Jump to content

HMS Collingwood (1882): Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
m add details on service history
No edit summary
(17 intermediate revisions by 2 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Other ships|HMS Collingwood}}
{{Other ships|HMS Collingwood}}
{{More footnotes|date=March 2010}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=[[File:HMS Collingwood (1882).jpg|300px]]
|Ship image=[[File:CollingwoodNH61397.jpg|300px]]
|Ship caption=HMS ''Collingwood'' photographed from her port quarter.
|Ship caption=HMS ''Collingwood'' at anchor
}}
}}
{{Infobox ship career
{{Infobox ship career
Line 22: Line 21:
|Ship out of service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck=
|Ship struck=
⚫
|Ship fate=Sold for [[ship breaking|scrap]], 11 May 1909
|Ship honours=
⚫
|Ship fate=Broken up, 11 May 1909
|Ship notes=
|Ship notes=
}}
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Hide header=
|Header caption={{sfn|Chesneau|Koleśnik|Campbell|1979|p=29}}
|Header caption=
|Ship class={{sclass2-|Admiral|battleship|0}} [[pre-dreadnought]] [[battleship]]
|Ship class=[[Admiral class battleship|Admiral-class]] [[ironclad]] [[battleship]]
|Ship displacement={{convert|36|ft|8|in|m|abbr=on}}9,500 tons
|Ship displacement={{convert|9500|LT|t|lk=on}}
|Ship length={{convert|325|ft|m|abbr=on}} [[Length between perpendiculars|p.p.]]
|Ship length={{convert|325|ft|m|abbr=on|1}} ([[Length between perpendiculars|p.p.]])
|Ship beam={{convert|68|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|68|ft|m|abbr=on|1}}
|Ship draught={{convert|26|ft|4|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draught={{convert|26|ft|11|in|m|abbr=on|1}}
|Ship power=*{{convert|7000|ihp|kW|lk=in|abbr=on}} (normal)
|Ship power=*{{convert|7000|ihp|kW|lk=in|abbr=on}} (normal)
*{{convert|9600|ihp|kW|abbr=on}} (forced draught)
*{{convert|9600|ihp|kW|abbr=on}} ([[forced draught]])
|Ship propulsion=*2 × Humphries compound inverted [[steam engine]]s
|Ship propulsion=*2 × [[Humphrys, Tennant and Dykes|Humphreys]] [[Marine steam engine#Compound engine|compound-expansion steam engines]]
*2 × screws
*2 × screws
|Ship speed=*{{convert|15.5|kn|mph km/h|lk=in|abbr=on}} (normal)
|Ship speed={{convert|16.8|kn|lk=in|abbr=on}} (forced draught)
*{{convert|16.8|kn|mph km/h|abbr=on}} (forced draught)
|Ship range={{convert|8500|nmi|lk=in|abbr=on}} at {{convert|10|kn}}
|Ship range=
|Ship complement=498
|Ship complement=498
|Ship armament=* 4 × [[BL 12 inch naval gun Mk I - V|BL {{convert|12|in|mm|sing=on|sigfig=3}} gun]]s
|Ship armament=*2 × twin [[BL 12 inch naval gun Mk I – VII|BL {{convert|12|in|mm|abbr=on|0}} Mk II gun]]s
* 6 × [[BL 6 inch gun Mk III IV VI|BL {{convert|6|in|mm|sing=on|sigfig=3}} gun]]s
*6 × single [[BL 6 inch gun Mk II – VI|BL {{convert|6|in|mm|abbr=on|0}} Mk IV guns]]
*12 × single [[QF 6-pounder Hotchkiss|QF 6-pdr ({{convert|57|mm|in|abbr=on|1|disp=flip}})]] [[Hotchkiss gun]]s
* 12 × 6-pounder guns
*8 × single [[QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss|QF 3-pdr ({{convert|47|mm|in|abbr=on|1|disp=flip}})]] Hotchkiss guns
* 4 × [[torpedo tube]]s
|Ship armour=* [[Belt armor|Belt]]: {{convert|8|–|18|in|mm|sigfig=3}}
*4 × {{convert|14|in|mm|abbr=on|0}} [[torpedo tube]]s
* [[Bulkhead (partition)|Bulkhead]]s: {{convert|7|–|16|in|mm|sigfig=3}}
| Ship armour =* [[Belt armor|Waterline belt]]: {{convert|18|-|8|in|mm|abbr=on|0}}
* [[Deck (ship)|Deck]]: {{convert|2|–|3|in|mm|sigfig=3}}
* [[Bulkhead (partition)|Bulkheads]]: {{convert|16|-|7|in|mm|abbr=on|0}}
* [[Conning tower]]: {{convert|2|–|12|in|mm|sigfig=3}}
* [[Barbette]]s: {{convert|11.5|–|10|in|mm|abbr=on|0}}
* [[Barbette]]s: {{convert|10|–|11.5|in|mm|sigfig=3}}
* [[Conning tower]]: {{convert|12|-|2|in|mm|abbr=on|0}}
* Battery screens: {{convert|6|in|mm|sigfig=3}}
* [[Deck (ship)|Deck]]: {{convert|3|–|2|in|mm|abbr=on|0}}
|Ship notes=
|Ship notes=
}}
}}
|}
|}


