Difference between revisions of "H.M.S. Neptune (1909)"

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{|align="right" border="2" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 0 0 1em 0.5em; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 95%;" width="300"
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<div name=fredbot:career>
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|align="center" colspan="2"|'''H.M.S. ''Neptune'''''
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{{ShipCareer|fullname=H.M.S. ''Neptune'' (1909)|fate2=Scrapped
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|comm=1 Feb, 1911
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!style="color: white; height: 30px; background: crimson;"| Career
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|cat=Dreadnought
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!style="color: white; height: 30px; background: crimson;"| Details
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|launch=30 Sep, 1909{{DittColl|p. 32}}
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|-
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|builder=[[Portsmouth Royal Dockyard]]{{DittColl|p. 32}}
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|Pendant Number:
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|type=dreadnought
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|79 (April, 1918)<ref>Dittmar; Colledge. ''British Warships 1914–1919''</ref>
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|fate=Sold
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|-
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|fatedate=1 Sep, 1922{{DittColl|p. 32}}
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|Builder:
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|order=1908 Programme{{Conways1906|p. 25}}
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|[[Portsmouth Royal Dockyard]]
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|chain=Battleships
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|-
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|name=Neptune
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|Ordered:
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|laid=19 Jan, 1909{{Conways1906|p. 25}}
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|1908 Naval Estimates
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|nat=UK
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|pend=02 (1914)<br>89 (Jan 1918)<br>79 (Apr 1918){{DittColl|p. 32}}
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|Laid Down:
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|fg=white|bg=crimson}}</div name=fredbot:career>
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|19 January, 1909
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|Launched:
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|30 September, 1909
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|Commissioned:
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|1 February, 1911
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|Sold:
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|1 September, 1922
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|Fate:
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|Scrapped
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!colspan="2" align="center" style="color: white; height: 30px; background: crimson  no-repeat scroll top left;"|General Characteristics
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|Displacement:
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|19,680 (loaded condition)
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|Length:
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|510 feet
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|Beam:
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|85 feet
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|Draught:
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|28 feet 6 inches
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|Propulsion:
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|4 shaft Parsons turbines, 25,000 shp, 18 Yarrow boilers
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|Speed:
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|21 knots
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|Range:
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|6,330 miles at 10 knots
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|Complement:
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|759
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|Armament:
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*10 × B.L. 12"/50 guns in twin Mark BXI mountings
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*16 × Q.F. 4"/50 Mark VII guns on single mounts
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*4 × GF Vickers 3-pdr guns on single mounts
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[[File:HMS_Neptune_Foretop.jpg|thumb|300px|H.M.S. ''Neptune's'' Foretop, as seen from abaft.]]
 
[[File:HMS_Neptune_Foretop.jpg|thumb|300px|H.M.S. ''Neptune's'' Foretop, as seen from abaft.]]

Revision as of 17:11, 23 September 2012

H.M.S. Neptune (1909)
Pendant Number: 02 (1914)
89 (Jan 1918)
79 (Apr 1918)[1]
Builder: Portsmouth Royal Dockyard[2]
Ordered: 1908 Programme[3]
Laid down: 19 Jan, 1909[4]
Launched: 30 Sep, 1909[5]
Commissioned: 1 Feb, 1911
Sold: 1 Sep, 1922[6]
Fate: Scrapped


H.M.S. Neptune's Foretop, as seen from abaft.

Captains

Dates of appointment are provided when known.

Jutland

Main article

Neptune was under the command of Captain Vivian Bernard and operating with the First Battle Squadron during the battle. She suffered no damage and contributed to fire against the S.M.S. Weisbaden.

Radio

This ship probably had Service Gear Mark II wireless upon completion.[18]

Armament

Main Battery

This section is sourced in The Sight Manual, 1916.[19]

Neptune's ten 12-in guns were Mark XI mounted in B XI turrets. The mounting could elevate 15 degrees and depress 5.

The gun sights were the same as those used in the St. Vincent class, and were limited to 15 degrees elevation and the dials were only graduated to 14 degrees. 6 degree super-elevation prisms would have been provided by 1916.

The deflection gearing constant was 136, with 1 knot equalling 2.30 arc minutes, calculated as 2900 fps at 5000 yards. Range drums were provided for full charge at 2850 fps, three-quarter charge at 2300 fps, as well as 6-pdr sub-calibre gun and 1-in and .303-in aiming rifles.

