Lord Nelson Class Battleship (1906)

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Armament

Main Battery

This section is sourced in The Sight Manual, 1916.[1]

The ten 12-in guns were Mark X mounted in B VIII turrets. The mountings could elevate between 13.5 degrees and 5 degrees depression.

The gun sights were gear-worked sights with telescopes (periscopes would not debut until St. Vincent) with a range gearing constant of 32 and limited to 15 degrees elevation.

The deflection gearing constant was 82.66, with 1 knot equalling 2.40 arc minutes, calculated as 2700 fps at 5000 yards. Range drums were provided for full charge at 2650 fps, reduced charge at 2225 fps, as well as for 6-pdr sub-calibre guns and .303-in aiming rifles.

Muzzle velocity was corrected by adjustable pointer between +/- 75 fps. No explicit mention is made of temperature and C correctors, but they may have been identical to those in Dreadnought.

Drift was corrected by inclining the sight bracket by 2 degrees.

The side position sighting lines were 36.75 inches above and 41.35 inches abreast the bore, and the central scopes were 36.75 inches above and 42 inches abreast.

Secondary Battery

This section is sourced in The Sight Manual, 1916.[2]

The ten 9.2-in guns Mark XI were arranged on the broadside in two single Mark VIII and four double Mark VII mountings able to elevate 15 degrees and depress 5 degrees.

The sights (those in double turrets also used in Minotaur class) were gear-worked with a range gearing constant of 37.04 in the single turrets and 32 in the doubles, graduated to 15 degrees (likely 16,300 yards for 2 CRH projectiles).[3] Range dials were provided for full charge at 2825 fps, reduced charge at 2425 fps, and 3-pdr sub-calibre and .303-in aiming rifle. MV was corrected by adjustable pointer to +/- 75 fps. The deflection was on a gearing constant of 78.12 in the single mount and 82.66 in the doubles, 1 knot being 2.49 arc minutes, calibrated for 2875 fps at 5000 yards for both.

Drift was corrected by inclining the sight carrier 1.5 degrees. Sighting lines were 12 inches above the bore and 42 inches to the side for the single mount. The double mounts had a side sighting position with sight lines 32.65 inches above the bore and 32 inches abreast whereas the central position was 38 inches abreast the bore.

A "C" corrector was fitted, presumably also a temperature corrector.

Torpedoes

Fire Control

The general system of wiring between the T.Ses. is illustrated in Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914.[4]

Rangefinders

In 1918, as part of a general desire to add rangefinders for torpedo control, it was approved to add a 9-foot rangefinder on a fixed mounting at an unstated position..[5]

Evershed Bearing Indicators

Installed by late 1914, these ship appear to have had but a single transmitter with all-around training, addressing the fore and aft turrets as receiving stations.[6]

Gunnery Control

The ship's guns were organized in 3 groups:[7]

  1. Two 12-in turrets
  2. Starboard 9.2-in turrets
  3. Port 9.2-in turrets

Local Control in Turrets

There was no provision in these ships for local turret control wherein the receivers in the turret could be driven by transmitters in the officer's position at the back of the turret.[8]

Directors

These ships never received directors for main or secondary batteries.[9]

Torpedo Control

Transmitting Stations

These ships had fore and aft T.Ses.[10]

A C.O.S. allowed control options of

  1. Fore
  2. After
  3. Separate

Each control group had Barr and Stroud Mark II transmitters with a pair of receivers, one wired directly to the transmitter as a tell-tale, and the other fed off the wires going to the distant guns (i.e., the aft guns for the fore TS and vice-versa) as a repeat. "These repeat receivers are necessary to keep the idle transmitters in step; when changing back from separate control they are required to enable both halves of the group to be set alike before being paralleled on to one transmitter."[11]

Dreyer Table

These ships never received Dreyer tables.[12]

Fire Control Instruments

By late 1909, these ships were equipped with Barr and Stroud Mark II equipment for range, orders and deflection.[13]

The Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1909 lists the Barr and Stroud Mark II equipment on this class as:[14]

  • Combined Range, Order, Deflection: 8 transmitters, 32 receivers
  • Group Switches: 4
  • Rate: 4 transmitters, 12 receivers

Additionally, this class had the following Graham fire control equipment:[15]

  • Turret fire gongs: 22 with 8 keys (pushes in lamp box; 16 keys in Lord Nelson)
  • Fire Gongs: none
  • Captain's Cease Fire Bells: 14 with 1 key

This was the first battleship class in the Royal Navy to have 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.[16]

See Also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ The Sight Manual, 1916, pp. 4, 38, 105, 108-109.
  2. ↑ The Sight Manual, 1916, pp. 4, 53, 105, 108, 110.
  3. ↑ NavWeaps.com believes the 2 CRH ammunition only was provided to these weapons.
  4. ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914, p. 50 & Plates 50 and 54(I).
  5. ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1918, p. 178. (A.L.N.S 4320/8523 of 5/3/18)
  6. ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914, pp. 39-40.
  7. ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914, p. 8.
  8. ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914, p. 50.
  9. ↑ Director Firing Handbook, 1917, pp. 142-3.
  10. ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914, p. 50 & Plates 50 and 54(I).
  11. ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914, pp. 50-1.
  12. ↑ Handbook of Capt. F.C. Dreyer's Fire Control Tables, p. 3.
  13. ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1909, p. 56.
  14. ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1909, p. 58.
  15. ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1909, p. 58.
  16. ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914, p. 11.

Bibliography

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Template:Lord Nelson Class (1906)

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