'''HMS ''Collingwood''''' was the [[lead ship]] of [[Admiral-class battleship|her class]] of [[ironclad]] [[battleship]]s built for the [[Royal Navy]] during the 1880s. The ship's essential design became the standard for most of the following British battleships. Completed in 1887, she spent the next two years in [[Reserve fleet|reserve]] before she was assigned to the [[Mediterranean Fleet]] for the next eight years. After returning home in 1897, the ship spent the next six years as a [[guardship]] in [[Ireland]]. ''Collingwood'' was not significantly damaged during an accidental collision in 1899 and was [[Ship decommissioning|paid off]] four years later. The ship was sold for [[ship breaking|scrap]] in 1909 and subsequently broken up.
'''HMS ''Collingwood''''' was an [[Ironclad warship|ironclad]] [[battleship]] of the [[Royal Navy]]. She was the first example of the {{sclass2-|Admiral|battleship|4}} and was named after [[Cuthbert Collingwood, 1st Baron Collingwood|Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood]], [[Horatio Nelson]]'s second-in-command in the British victory at the [[Battle of Trafalgar]].


==Background and design==
==Design==
[[File:HMS Collingwood Diagram Brasseys 1888.jpg|thumb|left|<center>Right elevation and deck plan as depicted in ''Brassey's Naval Annual'', 1888</center>]]
[[File:HMS Collingwood Diagram Brasseys 1888.jpg|thumb|left|Right elevation, deck plan and cross-section from ''[[Brassey's Naval Annual]]'', 1888]]
At the time of her design, she was not considered as being the forerunner of any [[ship class|class]]; she was designed by the [[Director of Naval Construction]], Sir [[Nathaniel Barnaby]], as a one-off as an answer to the French {{sclass-|Amiral Baudin|ironclad|2}}s, which carried three heavy guns on the centreline and a number of smaller pieces on the [[broadside]]. He made several proposals to the [[Board of Admiralty]], but they were all rejected.<ref>Brown, p. 91</ref> Barnaby's final submission was inspired by the four French {{sclass-|Terrible|ironclad}}s [[laid down]] in 1877–78 and was a return to the configuration of {{HMS|Devastation|1871|2}} with the primary armament positioned fore and aft of the central [[superstructure]], but with the [[Breech-loading weapon|breech-loading]] main armament mounted in [[barbette]]s, as per the French ships,<ref>Beeler, pp. 161–62</ref><ref name=ck9>Chesneau & Kolesnik, p. 29</ref> which allowed them to be sited {{convert|10|ft|m}} further above the [[waterline]] than ''Devastation''{{'}}s guns.<ref name=p2>Parkes, p. 302</ref> The Board modified Barnaby's design by adding {{convert|25|ft|m|1}} of length and {{convert|2000|ihp|lk=in}} to guarantee a speed of {{convert|15|kn|lk=in}} at [[deep load]]. It also substituted four smaller {{convert|42|LT|adj=on}} guns for Barnaby's two {{convert|80|LT|adj=on}} guns. The additional length and the Board's acceptance of the hull lines from {{HMS|Colossus|1882|2}} increased the size of the ship by {{convert|2500|LT|t|0}}.<ref>Beeler, pp. 164–66</ref>
[[File:hms-collingwood-1882-section.gif|thumb|left|HMS ''Collingwood'' - section]]
[[File:HMS Collingwood (1882) stern view.jpg|left|thumb|A [[stern]] view of ''Collingwood'' in the early 1900s.]]


