Majestic class (1895)

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HMS Majestic
Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom, svg
Builder: Portsmouth Dockyard
Pembroke Dockyard
Chatham Dockyard
J. & G. Thompson , Clydebank
Laird Brothers , Birkenhead
Period of service: 1895-1921
Displacement: 14,900 tons standard
16,000 tons stake
Length: 126 m
Width: 23 m
Draft: 8.4 m
Drive: 2 three-cylinder triple
composite steam engines, water tube boiler,
2 screws
Speed: 17 kn construction
17.6 - 18.7 kn in sea trials
Crew: 670
Armament: Guns:

Torpedo tubes:

  • 5 × 18 inch (450 mm) (1 above water, 4 under water)
Armor:
  • Belt (side): 230 mm
  • Belt (top): 150 mm
  • Bulkheads: 360-300 mm
  • Barbettes: 360 mm
  • Armored domes: 250 mm
  • Casemates: 160 mm
  • Command tower 360 mm
  • Deck: 100-63 mm

The Majestic class was a class of pre-dreadnought - battleships of the Royal Navy , under the Spencer programs were built. With nine units in service, she was the largest battleship class in the Royal Navy. The ships were designed by William Henry White .

history

The Spencer Program was the second major naval building program of the Victorian era after the Naval Defense Act 1889 . Named after the First Lord of the Admiralty , John Spencer, 5th Earl Spencer , and passed on December 8, 1893, it was intended to counterbalance the naval armament of France and the Russian Empire.

The Majestic became a benchmark for subsequent pre-dreadnoughts. While the previous Royal Sovereign class revolutionized the construction of battleships and stabilized British battleship design by introducing the high freeboard and main armament in two twin barbeds fore and aft, it was the Majestic class that the 12- inch (305 mm) main armament and the rotating armored domes over the barbeds. These armored domes, although constructed very differently from the older, heavy, round armored turrets, were also given the designation gun turrets and became the standard for warship building worldwide.

The design of the Majestic class was adopted by the Imperial Japanese Navy for the Shikishima class and the battleship Mikasa (1900) .

construction

Side elevation, deck plan and cross-section from Brassey's Naval Annual 1902

When the lead ship, the HMS Majestic , was launched in 1895, she was the largest warship built to date with a length of 128 m and a displacement of 16,000 tons . The ships of the class were considered to be ships with good seaworthiness and a good swaying behavior as well as a successful propulsion system, although they suffered from high coal consumption. When they were commissioned, the ships were coal-fired, but the HMS Mars was converted to oil-firing as the first battleship in 1905/06. The other ships were also converted in 1907/08. The ships of the class were the last British battleships with side-by-side chimneys, on subsequent classes the chimneys were arranged one behind the other.

Except for the Caesar , the Hannibal and the Illustrious , a new bridge construction was introduced. The bridge was placed around the base of the foremast behind the command post. This was intended to prevent the bridge from being destroyed by rubble from the command post in battle.

While the earlier ships had pear-shaped barbettes and the guns could only be loaded in a fixed position, the Caesar and Illustrious had round barbettes. With them, the guns could be loaded in any position. This eliminated the need to pivot the guns for reloading and realigning, which in turn increased the rate of fire. This construction was adopted for subsequent battleship classes.

The HMS Renown of Centurion class was the first British battleship with a Harveypanzer. This type of armor was first adopted for an entire class of battleships with the Majestic class. The Harvey armor had the same protective effect as the composite armor previously used, with a lower weight and lower cost. As a result, the Majestic class could be equipped with a higher and lighter belt armor than previous classes without losing the protective effect.

A new cannon was introduced in the Majestic class, the BL 12 inch naval gun Mk VIII with a length of 35 calibers. The ships were the first British battleships to feature 12-inch main armament since 1880. The new cannon that would become the standard for heavy artillery for the next 16 years was a significant improvement on the 13.5-inch (343 mm) -Kanone that in Admiral- and Royal Sovereign class was used. It was also lighter. The reduced weight enabled the installation of a battery of 12 6-inch (152-mm) cannons with a length of 40 calibers. Thus the secondary armament was stronger than in the previous classes.

commitment

The ships of the Majestic class served from their commissioning until the outbreak of the First World War in the waters around the British Isles and in the Mediterranean , the Victorious also for a short time in the China station of the Royal Navy. Like all pre-dreadnoughts , the Majestic- class was obsolete when the HMS Dreadnought entered service in 1906. At the beginning of the First World War , the ships along with the HMS Revenge (Royal Sovereign class) were the oldest and least effective battleships in the Royal Navy. Majestic and Prince George took active part in combat operations at the beginning of the war. The Majestic fired at German positions on the Belgian coast, both ships were used in the Battle of Gallipoli to bombard Turkish coastal fortifications in 1915/16. The Majestic was the only ship in its class to be lost to a torpedo hit . The other ships were used as guard ships at the beginning of the war and later converted into troop transports, depot ships or ammunition transports and used in the First World War and the immediate post-war period. Only HMS Caesar kept the armament and served as a guard ship until 1918. All surviving ships were scrapped between 1919 and 1923.

