H.M.S. Gorgon (1914)

H.M.S. Gorgon
Career	Details
Pendant Number:	N.51
Builder:	Armstrong, Elswick
Ordered:	1912
Laid down:	11 June, 1913
Launched:	9 June, 1914
Commissioned:	11 September, 1918
Lost:	16 September, 1918
Fate:	Sunk by internal explosion
General Characteristics
Displacement (normal):	4,825 tons
Length:	290 feet
Beam:	74 feet
Draught:	16 feet 4 inches
Propulsion:	2 Shaft Triple Expansion, 4,000 shp. 4 Yarrow boilers
Speed:	13 knots
Range:
Complement:	303
Armament:	2 × BL 9.2"/50 Elswick Pattern 'E' guns in single Mark IX mountings 6 × BL 6"/49 Mark XVIII guns in single Mark IV mountings

H.M.S. Gorgon was an ex-Norwegian coast defence battleship which was purchased while building in Britain by the Royal Navy during the First World War for use as a monitor. Originally to have been named the Nidaros, the Gorgon was so heavily modified and her completion deemed such a low priority that she missed most of the war. To her fell the duty of firing the last rounds on the German-held Belgian coast.

Construction

The Nidaros was ordered from Armstrong's in Elswick in January, 1913. She was launched on 9 June, 1914 by Madame Vogt, the wife of the Norwegian Minister to Great Britain.

Alterations

Gorgon's main and second-battery directors were installed by the time she joined the fleet, specifically June 1918.

In Command

• Commander C.A. Scott

Bibliography

• Buxton, Ian L. (1978). Big Gun Monitors: The History of the Design, Construction and Operation of the Royal Navy's Monitors. Tynemouth: World Ship Society. (on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk)
• Template:BibUKFireControlInHMShips1919