[[File:CollingwoodBuryingHerBow.jpg|thumb|''Collingwood'' buries her bow in a calm sea]]
At the time of her design, she was not considered as being the forerunner of any class; she was designed by [[Sir Nathaniel Barnaby|Barnaby]] as a one-off as an answer to the French ''Formidable'' class, which carried three heavy guns on the centre line and a number of smaller pieces on the broadside. He made several proposals to the [[Board of Admiralty]], including an improved {{HMS|Inflexible|1876|2}}, an improved {{HMS|Dreadnought|1875|2}}, and an improved {{ship|Italian battleship|Italia|1880|2}}, all of which were rejected.<ref name="Brown p91">Brown, p. 91.</ref>
Barnaby was severely criticized, particularly by Sir [[Edward James Reed|Edward Reed]], himself a former Chief Constructor of the Royal Navy, because ''Collingwood''{{'}}s waterline [[Belt armor|armour belt]] was concentrated [[amidships]] and did not extend to the ends of the ship. Reed believed that this weakness meant that the ship could be sunk from the consequent uninhibited flooding if her unarmored ends were riddled by shellfire and open to the sea. Barnaby deliberately selected a hull shape with narrow, fine ends to limit the volume of the hull that could be flooded and situated the armoured deck below the waterline to prevent it from being pierced by enemy shells and flooding the lower part of the ironclad. Furthermore, he heavily subdivided the hull to limit the amount of water that could enter through any one hit and placed coal bunkers above the armoured deck to absorb the fragments from exploding shells. Unbeknownst to his critics, ''Collingwood'' was tested in 1884 with her ends and the large spaces in her [[hold (ship)|hold]] [[ballast (ship)|ballast]]ed with water and her [[Draft (hull)|draught]] only increased by {{convert|17.5|in|mm}} and she lost a minor amount of speed. The price was that the ship lacked buoyancy at her ends and tended to bury her [[bow (ship)|bow]] in oncoming waves rather than be lifted over them. Her speed was greatly reduced in a [[head sea]] and the resulting spray made working the guns very difficult. ''Collingwood'' tended to [[Ship motions|roll]] heavily and was not regarded as a good [[seaboat]]. Despite these issues, her basic configuration was followed by most subsequent British ironclads and [[predreadnought battleship]]s until the revolutionary {{HMS|Dreadnought|1906|2}} of 1905.<ref>Brown, pp. 92–93; Parkes, pp. 300, 303, 305–306</ref>


The ship had a [[length between perpendiculars]] of {{convert|325|ft|m|1}}, a [[Beam (nautical)|beam]] of {{convert|68|ft|m|1}}, and a draught of {{convert|27|ft|10|in|m|1}} at deep load. She [[Displacement (ship)|displaced]] {{convert|9500|LT|t|lk=on}} at normal load<ref name=ck9/> and had a complement of 498 officers and [[naval rating|ratings]].<ref name=p7>Parkes, p. 301</ref>
His final submission, which became HMS ''Collingwood'', was a return to the configuration of {{HMS|Devastation|1871|2}}, but with the centerline-mounted breech-loading main armament mounted in [[barbette]]s, which allowed them to be sited {{convert|10|ft|m|abbr=on}} further above the waterline than ''Devastation''{{'}}s guns.<ref>{{cite book|last=Beeler|first=John Francis|authorlink=|coauthors=|title=British Naval Policy in the Gladstone-Disraeli Era, 1866–1880: 1866–1890|publisher=Stanford University Press|date=1997|location=|page=20|url=|doi=|id=|isbn=0-8047-2981-6}}</ref> It set the pattern for every British battleship designed thereafter until the revolutionary {{HMS|Dreadnought|1906|2}}.


