HMS Venerable (1899)
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 The anchored HMS Venerable |
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| Overview | |
| Type | Ship of the line |
| Shipyard |
Chatham Dockyard , Chatham |
| Keel laying | January 2, 1899 |
| Launch | November 2, 1899 |
| Commissioning | November 12, 1902 |
| Whereabouts | Sold for demolition on June 4, 1920 |
| Technical specifications | |
| displacement |
15,366 tn.l. , Max. 15,955 tn.l. |
| length |
Lpp. 125.3 m (411 ft); |
| width |
22.9 m (75 ft) |
| Draft |
7.9 m (26 ft) |
| crew |
780 men (peace) |
| drive | |
| speed |
18 kn , |
| Range |
5550 nm at 10 kn |
| Armament |
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| Fuel supply |
?? t coal |
| Belt armor |
up to 231 mm (9 in) |
| deck |
25–65 mm (1–2.5 in) |
| Armored bulkheads |
231–305 mm (9–12 in) |
| Towers |
203-254 mm (8-10 in) |
| Barbeds |
305 mm (12 in) |
| Casemates |
152 mm (6 in) |
| Command tower |
360 mm (14 in) |
The HMS Venerable was a Formidable class ship of the line of the British Royal Navy . It was used in the Mediterranean Fleet from 1902 to 1908 and in the Atlantic Fleet from 1909 to 1912 . During the First World War , the ship excelled in bombarding German positions in Flanders and supporting the Allied troops on Gallipoli . The HMS Venerable , last used as a depot ship, was demolished in Germany in 1922.
History of the ship
The Royal Navy's third HMS Venerable was launched in Portsmouth on November 2, 1899 as the sixth Formidable- class ship and entered service on November 12, 1902. The cost of construction amounted to 1.1 million £ . The main armament of the ship of the line consisted of four 12- inch (305 mm) type Mk IX guns in two twin turrets and twelve 6-inch (152 mm) type Mk VII guns in side casemates . Compared to the first three ships of her class, the Venerable - like the sister ships Bulwark , London , Queen and Prince of Wales - had a slightly different design, especially a half-inch less armor, which resulted in a slightly shallower draft. This is why some of these ships are referred to as the London class, but it is only a minor variant of the Formidable class. After the construction of the HMS Dreadnought , the Venerable and her sister ships were technically obsolete by the end of 1906. In 1922, the HMS Venerable , which was last used as a depot ship, was canceled in Germany.
Use until 1914
The completion of the Venerable was delayed by difficulties with the machine supplier. After her commissioning on November 12, 1902, she served as the second flagship of the British Mediterranean fleet, which took all eight ships of the Formidable class into service by 1904 . She ran aground off Algiers and suffered slight damage to the hull, which was removed during the overhaul in Malta in the winter of 1906 to 1907. On August 12, 1907, she gave her flagship duties to the sister ship Prince of Wales and ended her Mediterranean service on January 6, 1908, when she was decommissioned at Chatham Dockyard to come back into service the following day for the Canal Fleet . In February 1909 she was taken out of service again in Chatham for a major overhaul.
After its completion, the Venerable was put back into service on October 19, 1909 for the Atlantic Fleet , which received a squadron of six ships of the Formidable class stationed in Gibraltar . When the Royal Navy was reorganized, the Venerable came to the 2nd (Reserve) Home Fleet in the Nore on May 13, 1912 as part of the reserve in service with a core team at the 5th Battle Squadron.
War effort
When war broke out in August 1914, the 5th Battle Squadron was assigned to the Canal Fleet and stationed in Portland . The ships were replenished, controlled the canal and the Venerable secured the transfer of the Portsmouth Marine Battalion to Ostend on August 25th . From October 27 to 29, she served Rear Admiral Sir Horace Hood as the flagship of the Dover Patrol and was available for fire support to the British Expeditionary Force between Westende and Lombardsijde in Belgium until October 30. On November 3, she moved to the East Coast Patrol during the advance of the German cruisers to the east coast of England , but returned to the 5th Battle Squadron. On November 14th, the Portland squadron moved to Sheerness to fend off a possible landing by the Germans. There the Bulwark was lost in an ammunition explosion. On December 30, 1914, the squadron moved back to Portland and lost a second ship with the Formidable on January 1, 1915 due to a submarine attack. On March 11 and May 10, 1915, the Venerable again fired at German positions near Westende.
On May 12, 1915, the Venerable, who remained alone at home, was ordered to the Dardanelles to release the battleship HMS Queen Elizabeth for the Grand Fleet again. From August 14 to 21, 1915, it supported Allied attacks on Turkish positions on Suvla Bay. From October to December 1915, the Venerable was overhauled in Gibraltar and then went to Taranto , where the remaining four sister ships had been serving since the end of May in support of the Italian ally.
On December 19, 1916, the Venerable from the Adriatic arrived in Portsmouth and was launched. From February 1918 she was prepared as a depot ship and was used for mine layers in Portland from March 27, 1918 . In August she moved to the "Northern Patrol" and was then still in use as a depot ship with the "Southern Patrol" from September to December 1918.
Whereabouts
After its final decommissioning in December 1918, the HMS Venerable was sold on June 4, 1920 for scrapping to the Stanlee Shipbreaking Co. After a resale, the demolition took place from 1922 in Germany.
See also
literature
- RA Burt: British Battleships 1889-1904. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis 1988.
- Roger Chesneau, Eugene M. Kolesnik (Eds.): Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships, 1860-1905. Conway Maritime Press, London 1979, ISBN 0-85177-133-5 .
Web links
- Venerable and sister ships worldwar1.co.uk
- Venerable photo gallery Maritimequest
- HMS Venerable