HMS Russell (1901)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
flag
The HMS Russell
The HMS Russell
Overview
Type Ship of the line
Shipyard

Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company , Jarrow on the Tyne

Keel laying March 11, 1899
Launch February 19, 1901
Namesake Edward Russell, 1st Earl of Orford
Commissioning February 19, 1903
Whereabouts after a mine before the 27 April 1916 Malta dropped
Technical specifications
displacement

13,270 ts, max. 15,200 ts

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 cannon
• 12 × 152 mm L / 45 Mk.VII cannon
• 10 × 76 mm 12 pounder cannon
• 6 × 47 mm 3 pounder -Canon
• 2 machine guns
• 4 × 450 mm torpedo tubes

Armored bulkheads

up to 280 mm

Armored deck

up to 51 mm

Belt armor

up to 178 mm

Artillery towers

up to 254 mm

Casemates

152 mm

Command tower

356 mm

The HMS Russell was one of the six Duncan class ships of the line of the British Royal Navy , unofficially called "The Admirals". She came into service in 1903 for the Mediterranean Fleet and changed several times within the various fleet units until 1914. During the First World War , she and her sister ships initially served with the Grand Fleet to support the Northern Patrol , but switched to the Canal Fleet in November 1914 and was used to bombard German positions in Flanders. In 1915 she was back with the Grand Fleet before she was seconded to the Dardanelles at the end of the year . Her only assignment there was participating in the evacuation of Cape Helles in January 1916 and she was the last ship of the line deployed there. On April 27, 1916, the HMS Russell ran off Malta on two mines laid by the German submarine U 73 . The ship of the line caught fire after an explosion on board and slowly sank, so that the majority of the crew could be rescued. Only 125 men lost their lives.

Building history

The HMS Russell and her five sister ships of the Duncan class were ordered as a reaction to the large building programs of the French and Russian navies and should in particular be able to fight the fast ships of the Russian program. They were therefore a smaller, lighter armored, and faster version of the previous Formidable class . The Russian ships of the Pereswet class were not as heavily armed as originally expected, so that the ships of the Duncan class turned out to be very superior in their ratio of speed, firepower and armor.

HMS Russell on the acceptance runs in the summer of 1902

The ships of the Duncan class had the same armament as the previous ships of the Formidable or London class with a slightly lower displacement. As their main armament, they used the 12-inch 305 mm L / 40 Mk.IX naval cannon in two twin turrets. Twelve 6-inch 152 mm L / 45 Mk.VII guns were set up in casemates as medium artillery . The type of armor and its distribution were very similar to that of the London class, with a reduction in the size of the barbeds of the main artillery and of the belt armor, which was made of Krupp steel . The engine system performed 3000 psi more than on the previous ships. For the first time, 4-cylinder triple expansion engines were installed on British ships of the line. In addition, the ships received an improved hull shape to increase speed. The ships had good sea characteristics, were easy to steer at all speeds and had good consumption values. They were the fastest ships of the line in the Royal Navy with a design speed of 19 knots and an operational speed of 18 knots. Only the two light ships of the line Swiftsure- class , HMS Swiftsure and HMS Triumph , and the later turbine battleships were faster.

The fourth HMS Russell was started at Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company in Jarrow on Tyne on March 11, 1899 as the first ship of the new class and was launched on February 19, 1902 as the first ship of the class. Actually, the class should have been named after her, but it is usually named after the later HMS Duncan . In February 1903, the Russell , which had cost £ 1,104,051, was also the first ship of the class to be completed. At the end of 1906, like all other ships of the line, she was technically obsolete with the appearance of the HMS Dreadnought . Nevertheless, she had important tasks to do until the first phase of the world war.

Mission history

After the HMS Russell completed its tests in 1902, she was put into service on February 19, 1903 as the first ship of the new class at Chatham Dockyard for the Mediterranean fleet. Until February 9, 1904, the sister ships also came into service.

