HMS Thunderer (1911)
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|---|---|
 The Thunderer shortly after completion |
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| Overview | |
| Type | Battleship |
| Shipyard | |
| Keel laying | April 13, 1910 |
| Launch | February 1, 1911 |
| Namesake | English for "Der Donnerer" |
| Commissioning | June 15, 1912 |
| Whereabouts | 1925 sold for demolition |
| Technical specifications | |
| displacement |
22,000 ts |
| length |
o.a. 177.0 m (581 ft) |
| width |
26.9 m (88.5 ft) |
| Draft |
8.2 m (27 ft) |
| crew |
Peace: 750 men |
| drive |
|
| speed |
21 kn |
| Range |
6730 nm at 10 kn |
| Armament |
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| Fuel supply |
up to 3,300 tons of coal, 900 tons of oil |
|
Armor belt armor |
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The eighth HMS Thunderer of the Royal Navy was a British battleship of the four-ship Orion class . The ships of the class were also referred to as super dreadnoughts in England. For the first time all heavy artillery was on the midship line. For this purpose, a heavier caliber was introduced with the 13.5-inch guns.
Mission history
The Thunderer's keel was laid on April 13, 1910 at Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding and Engineering Company at their shipyard in Blackwall (London) , and it was launched on February 1, 1911. She was the 144th warship of this traditional shipyard which, after its completion, started shipbuilding gave up because she was in financial difficulties and felt disadvantaged in the contract award. On June 15, 1912, the Thunderer was put into service for the 2nd Division of the 2nd Battle Squadron of the Home Fleet .
In the first World War
During the First World War , the HMS Thunderer and her sister ships continued to belong to the 2nd Battle Squadron of the Grand Fleet stationed in Scapa Flow .
In the Skagerrak Battle of May 31, 1916, the four battleships of the Orion class under Rear Admiral Arthur Leveson formed the 2nd Division of the 2nd Battle Squadron of the Grand Fleet . In the evening battle of the battle fleets, the Thunderer scored no hits, but was also not hit itself. The Thunderer fired a total of 37 rounds during the battle, as it did not detect any enemy ships during the night battle and was the last ship of the 2nd Squadron to come into combat range late.
The Thunderer stayed with the "Grand Fleet", whose battleships, despite several forays into the North Sea, did not enter a battle until the end of the war. In 1917 she received on the towers B and X launch platforms for boarding aircraft .
After the war
Due to the Washington fleet agreement , the HMS Thunderer was to be decommissioned and scrapped in 1925 after the commissioning of the new HMS Nelson and HMS Rodney . The newbuildings did not come into service with the fleet until 1927 and 1930.
Nevertheless, the Thunderer was decommissioned as a battleship in 1921 and a seagoing cadet training ship in 1922. In November 1926 it was finally decommissioned and in December was sold to Hughes Bolckow for demolition. In order to be abandoned at Blyth , her draft had to be reduced. Therefore, the removal of their artillery and parts of their superstructures, including the second chimney, took place in Rosyth . With its own power from the six front boilers, the Thunderer ran after Blyth and in the harbor entrance there anyway.
literature
- Geoffrey Bennett: The Skagerrak Battle. The greatest sea battle in history. (= Heyne books. 5255). Wilhelm Heyne, Munich 1976, ISBN 3-453-00618-6 .
- Siegfried Breyer: Battleships and battle cruisers. 1905-1970. License issue. Pawlak, Herrsching 1970, ISBN 3-88199-474-2 .
- Raymond A. Burt: British Battleships 1889-1904. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis MD 1988, ISBN 0-87021-061-0 .
- Randolph Pears: British Battleships. 1892-1957. The Great Days of the Fleets. Facsimile edition. G. Cave Associates, London 1979, ISBN 0-906223-14-8 .
Web links
- HMS Thunderer dreadnought project
- HMS Thunderer maritimequest
- 1909 British Dreadnoughts (Orion Class.) Jane's Fighting Ships 1919
- Orion class battleships cruisers
- Orion battleships navypedia
- Orion Class Dreadnought Battleship worldwar1