The ship was powered by a pair of 2-cylinder inverted [[Marine steam engine#Compound engine|compound-expansion steam engine]]s, each driving one [[propeller]]. The [[Humphrys, Tennant and Dykes|Humphreys]] engines produced a total of {{convert|7000|ihp}} at normal [[Chimney draught|draught]] and {{convert|9600|ihp|abbr=on}} with [[forced draught]], using steam provided by a dozen [[Scotch marine boiler|cylindrical boilers]] with a working pressure of {{convert|100|psi|kPa kg/cm2|0|abbr=on|lk=on}}.<ref name=p7/> She was designed to reach a speed of {{convert|15.5|kn}} at normal draught and ''Collingwood'' reached {{convert|16.6|kn}} from {{convert|8369|ihp|abbr=on}} on her [[sea trials]], using natural draught. She was the first British ironclad to be equipped with [[Mechanical draft#Controlling draft|forced draught]] and the ship only reached a speed of {{convert|16.84|kn}} from {{convert|9573|ihp|abbr=on}} while using it during her sea trials because her engines were incapable of handling the additional steam.<ref>Brown, p. 94</ref> ''Collingwood'' carried a maximum of {{convert|1200|LT|t|0}} of [[coal]] that gave her a range of {{convert|8500|nmi|lk=in}} at a speed of {{convert|10|kn}}.<ref name=w0>Winfield & Lyon, p. 258</ref>
She was built to a requirement that she should not exceed {{convert|10000|LT|t|abbr=on}} displacement. She was also built with sufficient engine power to achieve—with forced draught—a speed of over {{convert|16|kn|mph km/h|lk=in|abbr=on}}. In order to achieve this speed on the displacement it was found necessary to give her a low freeboard, which meant that when steaming into wind she would bury her bow in the sea and take green water onto her forecastle, negating the extra power of her engines.


===Armament and armour===
The mounting of the main armament in barbettes allowed the guns to be deployed at a height above water of {{convert|22|ft|m|abbr=on}}, some {{convert|10|ft|m|abbr=on}} higher than in ''Colossus''. This gave them a better overall command, and increased their ability to deliver plunging fire onto the decks of enemy ships. As the two pairs of guns were contained in individual, widely spaced armoured redoubts, there was no possibility of a single incoming shell disabling all of the main armament. Each barbette was a roughly pear-shaped 11-sided polygon, {{convert|60|x|45|ft|m|abbr=on}}. The guns—mounted on a turntable—could only be loaded when pointed fore and aft with an elevation of 13°. The {{convert|6|in|mm|abbr=on}} secondary armament was grouped in a central broadside battery, and the quick-firing tertiary armament was positioned over the broadside battery on the [[Deck (ship)#Hurricane deck|hurricane deck]].
The ship had a main armament of 25-[[caliber (artillery)|calibre]] [[Rifled breech loader|rifled breech-loading (BL)]] [[BL 12 inch naval gun Mk I – VII|{{convert|12|in|mm|adj=on|0}} Mk II guns]]. The four guns were mounted in two twin-gun barbettes, one forward and one aft of the superstructure. The barbettes were open, without hoods or [[gun shield]]s, and the guns, mounted on a turntable, were fully exposed. They could only be loaded when pointed fore and aft with an elevation of 13°. The {{convert|714|lb|kg|adj=on}} shells fired by these guns were credited with the ability to penetrate {{convert|20.6|in|mm|0}} of [[wrought iron]] at {{convert|1000|yd|m}},<ref name=p6>Parkes, p. 316</ref> using a charge of {{convert|295|lb|kg}} of prismatic [[brown powder]]. At maximum elevation, the guns had a range of around {{convert|9400|yd|m}}.<ref name=c2>Campbell 1981, p. 202</ref>


