video: The Operation Dynamo Museum, Dunkirk

I have just uploaded a new YouTube video to the Wargaming Miscellany YouTube channel about my visit to the Operation Dynamo Museum in Dunkirk.

It lasts just under five and a half minutes.

The video can be found here on the Wargaming Miscellany YouTube channel.

Nugget 384

I collected the latest issue of THE NUGGET from the printer (Macaulay Scott Printing Company of Welling, Kent) yesterday and I intend to post it out to members of Wargame Developments as soon as possible.

I will send the PDF copy to the webmaster as soon as I can so that members can read this issue of THE NUGGET online.

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IMPORTANT: Please note that this is the SECOND issue of THE NUGGET to be published for the 2026-2027 subscription year.

If you have not yet subscribed for the 2026-2027 subscription year, please request a PayPal invoice from the Treasurer or follow the instructions on how to pay by bank transfer using the information on the relevant page of the website.

The Wargaming Miscellany YouTube channel

Just under three years ago (it was 16th February 2024), I set up the Wargaming Miscellany YouTube channel as an adjunct to this blog. Since then I have uploaded over fifty videos, some of which covered topics that had appeared as blog posts and others that did not.

I decided to look at which of these videos had attracted over a thousand viewers ... and the results were very interesting.

• The essentials of the Portable Wargame (15k)
• The Attack on Morobad: A wargame fought using rules from the Portable Colonial Wargame book (3k)
• A Portable Wargame mini-campaign board (2.3k)
• Review and play-test of the Dominion of the Spear and Bayonet rules (2k)
• Firepower!: The Royal Artillery Museum, Woolwich: Part 1 - The Rotunda (1.7k)
• The Portable Wargame version of Shambattle: Background and the rules (1.6k)
• Funny Little Wars Lawn Games (1.5k)
• Eric Knowles: A wargaming original (1.1k)
• The Franco Prussian War: The Battle of the Southern Frontier (1k)
• Operation Barbarossa Portable Wargame mini campaign (1k)

The channel currently has just under nine hundred subscribers and has been viewed approximately forty-six thousand times. Of these views, approximately ten thousand were from the United States and just under eight thousand from the United Kingdom.

Chaco: The boardgames

I have had an interest in the Chaco War (9th September 1932 to 12th June 1935) for many years, and back in 1973 I acquired a copy of GDW's CHACO: CLASSICAL INFANTRY WARFARE IN THE THIRTIES.

It was published in 1973 and designed by Franck Chadwick. It was sold in a ziplock bag and comprised:

• A 22" x 28" paper hex grid map of the Chaco Desert (scaled at 10 miles/16 km per hex)
• 380 die-cut counters
• A 14-page rulebook

When COMMAND MAGAZINE published THE CHACO WAR in its twelth issue in 1991, I bought this as well. Afterall, in my book you can never have too many wargames about the Chaco War!

The game was designed by Bruce Farcau and the magazine included an article entitled THE CHACO: WAR FOR THE HELL OF IT ... and on its own, this was worth the cost of the magazine.

Recently – and thanks to the generosity of my old friend David Crook – I acquired a copy of the latest boardgame about this war.

CHACO: BOLIVIA VS. PARAGUAY 1932-35 was published by Compass Games in 2025 and was designed by Frank Chadwick and Marc W Miller, and is a modified and improved version of GDW's 1973 game. The game comes in a heavy-duty cardboard box that contains:

• A 22" x 28" mounted hex grid map of the Chaco area (scaled at 10 miles/16 km per hex)
• 264 die-cut ⅝-inch square counters
• A set of Design Notes, Player Tips, and FAQs
• A Player's Aid Chart that includes a Combat Results Table, an Optional Unit Appearance chart, a Terrain Key, and a Terrain Effects Chart
• A Bolivian Player's Unit Composition Chart
• A Paraguayan Player's Unit Composition Chart
• A 16-page rulebook
• A D6 die

I hope to give this game a go soon ... once I've punched and trimmed the counters.

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After receiving the latest boardgame about the Chaco War, I decided to make a list of the books I own about the war.

• THE CONDUCT OF THE CHACO WAR by David Zook (1960)
• THE CHACO WAR: BOLIVIA AND PARAGUAY, 1932–1935 by Bruce Farcau (1996)
• AIRCRAFT OF THE CHACO WAR (1932-1935) by Dan Hargerdon and Antionio Luis Sapienza (1997)
• THE GREEN HELL: A CONCISE HISTORY OF THE CHACO WAR BETWEEN BOLIVIA AND PARAGUAY, 1932–1935 by Adrian English (2007)
• THE CHACO WAR 1932–1935: SOUTH AMERICA'S GREATEST MODERN CONFLICT by A M de Quesada (2011)
• THE CHACO AIR WAR 1932–35: THE FIRST MODERN AIR WAR IN LATIN AMERICA by Antionio Luis Sapienza (2018)
• THE CHACO WAR 1932–1935: FIGHTING IN THE GREEN HELL by Antionio Luis Sapienza and Jose Luis Martinez Pelaez (2020)

It's a longer list than I expected ... and doesn't included several magazine articles that are filed in my clippings file.

New YouTube video: A visit to the site of the Wormoudt Massacre (28th May 1940).

I have just uploaded a new YouTube video to the Wargaming Miscellany YouTube channel about what I saw when I visited the site of the Wormoudt Massacre (28th May 1940).

It lasts just over four minutes.

The video can be found here on the Wargaming Miscellany YouTube channel.