Service in Peace

HMS Russell spent her first active service until April 1904 in the British Mediterranean fleet. On April 7, 1904, she was now put back into service for the Home Fleet , which was renamed Channel Fleet in January 1905 .

In June 1906 she served here with her sister ships HMS Exmouth as the flagship of the fleet chief, Admiral Arthur Wilson , HMS Albemarle as the flagship of the liner division, HMS Cornwallis , HMS Duncan and HMS Montagu and eleven other liners with the HMS Caesar as the flagship of the deputy fleet chief, HMS Prince George , HMS Jupiter , HMS Illustrious ; HMS Canopus , HMS Ocean , HMS Goliath , HMS Glory , HMS Vengeance as well as Swiftsure and Triumph . In February 1907 the Russell was transferred to the Atlantic fleet in Gibraltar .

HMS Indomitable in Quebec

While on duty there she collided on July 16, 1908 with the cruiser HMS Venus off Quebec , where she suffered only minor damage. Together with her sister ships Exmouth , Albemarle and Duncan , she took part in the 300th anniversary of the founding of Quebec, to which ships from seven other nations also came and the British heir to the throne Georg visited Canada with the new battle cruiser HMS Indomitable . On July 30, 1909, the Russell moved again to the Mediterranean fleet in Malta . When the British fleet was reclassified on May 1, 1912, the liners of the Mediterranean Fleet were renamed the 4th Battle Squadron of the 1st Fleet of the Home Fleet and relocated from Malta to Gibraltar. In August 1912 the Russell moved back to her home waters and in September 1913 reduced the crew to one tribe in the so-called active reserve as part of the 6th battle squadron of the 2nd Fleet. From December 1913 she was the flagship of the 6th Battle Squadron and flagship of the 2nd Admiral of the Home Fleet in the Nore . The mobilization plan provided that the Russell with the ships of the line Agamemnon , the four remaining sister ships Albemarle , Cornwallis , Duncan and Exmouth  - Montagu was lost in 1906 - as well as the older Vengeance as the 6th battle squadron in the Channel Fleet, monitor the English Channel and the relocation of the British Expeditionary Force was supposed to secure to France .

First World War

However, there was also a plan to assign the 6th Battle Squadron to the Grand Fleet . When war broke out in August 1914, the Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Fleet, Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, ordered the Russell and her four remaining Duncan- class sister ships ( Albemarle , Cornwallis , Duncan and Exmouth ) to reinforce the Grand Fleet's 3rd Battle Squadron to take over surveillance tasks there because of the lack of cruisers. The original planning with the 6th battle squadron was postponed and the Russell arrived on August 8, 1914 in Scapa Flow , was placed under the 3rd battle squadron and supported the cruisers of the fleet in the Northern Patrol . On November 2, 1914, the Russell moved with her four sister ships and the ships of the line of the King Edward VII class to reinforce the Channel Fleet because of the activities of the Imperial Navy in this direction. The ships of the King Edward VII class were withdrawn back to the Grand Fleet on November 13, but the Duncan class ships remained with the Channel Fleet and formed the 6th Battle Squadron from November 14, with the Russell as the flagship . The squadron was to attack the German submarine bases on the Belgian coast and was stationed in Portland , but was in Dover from November 14th . Due to insufficient defense against submarine attacks, the squadron went back to Portland on the 19th. Russell participated in the bombardment of Zeebrugge base on November 23rd . The 6th Battle Squadron returned to Dover in December and moved to Sheerness on December 30, 1914 as invasion protection, where it replaced the 5th Battle Squadron in 1914. Between January and May 1915, the 6th Battle Squadron split up. The Russell left the squadron in April 1915 and rejoined the 3rd Battle Squadron of the Grand Fleet in Rosyth . It was overhauled in Belfast from October to early November . On November 6, 1915, a division of the 3rd Battle Squadron with Hibernia as the flagship, Zealandia , Albemarle , and Russell was sent to reinforce the British fleet off the Dardanelles . The sister ship Albemarle had to break off the voyage quite early due to severe weather damage, while the other ships sailed into the Mediterranean together. In December, the Russell arrived at Mudros off the Dardanelles, while the Hibernia was held in readiness further back. The only use of the Russell in the battle for Gallipoli was the participation in the evacuation of Cape Helles from January 7th to 9th, 1916. She was the last ship of the line that remained before the Dardanelles and replaced the Hibernia as a division flagship in January . Even after the end of the fight for Gallipoli, the Russell remained in the eastern Mediterranean.