The [[Battleship secondary armament|secondary armament]] of ''Collingwood'' consisted of six 26-calibre [[BL 6 inch Mk VII naval gun|BL {{convert|6|in|mm|0|adj=on}} Mk IV guns]] on single mounts positioned on the [[Deck (ship)#Upper deck|upper deck]] amidships, three on each broadside. They fired {{convert|100|lb|kg|adj=on}} shells that were credited with the ability to penetrate {{convert|10.5|in|mm|0}} of wrought iron at 1000 yards.<ref name=p6/> They had a range of {{convert|8830|yd|m}} at an elevation of +15° using [[gunpowder|prismatic black powder]]. Beginning around 1895 all of these guns were converted into [[quick-firing gun|quick-firing guns (QF)]] with a much faster rate of fire. Using cordite extended their range to {{convert|9275|yd|m}}.<ref>Campbell 1983, pp. 171–72</ref> For defence against [[torpedo boat]]s the ships carried a dozen [[QF 6-pounder Hotchkiss|QF 6-pounder ({{convert|57|mm|in|1|adj=on|disp=flip}})]] [[Hotchkiss gun]]s and eight [[QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss|QF 3-pdr ({{convert|47|mm|in|adj=on|1|disp=flip}})]] Hotchkiss guns. They also mounted four {{convert|14|in|adj=on|0}} above-water [[torpedo tube]]s, one pair on each broadside.<ref name=ck9/>
''Collingwood'' was the first Royal Navy battleship to be equipped with [[Mechanical draft#Controlling draft|forced draught]].<ref name="Brown p94">Brown, p. 94.</ref> This was a system in which air was forced into the furnaces at above atmospheric pressure to increase the rate of fuel combustion and hence the amount of steam produced.


Authorized in 1880, ''Collingwood''{{'}}s hull was launched in 1882, and she was completed in 1887, being commissioned the same year.
''Collingwood''{{'}}s waterline belt of [[compound armour]] extended across the middle of the ship between the rear of each barbette for a
the length of {{convert|140|ft|m|1}}. It had a total height of {{convert|7|ft|6|in|m|1}} deep of which {{convert|5|ft|m|1}} was below water and {{convert|2|ft|6|in|m|1}} above at normal load; at deep load, the ship's draught increased by another 6 inches. The upper {{convert|4|ft|m|1}} of the belt armour was {{convert|18|in|mm|0}} thick and the plates tapered to {{convert|8|in|mm|0}} at the bottom edge. Lateral [[bulkhead (partition)|bulkheads]] at the ends of the belt connected it to the barbettes; they were {{convert|16|in|mm|0}} thick at main deck level and {{convert|7|in|mm|0}} below.<ref name=p3>Parkes, p. 303</ref>


Each barbette was a roughly pear-shaped, 11-sided [[polygon]], {{convert|60|×|45|ft|m|1}} in size with sloping walls {{convert|11.5|in|0}} thick and a {{convert|10|in|0|adj=on}} rear. The main ammunition hoists protected by armoured tubes with walls 10–12 inches thick.<ref name=p2/> The [[conning tower]] also had 12-inch thick walls as well as roofs {{convert|2|in|0}} thick. The deck of the central armoured citadel had a thickness of {{convert|3|in}} and the lower deck was {{convert|2|-|2.5|in|0}} thick from the ends of the belt to the bow and stern.<ref name=p2/><ref name=w0/>
==Service==