Muzzle velocity was corrected by adjustable scale plate between 2880 and 2580 fps. The adjustable temperature scale plate could vary between 60 to 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and a "C" corrector could alter the ballistic coefficient by +/- 20%.

Deflection was corrected by inclining the sight 4 degrees and by use of 4 degrees permanent right deflection.

The side position sighting lines 37.5 inches above and 39.5 inches abreast the bore, and the central scopes were 49.5 inches above and 42 inches abreast. The left-hand centre position sight was a free trainer's sight, able to swing freely in pitch.

A box of tools was provided for every 4 sights.

Secondary Battery

This section is sourced in The Sight Manual, 1916.[20]

Twelve 4-in B.L. Mark VII guns on P II* mountings were arranged for broadside fire. They were similar to the P II and P II* equipment fitted in the Bellerophon, Orion, Indefatigable classes and other ships.

The mounting could elevate 15 degrees and depress 7 degrees, but though its sight could match the 15 degree elevation, the range dial was only graduated to 11.5 degrees (10,000 yards).

These cam-worked sights had range dials for 2750 fps, and 1-in and .303-in aiming rifles. MV could be corrected by adjustable pointer through +/- 150 fps.

The range dial may have been 14 inches in diameter with markings that came closer together at higher ranges, as in the P II. If so, the marks were 3⁄4 inch apart for 50 yards difference at 500 yards and was 1⁄8 inch for 50 yards difference at 9,000 yards.

Like those in the St. Vincents, these sights were not F.T.P. sights, though the P II* sights on later ships (e.g., some Orions) were.

The deflection gearing constant was 64.277 with 1 knot equal to 2.41 arc minutes, corresponding to 2800 fps at 2000 yards. Drift was corrected by inclining the sight 2 degrees.

The layer's sight line was 14 inches above the bore, and 15.25 inches left. The trainer's sight line was 15.25 inches above and 12.5 inches right.

The sight had a temperature corrector, but no "C" corrector.

The layer had an open sight. The trainer's sight could be used as a free sight with a counterweight.

Torpedoes

Three 18-in submerged tubes:[21]

  • two broadside forward, 12 feet 4.625 inches below load water line depressed 2 degrees, axis of tube 1 foot 10 inches above the deck
  • one stern tube 8.5 feet below load WL, depressed 1 degree, axis of tube 1 foot 8.625 inches above the deck

In 1913, it was approved, as part of a general reallocation of 18-in torpedoes, to replace the Mark VI** H. or Mark VI*** H. torpedoes on Neptune, St. Vincent, Bellerophon and Dreadnought classes with with Mark VII* or Mark VI**.[22]

In 1917/1918, the stern torpedo tube was removed altogether.[23]

Fire Control

Rangefinders

The ship had six rangefinders, likely 9 footers: one in the foretop and one in each turret roof.[24] In 1918, a high-angle rangefinder (likely a 2m F.T. 29) was added to the control top, and possibly a general purpose rangefinder installed on its roof.[25]

Sometime during or after 1917, an additional 9-foot rangefinder on an open mounting was to be added specifically to augment torpedo control.[26]

Evershed Bearing Indicators

Neptune lacked this equipment as built, but was likely provided it for her main armament in 1916 or soon thereafter as approved in 1916.[27]

When so equipped, one might guess that her particulars resembled those of the Colossus class.

Mechanical Aid-to-Spotter

At some point, Neptune was equipped with a pair of Mechanical Aid-to-Spotter Mark Is, one on each side of the foretop, keyed off the Evershed rack on the director. As the need for such gear was apparently first identified in early 1916, it seems likely that these installations were effected well after Jutland.[28]

Gunnery Control

The control arrangements were as follows.[29]

Control Positions

  • Fore top
  • Main top
  • "A" turret
  • "X" turret

Some ships had C.O.S.s within the control positions so they could be connected to either TS.[30]

Control Groups

The five 12-in turrets were each a separate group with a local C.O.S.[Inference] so that it could be connected to

  • Forward TS
  • After TS
  • Local control from officer's position within turret

Directors

Neptune, along with Thunderer, was one of the first ships fitted with a director, receiving hers in 1911. The prototype may have required some service modification, however, as Neptune was listed as part of the seventeen ship order in 1913.[31]

Main Battery

Neptune had a geared tripod-type director in a light aloft tower on the foremast along with a directing gun in "A" turret (rather than in "Y", as in most other ships).[32] The battery was not divisible into groups for split director firing.[33] Presumably, a C.O.S. in the TS allowed the following modes of director fire:

