Difference between revisions of "H.M.S. Dreadnought (1906)"

From The Dreadnought Project
Jump to: navigation, search
m
Line 7: Line 7:
 
|launch=10 Feb, 1906{{DittColl|p. 32}}
 
|launch=10 Feb, 1906{{DittColl|p. 32}}
 
|comm=2 Dec, 1906
 
|comm=2 Dec, 1906
−
|fate=Sold:
+
|fate=Sold
 
|fatedate=9 May 1921{{DittColl|p. 32}}
 
|fatedate=9 May 1921{{DittColl|p. 32}}
 
|fate2=Scrapped
 
|fate2=Scrapped

Revision as of 11:14, 25 July 2012

Career Details
Pendant Number: 00 (1914)
56 (Jan 1918)
73 (Apr 1918)[1]
Ordered: 1905
Laid down: 2 Oct, 1905
Launched: 10 Feb, 1906[2]
Commissioned: 2 Dec, 1906
Sold: 9 May 1921[3]
Fate: Scrapped

H.M.S. Dreadnought was a British battleship of the Royal Navy. The only member of her class, she was the first all-big-gun ship battleship to be laid down, launched, and commissioned. Her construction rendered all other battleships building or in service obsolescent, lending her name to an entire generation of all-big-gun warships. All which came after her were branded "Dreadnoughts", and all those before as "Pre-Dreadnoughts."

Construction

Extraordinary steps were taken to ensure a swift delivery time before construction even started. The hull had been designed to be as simple as possible while being able to withstand the shock of firing a broadside of eight guns. The variety of types of steel size was kept to a minimum and where possible the size of armour plating, in its various thicknesses, was standardised. As much materiel as possible was ordered in quantity and stockpiled in advance. By the time construction began, £12,217 had been spent on labour; £29,078 had been spent on materiel and 1,100 men had been engaged.[4]

Launch

She was the seventh ship of the Royal Navy to be so named.

Captains

Dates of appointment given:

Radio

In 1908, the ship was one of just nine equipped with the "C" Tune Gear, capable of transmitting (only?) on "S", "U" and "W" tunes. It was to receive a Service Mark II set in 1909.[14]

Armament

The B VIII mounting was designed by Vickers and tendered in July, 1905. "X" and "Y" mountings were built by Vickers at a cost of £69,860 per mounting. Armstrong constructed "A", "P" and "Q" mountings, at a tendered cost of £70,092.[15]

Performance

The ship was applauded for being easy to handle, almost like a destroyer, her design permitting easy visibility from the bridge. In turning trials, six runs were tried. The interpretation of "Distance in turning" is not clear.[16]

Run Speed
in knots		 Distance
in turning		 Time to turn
4 pts
1 17.72 359 yds 36.0 secs
2 14.8 268 yds 25.0 secs
3 10.9 156 yds 27.5 secs
4 9.02 165 yds 32.7 secs
5 8.9 175 yds 34.8 secs
6 7.71 169 yds 39.0 secs

Career

Bloomsbury Hoax

On 10 February, 1910 she attracted the attention of notorious hoaxer Horace de Vere Cole, who persuaded the Royal Navy to arrange for a party of Abyssinian royals to be given a tour of a ship at Weymouth. In reality, the "Abyssinian royals" were some of Cole's friends in blackface and disguise, including a young Virginia Woolf and her Bloomsbury Group friends; it became known as the Dreadnought hoax. Cole had picked Dreadnought because she was at that time the most prominent and visible symbol of Britain's naval might.

Pre war

On 27 July, 1910, soon after ascending to the throne, HM King George V visited Dreadnought at Torbay. For two days Dreadnought, under the command of Captain Herbert Richmond in company with the Commander-in-Chief William May went to sea on exercises.

War Service

On 19 March 1915, Dreadnought was part of the Fourth Battle Squadron and under the command of Captain Alderson when she rammed and sank U.29, which had fired torpedoes at the ships as they steamed back to Cromarty.[17]

Post-War

Alterations

John Roberts compiled a variety of important modifications to Dreadnought over her service life:[18]