''Collingwood'' was commissioned at Portsmouth on 1 July 1887 for Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee Military Review, and was paid off into Reserve in August. She was posted to the Mediterranean, where she served from November 1889–March 1897. She was appointed coastguard ship at [[Bantry]] in March 1897. Captain Leslie Creery Stuart was appointed in command in April 1900, followed by Captain William Stokes Rees in April 1902. She took part in the [[Coronation Review]] for King [[Edward VII]] that year, and paid off into the reserve in June 1903, where she remained until sold.
==Construction and career==
''Collingwood'', named after [[Cuthbert Collingwood, 1st Baron Collingwood|Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood]], [[Horatio Nelson]]'s [[second-in-command]] in the British victory at the [[Battle of Trafalgar]],<ref name=s7>Silverstone, p. 223</ref> was the second ship of her name to serve in the Royal Navy.<ref>Colledge, p. 74</ref> The ship was laid down at [[Pembroke Dockyard]] on 12 July 1880<ref name=w0/> and [[Ship naming and launching|launched]] by Mrs. Louise Chatfield, wife of the dockyard's [[Captain-Superintendent]], [[Captain (Royal Navy)|Captain]] [[Alfred Chatfield (Royal Navy officer)|Alfred Chatfield]],<ref>Phillips, pp. 225, 326</ref> on 22 November 1882.<ref name=w0/> While conducting gunnery trials on 4 May 1886, ''Collingwood''{{'}}s rear left gun partially shattered and all of the Mk II guns were withdrawn from service. They were replaced by heavier Mk Vw models with approximately the same performance.<ref name=c2/> Excluding her armament, she cost [[Pound sterling|£]]636,996. The ship was [[Ship commissioning|commissioned]] at [[HMNB Portsmouth|Portsmouth]] on 1 July 1887 for [[Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria|Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee]] [[Fleet review (Commonwealth realms)|Fleet review]] and was [[Ship decommissioning|paid off]] into reserve in August.<ref name=p4>Parkes, p. 304</ref>

''Collingwood'' was recommissioned for the annual summer manoeuvres for the next two years, before she was assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet, where she served from November 1889 until March 1897, with a refit in [[Malta]] in 1896.<ref name=p4/> Captain [[Charles Cooper Penrose-Fitzgerald|Charles Penrose-Fitzgerald]] commanded the ironclad when she joined the Mediterranean Fleet in 1889.<ref>Phillips, p. 225</ref> The ship became the [[Her Majesty's Coastguard|coastguard ship]] at [[Bantry]], Ireland, upon her return.<ref name=p4/> ''Collingwood'' accidentally collided with the [[cruiser]] {{HMS|Curacoa|1878|2}} in [[Plymouth]] harbour on 23 January 1899, badly damaging the latter ship.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Annual Register: A Review of Public Events at Home and Abroad for the Year 1899|date=1900|publisher=Longmans, Green & Co.|location=London|page=5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sZA9AQAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA5&dq=curacoa+collingwood+collision&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjzzdCEp4fMAhXkmoMKHSnvAVMQ6AEIKDAA#v=onepage&q=curacoa%20collingwood%20collision&f=false|accessdate=11 April 2016}}</ref> The ship was paid off into the reserve in June 1903 and was transferred to [[Kyles of Bute|East Kyle]] in January 1905. ''Collingwood'' remained there until she was sold for scrap<ref name=p4/> to [[Hughes Bolckow]] at [[Dunston, Tyne and Wear]]<ref name=w0/> for £19,000<ref name=p4/> on 11 May 1909.<ref name=s7/>


==Notes==
==Notes==
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist|30em}}