Loss of Russell

On the night of April 26, 1916, the Russell arrived off Malta under Captain W. Bowden Smith with Admiral Sydney Freemantle . Since the port was closed with nets overnight, the liner could not enter directly. On the morning of April 27, 1916, the Russell ran into two mines off Malta which the German submarine U 73 had laid a few days earlier. A fire broke out in the rear of the ship and the evacuation was ordered. After an explosion near the stern tower, the ship of the line also got a significant list. Nevertheless, HMS Russell slowly sank about four miles from the St Elmo lighthouse to 35 ° 54 ′  N , 14 ° 36 ′  E. Coordinates: 35 ° 54 ′ 0 ″  N , 14 ° 36 ′ 0 ″  E , making the vast majority of the Crew could be saved. 27 officers and 98 other seamen died in the sinking. Among those rescued was the future First Sea Lord John Cunningham (1885–1962). John Cunningham commanded the Mediterranean Fleet from 1943 and was First Sea Lord from May 1946 to September 1948.

The submarine U 73 belongs to the mine-laying type UE I and had laid the mines off Malta on its transfer voyage from the North Sea to Cattaro under the later carrier of the Pour le Mérite , Lieutenant Captain Gustav Sieß .

The wreck of HMS Russell was found in July 2003 by British divers from the Starfish Enterprise team at a depth of 115 m. It was found with the keel up and without the stern.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Gibbons, p. 159
  2. ↑ British 12 "/ 40 (305 mm) Mark IX
  3. ↑ British 6 "/ 45 (152 mm) BL Mark VII
  4. ↑ Burt, p. 202
  5. ↑ Burt, p. 198
  6. ↑ a b Burt, p. 209
  7. ↑ QUEBEC'S Tercentenary .; Prince of Wales Will Represent King at Great Historic CelebrationQUEBEC'S TERCENTENARY .; Prince of Wales Will Represent King at Great Historic Celebration, NYT July 13, 1908
  8. ↑ Burt, p.209
  9. ↑ Burt, pp. 209ff.
  10. ↑ Burt, pp. 209,212
  11. ↑ Burt, pp. 170, 212
  12. ↑ Burt, p. 212
  13. ↑ Burt, p. 211
  14. ↑ Burt, pp. 209,211f.
  15. ↑ Burt, p. 211, other sources, e.g. B. Conway's give 126 deaths
  16. ↑ UE ocean minelayers class
  17. ^ Lieutenant Captain Gustav Sieß
  18. ↑ Calypso Aqua Club Malta ( Memento of the original from June 11, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.csacmalta.org

literature

  • RA Burt: British Battleships 1889-1904. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland 1988, ISBN 0-87021-061-0 .
  • Roger Chesneau, Eugene M. Kolesnik (Eds.): Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships, 1860-1905. Mayflower Books, New York 1979, ISBN 0-8317-0302-4 .
  • FJ Dittmar, JJ Colledge: British Warships 1914-1919. Ian Allen, London 1972, ISBN 0-7110-0380-7 .
  • Tony Gibbons: The Complete Encyclopedia of Battleships and Battlecruisers: A Technical Directory of All the World's Capital Ships From 1860 to the Present Day. Salamander Books Ltd., London 1983.
  • Randal Gray (Ed.): Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1906-1921. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland, 1985, ISBN 0-87021-907-3 .

Web links

Commons : Ship of the line HMS Russell  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files