Duncan class (1901)

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Duncan - class
The HMS Cornwallis
The HMS Cornwallis
Overview
Type Ship of the line
units 6th
Shipyard

Palmers ,
Thames Ironworks (2),
Cammell Laird ,
Devonport Dockyard ,
Chatham Dockyard

Keel laying between March 1899
and January 1900
Launch between February and
August 1901
Commissioning between February 1903
and February 1904
Decommissioning 1917
Whereabouts 3 losses in 1906, 1916, 1917
Technical specifications
displacement

13,270 - 13,747 ts,
14,900 - 15,200 ts maximum

length

131.8 m overall, (432 ft)

width

 23.0 m (75.5 ft)

Draft

  7.8 m (25.75 ft)

crew

720 men

drive

24 Belleville boilers ,
2 four-cylinder triple expansion
machines 18,000 HP , 2 screws

speed

19 kn

Range

7000 nm at 10 kn

Armament

• 4 × 305 mm-L / 40-Mk.IX cannons
• 12 × 152 mm-L / 45-Mk.VII-cannons
• 10 × 76 mm-12-pounder-cannons
• 6 × 47-mm-3-pounder-cannons
• 2 Machine guns
• 4 × 45 cm torpedo tubes

Armor
  • Belt (side): 7 inch
    (178 mm)
  • Bulkheads: 7 - 11 inch
    (178 mm - 279 mm)
  • Barbettes: 4 - 11 inch
    (102 mm - 279 mm)
  • Double towers: 8 - 10 inch
    (203 mm - 254 mm)
  • Casemates: 6 inch
    (152 mm)
  • Command tower 12 inch
    (356 mm)
  • Deck: 1 - 2 inch
    (25 - 54 mm)

The Duncan-class was a class of pre-dreadnought battleships of the Royal Navy named after admirals .

history

From 1889 onwards, the position of the United Kingdom as the leading sea power depended on its position in the Mediterranean . The heavily armed, fast and somewhat lightly armored battleships of the Duncan class were intended to counter a combined Franco-Russian threat. However, they only served this original purpose for a very short time. In 1904 France closed the Entente cordiale with Great Britain , while Russia was practically insignificant as a sea power after the naval battle of Tsushima the following year. With the appearance of the HMS Dreadnought in 1906, all previously designed battleships were finally out of date.

construction

Side elevation and deck plan, Brassey's Naval Annual 1915

The Duncan-class was designed in response to French and Russian naval armament programs. Strongly influenced by the appearance of faster Russian battleships, they became smaller, lighter armored, and designed faster than the previous Formidable class .

When they were commissioned, however, the Russian battleships were not as heavily armed as originally feared. In the sum of speed, firepower, and protection, the Duncan-class proved superior. Although designed before the London-class ships (a sub-class of the Formidable class), they were keeled later than these.

The armor basically corresponded to the armor of the London class with a reduced armor thickness of the barbeds and belt armor.

The power of the steam engines was around 3,000 hp above the power of the Formidable and London class machines. The ships of the class were the first British battleships to have four cylinder triple expansion compound steam engines. The shape of the hull was also modified to increase speed. The machine system was considered successful, the design speed was 19 knots, in use 18 knots were achieved. The ships were easy to steer at any speed and showed a good-natured roll behavior. When completed, they were the fastest battleships in the Royal Navy and, with the exception of the Swiftsure- class, the fastest pre-dreadnought battleships ever built.

With a lower displacement, they had the same armament as the ships of the Formidable and London classes.

The ships were named after famous admirals of the Royal Navy and were unofficially referred to as "the Admirals". Although obsolete after the appearance of the HMS Dreadnought in 1906, they were still used on the front lines in the first half of the First World War .

Fleet use

All ships were keeled in 1901 and completed in 1903 (except for HMS Cornwallis , which was not completed until 1904). Before the beginning of World War I, the ships served in the Mediterranean Fleet , Channel Fleet , Atlantic Fleet and Home Fleet . The HMS Montagu was so badly damaged by aground that it was impossible to repair, and was scrapped in 1906.

During the First World War, the ships were initially used in the Grand Fleet and the Channel Fleet. HMS Albemarle was later used on the Grand Fleet and in the Arctic Ocean , while the remaining ships were used in the Mediterranean . They participated in the Dardanelles Campaign and continued to be used in the Atlantic , Adriatic, Aegean and Indian Oceans . HMS Russell and HMS Cornwallis were lost off Malta . The remaining ships HMS Duncan , HMS Albemarle and HMS Exmouth came to the reserve in 1917 and were scrapped in 1919-1920.

Ships

HMS Albemarle

HMS Albemarle

HMS Albemarle (named after George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle ) served

  • 1903–1905 with the Mediterranean Fleet,
  • 1905–1907 with the Channel Fleet,
  • 1907–1910 with the Atlantic Fleet and
  • 1910–1914 with Home Fleet.

She came during the First World War

  • 1914 with the Grand Fleet,
  • 1914–1915 with the Channel Fleet and
  • 1915–1916 again in service with the Grand Fleet.

In November 1915 she was seriously damaged in heavy weather in the Pentland Firth .

She then served in Murmansk ( Russia ) and as an icebreaker in Arkhangelsk .

It was in reserve from 1916 to 1919 and was canceled in 1919.

