Duncan-class battleship

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HMS Cornwallis
Class overview
NameDuncan-class battleship
BuildersLairds, Chatham Dockyard, Devonport Dockyard, Thames Iron Works, Palmers
Preceded byLondon class
Succeeded byKing Edward VII class
Built1900–1903
In commission1903–1917
Planned6
Completed6
Lost3
Retired3
General characteristics
TypePre-dreadnought battleship
Displacementlist error: <br /> list (help)
13,270–13,745 tons (load)
14,900–15,200 tons (deep)[1]
Length432 ft (132 m) overall[1]
Beam75 ft 6 in (23.01 m)[1]
Draught25 ft 9 in (7.85 m)[1]
Installed power18,000 ihp
Propulsionlist error: <br /> list (help)
24 Belleville water tube boilers
4-cylinder triple expansion
2 shafts[1]
Speed19 knots (35 km/h)
Range7,000 nmi (13,000 km) at 10 kn (19 km/h)
Complement720
Armamentlist error: <br /> list (help)
4 × BL 12-inch (304.8 mm)/40 Mark IX guns[2]

12 × 6 inch (152 mm)/45 BL Mk VII guns[3]
10 × 12-pounder QF guns
6 × 3-pounder QF guns
2 × machine guns

4 × 18 inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes (submerged)[1]
Armourlist error: <br /> list (help)
Belt: 7 in (178 mm)

Bulkheads: 7–11 in (178–279 mm)
Decks: 1–2 in (25.4–51 mm)
Gunhouses: 8–10 in (203–254 mm)
Barbettes: 4–11 in (102–279 mm)
Casemates: 6 in (152 mm)

Conning tower: 12 in (305 mm)[1]
NotesThe Duncan class was informally known as "The Admirals".[4]

The Duncan class was a class of pre-dreadnought battleships built for the Royal Navy. From 1889, Britain's “rank as a first-class power was bound up with its Mediterranean position”[5] and these lightly armoured fast ships were intended to help meet combined Russian and French threats. Their period of maximum operational significance was short. By 1904, Britain had formed the Entente cordiale with France whilst Russia was decisively defeated at the Battle of Tsushima the following year. This battle led to the design of HMS Dreadnought launched 1906 which eclipsed the Duncans and all previous ships.

Technical Description

Right elevation and deck plan as depicted in Brassey's Naval Annual 1915

The Duncan-class battleships were ordered in response to large French and Russian building programmes,[1] including an emphasis on fast battleships in the Russian programme;[6] they were designed as smaller, more lightly armoured, and faster versions of the preceding Formidable class.[1] As it turned out, the Russian ships were not as heavily armed as initially feared, and the Duncans proved to be quite superior in their balance of speed, firepower, and protection.[6] Although they were designed before the ships of the London subclass of the Formidable class, the first two Londons were laid down before the first Duncan.[1]

The armour layout was similar to that of London, with reduced thickness in the barbettes and belt.[1]

The Duncans had machinery of 3,000 more indicated horsepower than the Formidables and Londons and were the first British battleships with 4-cylinder triple-expansion engines. They also had a modified hull form to improve speed. The ships had a reputation as good steamers, with a designed speed of 19 knots (35 km/h) and an operational speed of 18 knots (33 km/h),[1] good steering at all speeds, and an easy roll. They were the fastest battleships in the Royal Navy when completed, and the second fastest predreadnoughts ever built after the Swiftsure-class Swiftsure and Triumph.[7]

They had the same armament as and a smaller displacement than the Formidables and Londons.[1]

The ships of the class were named after famous admirals of the Royal Navy and were informally known as "the Admirals".[4] Like all pre-dreadnoughts, they were outclassed by the dreadnought battleships that began to appear in 1906, but they nonetheless continued to perform frontline duties up through the early part of World War I.

Operational history

All six ships were launched in 1901; all were completed in 1903 except Cornwallis, which was completed in 1904. Before World War I, the ships served in the Mediterranean Fleet, Channel Fleet, Atlantic Fleet, and Home Fleet; Montagu, was lost prematurely when she was wrecked in 1906.[8]

During World War I, the ships saw early service in the Grand Fleet and Channel Fleet. Later, Albemarle continued to serve in the Grand Fleet and in North Russia, while the others all were involved in service in the Mediterranean, where some saw action in the Dardanelles Campaign and members of the class served in the Atlantic Ocean, Adriatic Sea, Aegean Sea, and Indian Ocean. Russell and Cornwallis were lost off Malta; the survivors went into reserve in 1917 and were scrapped in 1919–1920.[8]

Ships in class

HMS Albemarle

Albemarle (after George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle) served in the Mediterranean Fleet (1903–1905), Channel Fleet (1905–1907), Atlantic Fleet (1907–1910), and Home Fleet (1910–1914). Her World War I service was in the Grand Fleet (1914), Channel Fleet (1914–1915), and Grand Fleet again (1915–1916), where she was badly damaged in November 1915 in heavy weather while in the Pentland Firth. She then served at Murmansk in North Russia (1916), including duty as an icebreaker at Arkhangelsk. She was in reserve 1916–1919 and was scrapped in 1919.[9]

