Trafalgar class (battleship)
|
|
|---|---|
|
|
| Builder: |
Portsmouth Dockyard Pembroke Dockyard |
| Period of service: | 1890-1911 |
| Displacement: | 11,940 tons standard 12,590 tons stake |
| Length: | 105 m |
| Width: | 22 m |
| Draft: | 8.4 m |
| Drive: | 2 three cylinder triple composite steam engines 6 cylindrical boilers 2 screws |
| Speed: | 16.7 kn |
| Crew: | 577 |
| Armament: | Guns:
Torpedo tubes:
|
| Armor: |
|
The Trafalgar-class was a class of British Royal Navy battleships that consisted of the ships HMS Trafalgar and HMS Nile . The ships got their names after naval battles from the Napoleonic Wars, which the Royal Navy won under the command of Admiral Nelson .
history
The Trafalgar class was created during the transition from the classic ironclad to the modern battleship. The most favorable form of setting up the weapons in two twin towers had already been found. The compound steam engine had also established itself as a drive. However, questions about the training of armor protection were still unanswered. The Trafalgar class had belt armor , but its most favorable form had not yet been found. High-strength steel was not yet available for the armor. The main armament was already installed in armored turrets, but because of weight problems in the following class, the group returned to open installation in barbeds. Characteristic for the Trafalgar class was the low freeboard . The ships were the last battleships in the Royal Navy with such a low freeboard. Such constructions were preferred for a number of years. This should offer the ship a smaller target area in battle and avoid hits. A smaller hull also allowed for stronger armor. The consequence of the low freeboard of approx. 3 m, however, was that the ships were practically unusable in rough seas. This disadvantage was circumvented by the fact that the ships spent most of their service time in the relatively calm Mediterranean .
At the time of their construction, it was believed that large ships were very vulnerable. They would provide a good target for torpedoes and could hardly avoid them. Therefore, they should be replaced with smaller, less vulnerable and less valuable ships. For example, the Parliamentary Secretary of the Admiralty told Parliament that these ships were the last large ships to be built in this or other countries. In fact, nearly fifty years passed before the torpedo-carrying aircraft began the end of the battleships. Nevertheless, these ideas found support in other countries, such as France, where the ideas of the Jeune Ecole prevented the construction of modern battleships for a long time. The Trafalgar class was followed by the successful Royal Sovereign class .
construction
Laid down in 1896, the ships were designed by William Henry White as upgraded versions of the Admiral and Victoria classes . They had a larger displacement, which allowed an improvement in armor protection. The previously equally strong belt armor was abandoned in favor of a tank that was stronger amidships than at the ends.
Originally, eight 5-inch guns were intended as secondary armament. However, the original design was changed in favor of six 4.7-inch quick fire cannons ( QF ) for fighting torpedo boats . This increased the displacement by 60 tons , which was partly due to the larger amount of ammunition carried. This was one of the reasons for exceeding the projected displacement by a total of 600 tons, which led to a draft that was approx. 30 cm greater.
Ships of the class
HMS Trafalgar
With the exception of the main armament, HMS Trafalgar was completed in just three years and three months. The delay in the manufacture of the guns meant that it was only put into service on April 2, 1890 as the 2nd flagship of the Mediterranean fleet . She served in that position until October 1897 when she was launched in Portsmouth . She remained in the reserve until 1907 and was relocated to Sheerness to serve as a training ship for gun and torpedo operations. In April 1909 she returned to active service in the 4th Division of the Home Fleet . It was sold on March 9, 1911.
HMS Nile
HMS Nile went through the fleet test in July 1890 under ballast, since guns and mounts had not yet been delivered. After delivery, she entered service in Portsmouth on June 30, 1891. After participating in naval maneuvers, she was assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet. In January 1898 she returned from the Mediterranean and became a guard ship in Devonport . In February 1903 she came to the reserve. It remained there until it was sold on July 9, 1912.
literature
- DK Brown: Warrior to Dreadnought, Warship Development 1860-1906 . ISBN 1-84067-529-2 .
- John Beeler: Birth of the Battleship, British capital ship design 1870–1881 . ISBN 1-86176-167-8 .
- K. McBride: Nile and Trafalgar. The Last British Ironclads . In: Warship 2000-2001 . Conways Maritime Press.
- 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 .