HMS Cornwallis

HMS Cornwallis fires a broadside during the evacuation of Suvla

HMS Cornwallis (named after Admiral William Cornwallis ) served

  • 1904–1905 with the Mediterranean Fleet,
  • 1905–1907 with the Channel Fleet,
  • 1907–1909 with the Atlantic Fleet,
  • 1909–1912 again with the Mediterranean Fleet and
  • 1912–1914 with the Home Fleet.

She came during the First World War

  • 1914 with the Grand Fleet,
  • 1914 with the Channel Fleet and
  • Used off Western Ireland from 1914–15.

She was involved in the Dardanelles campaign and was the first ship to fire her guns in this operation. She took part in all operations of the campaign, including the evacuation of the troops from Gallipoli and was the last capital ship to leave Suvla Bay.

She then served 1915-1917 with the Suez Canal Patrol and the East Indies Station and was used in the eastern Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean. On January 9, 1917, she was torpedoed by the German submarine U 32 and sank after two or three hits. 15 sailors were killed.

HMS Duncan

HMS Duncan (named after Adam Duncan, 1st Viscount Duncan ) served

  • 1903–1905 with the Mediterranean Fleet,
  • 1905–1907 with the Channel Fleet,
  • 1907–1908 with the Atlantic Fleet,
  • 1908–1912 again with the Mediterranean Fleet and
  • 1912–1914 with the Home Fleet.

She came during the First World War

  • 1914 with the Grand Fleet,
  • 1914/15 with the Channel Fleet,
  • 1915 at the Finisterre - Azores - Madeira station,
  • 1915–1916 in the Adriatic,
  • 1916–1917 in the Aegean Sea and
  • Used again in the Adriatic in 1917.

In reserve from 1917, it was canceled in 1920.

HMS Exmouth

HMS Exmouth (named after Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth ) served

  • 1903–1904 with the Mediterranean Fleet,
  • 1904–1905 at Home Fleet,
  • 1905–1907 with the Channel Fleet
  • 1907–1908 with the Atlantic Fleet,
  • 1908–1912 again with the Mediterranean Fleet and
  • 1912–1914 returned to Home Fleet. There she was used as a tender for gun operators in Portsmouth . Then she came to the 6th Battle Squadron (6th Battle Squadron) and was later subordinated to the 3rd Battle Squadron.

She came during the First World War

  • 1914 with the Grand Fleet,
  • 1914-15 with the Channel Fleet, including the bombardment of Zeebrugge ,
  • 1915 during the Dardanelles campaign,
  • 1915–1917 in the Aegean Sea and
  • Used in 1917 in the Indian Ocean.

In reserve from 1917, it was canceled in 1920.

HMS Montagu

HMS Montagu

HMS Montagu (named after Edward Montagu, 1st Earl of Sandwich ) served

  • 1903–1904 with the Mediterranean Fleet and
  • 1904–1905 with the Channel Fleet.

On May 30, 1906, she ran aground at Lundy Island in the Bristol Channel at high speed in thick fog. The damage was so severe that the ship had to be demolished. There were no human lives to be mourned.

HMS Russell

HMS Russell (rear view)

HMS Russell (named after Edward Russell, 1st Earl of Orford ) served

  • 1903–1904 with the Mediterranean Fleet,
  • 1904–1905 at Home Fleet,
  • 1905–1907 with the Channel Fleet,
  • 1907–1909 with the Atlantic Fleet,
  • 1909–1912 again with the Mediterranean Fleet and
  • 1912–1914 returned to Home Fleet.

She came during the First World War

  • 1914 with the Grand Fleet,
  • 1914–15 with the Channel Fleet, including the bombardment of Zeebrugge ,
  • 1915 again with the Grand Fleet and
  • Used in the Dardanelles campaign in 1915/16.

She took part in all operations of the campaign, including the evacuation of the troops from Gallipoli, and was the last British battleship to leave the Cape Helles area .

After that, it continued to be used in the eastern Mediterranean. On April 27, 1916, she ran into two sea mines off Malta and sank. 125 sailors were killed.

literature

  • Burt, RA: British Battleships 1889-1904 . Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1988. ISBN 0870210610 .
  • Chesneau, Roger, Eugene M. Kolesnik (Editors): Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships, 1860-1905 . New York: Mayflower Books, Inc., 1979. ISBN 0831703024 .
  • Gibbons, Tony: The Complete Encyclopedia of Battleships and Battlecruisers: A Technical Directory of All the World's Capital Ships From 1860 to the Present Day . London: Salamander Books Ltd., 1983.

Web links

Commons : Duncan class  - collection of images, videos, and audio files

Footnotes

  1. a b c d e f g h i j k l m Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1860-1905 , p. 37
  2. Tony DiGiulian, British 12 "/ 40 (30.5 cm) Mark IX
  3. Tony DiGiulian, British 6 "/ 45 (15.2 cm) BL Mark VII
  4. ^ Geoffrey Miller: THE MILLSTONE: British Naval Policy in the Mediterranean, 1900-1914 . Retrieved August 1, 2009.
  5. a b Gibbons, p. 159
  6. Burt, p. 202
  7. Burt, p. 198
  8. a b Burt, pp. 204-214
  9. Burt, pp. 211-212
  10. Burt, pp. 208-209
  11. Burt, pp. 204-205
  12. Burt, pp. 212, 214
  13. Burt, p. 205
  14. Burt, pp. 209, 211