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 x Parsons steam turbines 18 x 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: | |
HMS Temeraire was a Bellerophon Class battleship in the Royal Navy built at the Royal Dockyard, Devonport.
Contents
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.
At the Battle of Jutland, Temeraire, under the command of Captain E.V. Underhill, fired 54 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.
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.F. 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.
