H.M.S. Temeraire (1907)

HMS Téméraire
Career	Details
Ordered:	1906
Built:	HM Dockyard, Devonport
Laid down:	1 January, 1907
Launched:	24 August, 1907
Commissioned:	1 May, 1909
Decommissioned:	1921
Fate:	Sold for scrap
Scrapped:	7 December, 1921
General characteristics
Displacement:	18,800 tons
Length:	527 ft (160.6 m)
Beam:	82 ft 5 in (25.1 m)
Draught:	27 ft 2 in (8.2 m)
Propulsion:	4 × Parsons steam turbines 18 × Yarrow boilers driving 4 shafts creating 23,000 hp
Speed:	21.55 kt (Trials)
Range:	5,600 NM at 10 kt
Complement:	733
Armament:	10 × 12 in, 11 × 4 in guns, 4 × 3 pdr guns, 2 × 4 in AA guns, 2 × 3 in AA guns, 2 × 18 in torpedo tubes (submerged)
Aircraft:	2
Motto:	Tria Juncto in Uno

HMS Temeraire was a Bellerophon Class battleship in the Royal Navy built at the Royal Dockyard, Devonport.

Construction and early service

She was ordered under the 1906 Naval Estimates at the cost of £1,751,114.¹ She completed on 15 May, 1909^[2] at Devonport, and commissioned into the 1st Division, Home Fleet. On 31 July, 1909 a man was killed and three injured when a 4-inch gun exploded during the firing of a Royal Salute at the naval review of that year.

With the reorganisation of the home commands in response to the German naval threat she became part of the newly constituted 1st Battle Squadron in 1912, and at the outbreak of war of the First World War she was transferred to the 4th Battle Squadron.

First World War

For the majority of the war, Temeraire was a member of the 4th Battle Squadron of the Grand Fleet. On a sweep of the North Sea on 18 March 1915, she unsuccessfully attempted to ram U-29 which had just attacked HMS Neptune. During the summer of that year, she refitted at HM Dockyard, Devonport, where numerous additions and changes were made. Her fire-control suite was updated and modifications made to the searchlight battery.

Jutland

Main Article: H.M.S. Temeraire at the Battle of Jutland

At the Battle of Jutland, Temeraire, under the command of Captain E.V. Underhill, fired fifty-four 12-inch shells and received no damage. In October 1918, she was detached to the Eastern Mediterranean Squadron under the overall command of Vice-Admiral Gough Calthorpe, where she ended the war.

Life Aboard

Later in the war an exchange was made with the Army whereby an officer from the Western Front visited Temeraire, and a Leading Seaman was sent to the front line. During the visit of one officer the Temeraire lay at anchor and did not even coal ship. The gun room hosted the visiting officer for dinner, and afterwards he accused them all of cowardice and of skulking in harbour.¹

Post war

With the end of hostilities and the peace with Turkey, the Eastern Mediterranean Squadron was sent to maintain order in Russia during the Civil War. On Tuesday 26 November Téméraire was second in line behind Superb entering Sevastapol harbour. She was converted to a cadet training ship (seagoing) in 1919, taking cadets from Dartmout and Osborne on board for twenty-four week sessions. In late 1919, she went on a training cruise, calling at Berehaven, Gibraltar, Jamaica and Bermuda. She was replaced as training ship by the dreadnought HMS Thunderer at Rosyth on 17 April, 1921, having cut short her training cruise in the Mediterranean. With the other 12-inch gunnned capital ships she was deemed obsolescent and the decision for her to be paid off was made on 2 February. Téméraire was decommissioned and sold for scrap on 7 December, 1921 to Stanlee Shipbreaking Company.

In command

• Captain A.L. Duff
• Captain C.J. Eyres
• Captain E.S. Alexander-Sinclair
• Captain E.V. Underhill
• Captain L.A.B. Donaldson, C.M.G.

Notable crew members

• Admiral Sir Charles Morgan, Assistant Navigator (1911-?) - Commanded HMS Valiant in WWII.
• Vice-Admiral Sir Francis Austin, Gunnery Officer (?-1913) - Noted Instructor and Inspector of Merchant Navy Gunnery (1942-1945).
• Prince George, Duke of Kent, Naval Cadet (1920) - Brother of Kings Edward VIII and George VI.

• Lieutenant-Commander D.M.T. Bedford, WWI, (Gunnery Officer)