HMS Cornwallis

Cornwallis (after Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis) served in the Mediterranean Fleet (1904–1905), the Channel Fleet (1905–1907), the British Atlantic Fleet (1907–1909), the Mediterranean Fleet again (1909–1912), and the Home Fleet (1912–1914). Her World War I service was in the Grand Fleet (1914); in the Channel Fleet (1914); and in the West Ireland area (1914–1915). She took part in the Dardanelles Campaign (1915), during which she was the first ship to fire her guns during the campaign and took part in all operations including the Gallipoli evacuation, being the last large ship to leave the Suvla Bay area. She then served on the Suez Canal Patrol and East Indies Station (1915–1917), including duty in the eastern Mediterranean Sea and Indian Ocean. She was sunk with the loss of fifteen lives off Malta, on 9 January 1917 by two or three torpedoes from U-32.[10]

HMS Duncan

Duncan (after Adam Duncan, 1st Viscount Duncan of Camperdown) served in the Mediterranean Fleet (1903–1905), Channel Fleet (1905–1907), Atlantic Fleet (1907–1908), Mediterranean Fleet again (1908–1912), and Home Fleet (1912–1914). Her World War I service was in the Grand Fleet (1914), in the Channel Fleet (1914–1915), on the Finisterre-Azores-Madeira Station (1915), in the Adriatic Sea (1915–1916), in the Aegean Sea (1916–1917), and in the Adriatic again (1917). She was placed in reserve in 1917 and broken up in 1920.[11]

HMS Exmouth

Exmouth (after Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth) served in the Mediterranean Fleet (1903–1904), Home Fleet (1904–1905), Channel Fleet (1905–1907), Atlantic Fleet (1907–1908), Mediterranean Fleet again (1908–1912), and Home Fleet again (1912–1914), during which she was a gunnery tender at Portsmouth in 1913, then joined the 6th Battle Squadron and was later allocated to the 3rd Battle Squadron. Her World War I service was in the Grand Fleet (1914); in the Channel Fleet (1914–1915), during which she was in action during the Zeebrugge bombardment in 1915; in the Dardanelles Campaign (1915); in the Aegean Sea (1915–1917); and in the Indian Ocean (1917). She was placed in reserve in 1917 and broken up in 1920.[12]

HMS Montagu

Montagu (after Ralph Montagu, 3rd Baron Montagu of Boughton, 1st Earl of Montagu) served in the Mediterranean Fleet (1903–1905) and Channel Fleet (1905–1906). She was wrecked on Lundy Island on 30 May 1906.[13]

HMS Russell

HMS Russell (after Edward Russell, 1st Earl of Orford) served in the Mediterranean Fleet (1903–1904), Home Fleet (1904–1905), Channel Fleet (1905–1907), Atlantic Fleet (1907–1909), Mediterranean Fleet again (1909–1912), and Home Fleet again (1912–1914). Her World War I service was in the Grand Fleet (1914); Channel Fleet (1914–1915), during which she took part in the bombardment of Zeebrugge; Grand Fleet again (1915); and Dardanelles Campaign (1915–1916), taking part later on in the evacuation of Gallipoli, being the last British battleship to leave the Cape Helles area. She continued to serve in the eastern Mediterranean Sea until, on 27 April 1916, she struck two mines off the coast of Malta and sank with the loss of 125 lives.[14]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1860–1905, p. 37
  2. ^ Tony DiGiulian, British 12"/40 (30.5 cm) Mark IX
  3. ^ Tony DiGiulian, British 6"/45 (15.2 cm) BL Mark VII
  4. ^ a b Burt, p. 198
  5. ^ Geoffrey Miller. "THE MILLSTONE: British Naval Policy in the Mediterranean, 1900–1914". Retrieved 2009-08-01.
  6. ^ a b Gibbons, p. 159
  7. ^ Burt, p. 202
  8. ^ a b Burt, p. 204–214
  9. ^ Burt, p. 211–212
  10. ^ Burt, p. 208–209
  11. ^ Burt, p. 204–205
  12. ^ Burt, pp. 212, 214
  13. ^ Burt, p. 205
  14. ^ Burt, pp. 209, 211

References

  • Burt, R. A. (1988). British Battleships 1889–1904. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-061-0.
  • Chesneau, Roger; Kolesnik, Eugene M., eds. (1979). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. Greenwich, UK: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-8317-0302-4.
  • Friedman, Norman (2011). Naval Weapons of World War One. Barnsley, South Yorkshire, UK: Seaforth. ISBN 978-1-84832-100-7.
  • Parkes, Oscar (1990). British Battleships (reprint of the 1957 edition ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-075-4. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Duncan class battleship (1901).
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