gunboat

gunboat small warship for use on rivers and along coasts in places inaccessible to vessels of larger displacement. In the U.S. Civil War both sides used as gunboats, on the Mississippi and other rivers, any boat that had an engine and had room to mount a gun. Gunboats were widely employed by the European powers in the Far and Middle East and Africa during the late 19th and early 20th cent. for police duty. More recently, gunboats equipped with gas-turbine propulsion plants were used by the U.S. navy for coastal patrol operations during the Vietnam War.

Bibliography: See Jane's Fighting Ships (pub. annually since 1897).

gunboat n. a small, fast ship mounting guns, for use in shallow coastal waters and rivers.

gunboat, a small lightly armed vessel which used to be part of most navies for a variety of war or policing duties, particularly in rivers and on shallow coasts which precluded the use of larger warships. Many of the river gunboats during the 19th century, used for police duties in such places as the Yangtze River and the Persian Gulf, were stern-wheeled paddle steamers so that they could operate in areas where the depth of water was very shallow.