==References==
==References==
*{{cite book|last=Beeler|first=John|title=Birth of the Battleship: British Capital Ship Design 1870-1881|year=2001|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|isbn=1-55750-213-7}}
* {{cite book|last=Brown|first=D.K.|title=Warrior to Dreadnought|place=London|publisher=Caxton Editions|date=2003|isbn=1-84067-529-2}}
* {{cite book|last=Brown|first=D.K.|title=Warrior to Dreadnought|place=London|publisher=Caxton Editions|date=2003|isbn=1-84067-529-2}}
*{{cite book|editor=Roberts, John|title=Warship V|year=1981|publisher=Conway Maritime Press|location=London|isbn=0-85177-244-7|last=Campbell|first=N.J.M.|chapter=British Naval Guns 1880–1945 No. 3|pages=200–02}}
* {{cite book|first=Oscar|last= Parkes|title=British Battleships|isbn=0-85052-604-3}}
*{{cite book|year=1983|title=Warship VII|publisher=Conway Maritime Press|editor=Roberts, John|location=London|isbn=0-85177-630-2|last=Campbell|first=N.J.M.|chapter=British Naval Guns 1880–1945 No. 10|pages=170–72}}
* {{cite book
*{{colledge}}
| last1 = Chesneau
* {{cite book|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905|editor1-last=Chesneau|editor1-first=Roger|editor2-last=Kolesnik|editor2-first=Eugene M.|publisher=Conway Maritime Press|location=Greenwich|year=1979|isbn=0-8317-0302-4|last-author-amp=yes}}
| first1 = Roger
* {{cite book|last=Parkes|first=Oscar|title=British Battleships|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|year=1990|edition=reprint of the 1957|isbn=1-55750-075-4}}
| last2 = Koleśnik
*{{cite book|last1=Phillips|first1=Lawrie; Lieutenant Commander|title=Pembroke Dockyard and the Old Navy: A Bicentennial History|date=2014|publisher=The History Press|location=Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK|isbn=978-0-7509-5214-9}}
| first2 = Eugène M.
* {{cite book|last=Silverstone|first=Paul H.|title=Directory of the World's Capital Ships|year=1984|publisher=Hippocrene Books|location=New York|isbn=0-88254-979-0}}
| last3 = Campbell
*{{winfield}}
| first3 = N.J.M.
| year = 1979
| title = Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1860–1905
| publisher = Conway Maritime Press
| location = London
| isbn = 0-85177-133-5
| ref = harv
}}


==External links==
==External links==
⚫
{{Commons category|HMS Collingwood (ship, 1882)}}
{{Portal|Battleships}}
{{Portal|Battleships}}
⚫
{{Commons category|HMS Collingwood (ship, 1882)|HMS Collingwood}}


{{Admiral class battleship}}
{{Admiral class battleship}}

Revision as of 23:54, 11 April 2016

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Collingwood.
HMS Collingwood at anchor
History
United Kingdom
NameHMS Collingwood
NamesakeAdmiral Cuthbert Collingwood
BuilderPembroke Dockyard
Laid down12 July 1880
Launched22 November 1882
CompletedJuly 1887
FateSold for scrap, 11 May 1909
General characteristics
Class and typeAdmiral-class ironclad battleship
Displacement9,500 long tons (9,700 t)
Length325 ft (99.1 m) (p.p.)
Beam68 ft (20.7 m)
Draught26 ft 11 in (8.2 m)
Installed power
Propulsion
Speed16.8 kn (31.1 km/h; 19.3 mph) (forced draught)
Range8,500 nmi (15,700 km; 9,800 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement498
Armament
Armour

HMS Collingwood was the lead ship of her class of ironclad battleships built for the Royal Navy during the 1880s. The ship's essential design became the standard for most of the following British battleships. Completed in 1887, she spent the next two years in reserve before she was assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet for the next eight years. After returning home in 1897, the ship spent the next six years as a guardship in Ireland. Collingwood was not significantly damaged during an accidental collision in 1899 and was paid off four years later. The ship was sold for scrap in 1909 and subsequently broken up.

Background and design

Right elevation, deck plan and cross-section from Brassey's Naval Annual, 1888

At the time of her design, she was not considered as being the forerunner of any class; she was designed by the Director of Naval Construction, Sir Nathaniel Barnaby, as a one-off as an answer to the French Template:Sclass-s, which carried three heavy guns on the centreline and a number of smaller pieces on the broadside. He made several proposals to the Board of Admiralty, but they were all rejected.[1] Barnaby's final submission was inspired by the four French Template:Sclass-s laid down in 1877–78 and was a return to the configuration of Devastation with the primary armament positioned fore and aft of the central superstructure, but with the breech-loading main armament mounted in barbettes, as per the French ships,[2][3] which allowed them to be sited 10 feet (3.0 m) further above the waterline than Devastation's guns.[4] The Board modified Barnaby's design by adding 25 feet (7.6 m) of length and 2,000 indicated horsepower (1,500 kW) to guarantee a speed of 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) at deep load. It also substituted four smaller 42-long-ton (43 t) guns for Barnaby's two 80-long-ton (81 t) guns. The additional length and the Board's acceptance of the hull lines from Colossus increased the size of the ship by 2,500 long tons (2,540 t).[5]

