HHS Glasgow

[2] On 17 April 1877 Denny wrote to Bargash's agents promising to build "a vessel in every way a handsome and substantial piece of work" and on 14 May 1877 the ship was laid down as "Hull 200".

[3] Glasgow was constructed with an iron frame covered with teak planks and a keel made from rock elm.

[2] Glasgow was well fitted out for its role as a royal yacht and contained two state rooms, a dining saloon, a bathroom and a water closet for use by the Sultan.

In all, she cost £32,735 and was fitted out with seven rifled, muzzle-loading nine-pounder cannon and a nine-barrelled Gatling gun, courtesy of Queen Victoria.

The discrepancy arose from confusion when the ship's specifications were agreed between the sultan's representatives and local mercantile firm Smith Mackenzie & Company in Zanzibar.

On 27 August the now obsolete Glasgow, the sole vessel of the Zanzibar Navy, fired upon a flotilla of five British ships, led by the cruiser HMS St George with its 9.2-inch (230 mm) guns.

[7] The ship eventually sank at 10:45 am that day, settling on the harbour bed with just its masts and funnel projecting from the water.

HMS Glasgow was the inspiration for her Zanzibari namesake
The tips of the masts of the sunken Glasgow can be seen in this panorama of Zanzibar Town harbour taken in 1902