  1. All guns on aloft tower
  2. All guns on directing gun in "A" turret

Secondary Battery

The 4-in guns never had directors installed.[34]

Torpedo Control

Transmitting Stations

Like all large British ships of the era prior to King George V and Queen Mary, Neptune had two TSes.[35]

Dreyer Table

Neptune was eventually retro-fitted with a Mark I Dreyer Table,[36] but was never given Dreyer Turret Control Tables.[37]

Fire Control Instruments

Neptune continued the use of Barr and Stroud Mark II* range, deflection and order instruments that had been used by the preceding Bellerophon and St. Vincent classes.[38] Her transmitters, however, included a correctional element similar to Vickers systems then in use. In essence, these permitted a correction in range or deflection to be summed into the values transmitted, and the present correction handled separately on its own indicator.[39]

The ship also had Target Visible and Gun Ready signals, with indications of which turret could see the target and which guns were ready being visible in the TSes and control positions.[40]

In 1910, it was decided that the telaupad control of the secondary battery in Neptune, Indefatigable, Hercules and Colossus should be replaced with Rudolph voicepipes. Other ships in the Home Fleet had also been experimentally fitted, but a report on a final decision was still pending.[41]

See Also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 32.
  2. ↑ Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 32.
  3. ↑ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. p. 25.
  4. ↑ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. p. 25.
  5. ↑ Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 32.
  6. ↑ Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 32.
  7. ↑ "Naval and Military Intelligence" (Official Appointments and Notices). The Times. Saturday, 17 December, 1910. Issue 39458, col A, p. 8.
  8. ↑ "Naval Appointments" (Official Appointments and Notices). The Times. Friday, 8 December, 1911. Issue 39763, col A, p. 17.
  9. ↑ "Naval and Military Intelligence" (Official Appointments and Notices). The Times. Monday, 12 May, 1913. Issue 40209, col B, p. 3.
  10. ↑ "Naval and Military Intelligence" (Official Appointments and Notices). The Times. Tuesday, 3 March, 1914. Issue 40461, col C, p. 12.
  11. ↑ Corbett. Naval Operations, Volume I, p. 438.
  12. ↑ Sheppard Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 393.
  13. ↑ The Navy List (December, 1916). p. 396ee.
  14. ↑ The Navy List (November, 1917). p. 395w.
  15. ↑ The Navy List (December, 1918). p. 851.
  16. ↑ "Naval Appointments" (Official Appointments and Notices). The Times. Tuesday, 7 January, 1919. Issue 41991, col C, p. 3.
  17. ↑ "Naval Appointments" (Official Appointments and Notices). The Times. Tuesday, 20 July, 1920. Issue 42467, col F, p. 21.
  18. ↑ ARTS 1908 Wireless Appendix, p. 13.
  19. ↑ The Sight Manual, 1916, pp. 35-36, 106, 108-109, Plates 11-13.
  20. ↑ The Sight Manual, 1916, pp. 89-90, 108, Plate 39.
  21. ↑ Addenda (1911) to Torpedo Manual, Vol. III., 1909, p. 155.
  22. ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1913. p. 8.
  23. ↑ Burt. British Battleships, p. 116.
  24. ↑ Burt. British Battleships, p. 112.
  25. ↑ Burt. British Battleships, p. 116.
  26. ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1917. p. 198. (C.I.O. 481/17).
  27. ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1916. p. 145. Conspicuously not named in sections in Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914, pp. 33-9.
  28. ↑ The Technical History and Index, Vol. 3, Part 23. pp. 25-6.
  29. ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914, p. 7.
  30. ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914, p. 7.
  31. ↑ The Technical History and Index: Fire Control in HM Ships, pp. 9-10.
  32. ↑ The Director Firing Handbook, 1917. pp. 88, 142.
  33. ↑ The Director Firing Handbook, 1917. p. 88.
  34. ↑ absent from list in The Director Firing Handbook, 1917. p. 143.
  35. ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914, pp. 6-7.
  36. ↑ Handbook of Capt. F.C. Dreyer's Fire Control Tables, p. 3.
  37. ↑ absent from list in Handbook of Capt. F.C. Dreyer's Fire Control Tables, p. 3.
  38. ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914, pp. 72.
  39. ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1910. p. 149.
  40. ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914, p. 11.
  41. ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1910. p. 149. (A.L.G. 12731/10/18960 of 16 Aug 1910).

Bibliography


Dreadnought H.M.S. Neptune
<– St. Vincent Class Battleships (UK) Colossus Class –>
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