  • 1908-1909
    • Main T.S. moved from middle deck to lower deck, old space being made into a plotting room[19].
  • 1912-1913
    • Turrets provided with local control transmitters in the officer's position.[20]
    • Turrets "A" & "Y" configured as alternate control positions.[20]
  • 30 April 1913
    • 9-foot F.T. 8 rangefinder added to "A" turret (with range transmitter).
    • 9-foot F.Q. 2 rangefinder added to compass platform.
  • 2 April 1914
  • 7 June 1915
    • Fore top rebuilt to receive director tower
    • 36-in searchlight platforms added to foremast struts
    • 9-foot F.T. 8 R.F.s added to "P", "Q", "X", and "Y" turrets
    • bridge wings removed
    • searchlight control gear installation begins
    • open sights added to all turrets
    • 12-pdr guns removed from "A" turret and placed on quarterdeck
    • two 6-pdr H.A. guns added to quarterdeck
    • aft control position atop signal tower removed.[20]
  • by mid 1916, perhaps ending on May 25th
    • torpedo nets removed
    • director for her main battery added to roof of fore top
    • given a Dreyer Table Mark I in main T.S.[20]
  • late 1916
    • 6-pdr H.A. guns replaced by two 3-in HA guns
  • 27 Jan 1917
    • extra 0.75 to 1-in armor added to middle deck over magazines
  • 19 August 1917
    • anti-flash scuttles added to magazine doors
    • Type 16 W/T installed in former Lamp Room
    • Four 36-in searchlights replace main top with control position underneath
    • stern torpedo tube removed
    • upper 12-pdr magazine converted into TS
    • Two 12-pdrs on quarterdeck converted to HA mountings
    • pedestals for Evershed equipment added in fore bridge
    • bearing indicators added to 3-in and 12-pdr HA guns
    • Henderson gear being added to director
    • adding a Sperry gyrocompass
  • 1917
    • deflection scales painted on "A" and "Y"
  • 1917-1918
    • semaphore machine on bridge removed
  • 1 June 1918
    • converted upper 12-pdr magazine to Type 31 W/T room
  • 31 December 1918
    • wind screen added to director tower
    • turrets get open director sights
    • open trainer's sight added to director canopy
    • "A" turret's F.T. 8 R.F. replaced by 9-foot F.T. 24
    • Henderson gear and Sperry gyro completely installed
    • Argo RF moved to aft end of fore top, able to train all around
    • aircraft flying platforms added to "A" and "Y"
    • new 36-in searchlights installed

Fire Control Systems

Rangefinders

Dreadnought was completed with two 9-foot rangefinders, and a variety of other 9-foot instruments were added over her service life[21]:

Rangefinders
Period 9-foot Barr and Stroud RFs
1906-1912 one F.Q. 2 on M.P. 2 mounting in fore top
one F.Q. 2 on M.P. 2 mounting on signal tower
1912-1915 one F.Q. 2 on Argo mounting in fore top
one F.Q. 2 on M.P. 2 mounting on signal tower
one F.T. 8 on M.G. 3 in "A" turret
one F.Q. 2 on MN1 on compass platform
1915-1918 one F.Q. 2 on Argo mounting in fore top
five F.T. 8s on M.G. 3s in the turrets (fitted in 1915)
one F.Q. 2 on M.N. 1 on compass platform
1915-1918 one F.Q. 2 on Argo mounting in fore top
one F.T. 24 on M.G. 3 in "A" turret
four F.T. 8s on M.G. 3s in other turrets
one F.Q. 2 on M.N. 1 on compass platform

Directors

Main Battery

Dreadnought was completed without a director but by mid 1916 was fitted with a geared tripod-type director in a light aloft tower on the fore top along with a directing gun in "Y" turret.[22][20] The battery was not divisible into groups for split director firing.[23] The main director was fitted with Henderson Firing Gear in 1917-1918.[20]

Secondary Battery

The 12-pdrs never had directors installed.[24]

Control was exercised from either the spotting or main top, with the control officer in the top communicating via navyphone to the sightsetters of his assigned groups of 12-pdrs who wore telaupads[20].

Torpedo Control

Transmitting Stations

Dreyer Table

Dreadnought was retro-fitted around mid 1916[25] with a Mark I Dreyer Table, but was never given Dreyer Turret Control Tables[26].

Miscellaneous

Dreadnought was fitted with Evershed Bearing Indicators in fore top between in extended work between a stop in Portsmouth 9 August, 1913 and one in Gibraltar, 2 April, 1914.

See Also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 32.
  2. ↑ Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 32.
  3. ↑ Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 32.
  4. ↑ D. K. Brown. "DREADNOUGHT". p. 52.
  5. ↑ Roberts. p. 18.
  6. ↑ Ibid.
  7. ↑ Roberts. p. 19.
  8. ↑ Ibid.
  9. ↑ Roberts. p. 20.
  10. ↑ Ibid.
  11. ↑ Roberts. p. 21.
  12. ↑ McClintock Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. p. 459.
  13. ↑ Navy List (November, 1917). p. 393e.
  14. ↑ ARTS 1908 Wireless Appendix, p. 13.
  15. ↑ Roberts. p. 28.
  16. ↑ Burt. p. 32.
  17. ↑ Dreyer. p. 94.
  18. ↑ Roberts. pp. 33-5.
  19. ↑ Roberts. The Battleship Dreadnought. p. 30.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 20.4 20.5 20.6 Roberts. The Battleship Dreadnought. p. 31.
  21. ↑ Roberts. pp. 28, 31.
  22. ↑ The Director Firing Handbook, 1917. pp. 88, 142.
  23. ↑ The Director Firing Handbook, 1917. p. 88.
  24. ↑ The Director Firing Handbook, 1917. p. 143.
  25. ↑ Roberts. The Battleship Dreadnought. p. 35.
  26. ↑ Handbook of Capt. F.C. Dreyer's Fire Control Tables. p. 3.

Bibliography

Template:Dreadnought Class (1906)

Template:CatShipUKDreadnought

Retrieved from "http://216.92.248.253/tfs/index.php?title=H.M.S._Dreadnought_(1906)&oldid=37549"