Ships of the class

HMS Caesar

HMS Caesar served in the Canal Fleet in 1898, in the Mediterranean Fleet from 1898–1903, in the Canal and Atlantic Fleet from 1904 to 1907 and in the Home Fleet from 1907 to 1914. During World War I she served in the Canal Fleet from August to December 1914, as a guard ship in Gibraltar from December 1914 to July 1915, as a depot ship in the Mediterranean 1918/19 and as a depot ship in the Black Sea in 1919/20, where she was the Royal Navy during the intervention Supported Soviet Russia during the Civil War. She was the last pre-dreadnought battleship to serve as a flagship and also the last to serve overseas.

HMS Hannibal

HMS Hannibal served in the Canal and Atlantic Fleet 1898–1905 and again in 1907 in the Home Fleet 1907–1914 as a guard ship on the British coast and in Scapa Flow in 1914 and at the beginning of 1915, as a disarmed depot ship in the Battle of Gallipoli in 1915, as a depot ship in Egypt 1915-1919 and was canceled in 1920.

HMS Illustrious

HMS Illustrious served in the Mediterranean Fleet 1898–1904, in the Channel and Atlantic Fleet 1904–1908, in the Home Fleet 1908–1914, as a guard ship on the British coast 1914/15, as a disarmed ammunition transporter 1916–1919 and was canceled in 1920.

HMS Jupiter

HMS Jupiter served in the Channel and Atlantic Fleet 1897–1908 and in the Home Fleet 1908–1914. During the First World War she was used in the Canal Fleet until autumn 1914, then as a guard ship on the British coast. In the winter and spring of 1915 she served as an icebreaker in Arkhangelsk . She was the first ship ever to call at this port in winter. Then she was in the Mediterranean and the Red Sea until 1916 , then provided emergency services in local waters and was decommissioned and scrapped in 1920.

HMS Magnificent

HMS Magnificent served in the Channel and Atlantic Fleet 1895-1906 and in the Home Fleet 1907-1914. At the beginning of the First World War she was used as a guard ship on the British coast and in Scapa Flow . It was then disarmed and used as a troop transport in the Battle of Gallipoli in 1915/16 . It was laid up from 1916 to 1919, after which it served as an ammunition ship from 1918 to 1921 when it was sold and scrapped.

Majestic

Sinking of the Majestic , May 27, 1915

The Majestic served in the Canal and Atlantic Fleet 1895–1907 and in the Home Fleet 1907–1914. At the beginning of the First World War she was used in the Atlantic Fleet, after which she was a guard ship on the British coast in November and December 1914. From December 1914 to February 1915 she served in the Dover Patrol and shelled German positions in Belgium. During the Battle of Gallipoli from February to March 1915, they shelled Turkish forts and coastal fortifications. On May 27, 1915, she was torpedoed by the German submarine U 21 . She sank off Cape Helles , 40 sailors were killed.

Mars

The Mars served in the Channel and Atlantic Fleet 1895-1907. She was the Royal Navy's first battleship to be oil-fired in 1905/06. From 1907 to 1914 she served in the Home Fleet , after which she was a guard ship on the British coast in 1914/15 and a troop transport in the Battle of Gallipoli in 1915/16. From 1916 to 1920 she was used as a depot ship in domestic waters before being sold and demolished in 1921.

Prince George (later Victorious )

The Prince George served in the Channel and Atlantic Fleet 1896–1907 and in the Home Fleet 1907–1914. After the outbreak of World War I, she was used in the Canal Fleet from August 1914 to 1915. During the Battle of Gallipoli from February to March 1915, she shelled Turkish forts and coastal fortifications and survived a torpedo hit. It was launched in local waters from 1916 to 1918. Temporarily renamed Victorious , she served as a depot ship from 1918 to 1920 before being sold and demolished in 1921.

Victorious (later Indus )

The Victorious served in the Mediterranean Fleet from 1897/98 and 1900 to 1903. Between 1898 and 1900 she was used at the China Station of the Royal Navy. She then belonged to the Atlantic Fleet from 1904 to 1906 and to the Home Fleet from 1907 to 1914. In 1914 and at the beginning of 1915 she was a guard ship on the British coast, then from 1916 to 1920 she was a disarmed repair ship in Scapa Flow. Then it was renamed Indus and canceled in 1923.

  • Caesar

  • Hannibal

  • Illustrious

  • Jupiter

  • Magnificent

  • Mars

  • Prince George

  • Victorious

literature

  • EHH Archibald, Ray Woodward (ill.): The Metal Fighting Ship in the Royal Navy 1860-1970 . Arco Publishing Co., New York 1971, ISBN 0-668-02509-3 .
  • 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 . Conway Maritime Press, London 1979, ISBN 0-85177-133-5 .
  • 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 : Majestic class  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Footnotes

  1. ↑ a b c d e Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905 , p. 34.
  2. ↑ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905 , p. 221
  3. ↑ a b c Gibbons, p. 137.
  4. ↑ Gibbons, p. 137; Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905 , p. 35
  5. ↑ Burt, pp. 134 & 136; Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921 , p. 7
  6. ↑ Burt, pp. 132-133.
  7. ↑ Burt, pp. 134, 136.
  8. ↑ a b c Burt, p. 134.
  9. ↑ Burt, pp. 131-132
  10. ↑ Burt, pp. 130-131
  11. ↑ Burt, pp. 133-134.
  12. ↑ Burt, p. 133.
  13. ↑ Burt, p. 136