Collingwood buries her bow in a calm sea

Barnaby was severely criticized, particularly by Sir Edward Reed, himself a former Chief Constructor of the Royal Navy, because Collingwood's waterline armour belt was concentrated amidships and did not extend to the ends of the ship. Reed believed that this weakness meant that the ship could be sunk from the consequent uninhibited flooding if her unarmored ends were riddled by shellfire and open to the sea. Barnaby deliberately selected a hull shape with narrow, fine ends to limit the volume of the hull that could be flooded and situated the armoured deck below the waterline to prevent it from being pierced by enemy shells and flooding the lower part of the ironclad. Furthermore, he heavily subdivided the hull to limit the amount of water that could enter through any one hit and placed coal bunkers above the armoured deck to absorb the fragments from exploding shells. Unbeknownst to his critics, Collingwood was tested in 1884 with her ends and the large spaces in her hold ballasted with water and her draught only increased by 17.5 inches (440 mm) and she lost a minor amount of speed. The price was that the ship lacked buoyancy at her ends and tended to bury her bow in oncoming waves rather than be lifted over them. Her speed was greatly reduced in a head sea and the resulting spray made working the guns very difficult. Collingwood tended to roll heavily and was not regarded as a good seaboat. Despite these issues, her basic configuration was followed by most subsequent British ironclads and predreadnought battleships until the revolutionary Dreadnought of 1905.[6]

The ship had a length between perpendiculars of 325 feet (99.1 m), a beam of 68 feet (20.7 m), and a draught of 27 feet 10 inches (8.5 m) at deep load. She displaced 9,500 long tons (9,700 t) at normal load[3] and had a complement of 498 officers and ratings.[7]

The ship was powered by a pair of 2-cylinder inverted compound-expansion steam engines, each driving one propeller. The Humphreys engines produced a total of 7,000 indicated horsepower (5,200 kW) at normal draught and 9,600 ihp (7,200 kW) with forced draught, using steam provided by a dozen cylindrical boilers with a working pressure of 100 psi (689 kPa; 7 kgf/cm2).[7] She was designed to reach a speed of 15.5 knots (28.7 km/h; 17.8 mph) at normal draught and Collingwood reached 16.6 knots (30.7 km/h; 19.1 mph) from 8,369 ihp (6,241 kW) on her sea trials, using natural draught. She was the first British ironclad to be equipped with forced draught and the ship only reached a speed of 16.84 knots (31.19 km/h; 19.38 mph) from 9,573 ihp (7,139 kW) while using it during her sea trials because her engines were incapable of handling the additional steam.[8] Collingwood carried a maximum of 1,200 long tons (1,219 t) of coal that gave her a range of 8,500 nautical miles (15,700 km; 9,800 mi) at a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).[9]

Armament and armour

The ship had a main armament of 25-calibre rifled breech-loading (BL) 12-inch (305 mm) Mk II guns. The four guns were mounted in two twin-gun barbettes, one forward and one aft of the superstructure. The barbettes were open, without hoods or gun shields, and the guns, mounted on a turntable, were fully exposed. They could only be loaded when pointed fore and aft with an elevation of 13°. The 714-pound (324 kg) shells fired by these guns were credited with the ability to penetrate 20.6 inches (523 mm) of wrought iron at 1,000 yards (910 m),[10] using a charge of 295 pounds (134 kg) of prismatic brown powder. At maximum elevation, the guns had a range of around 9,400 yards (8,600 m).[11]

The secondary armament of Collingwood consisted of six 26-calibre BL 6-inch (152 mm) Mk IV guns on single mounts positioned on the upper deck amidships, three on each broadside. They fired 100-pound (45 kg) shells that were credited with the ability to penetrate 10.5 inches (267 mm) of wrought iron at 1000 yards.[10] They had a range of 8,830 yards (8,070 m) at an elevation of +15° using prismatic black powder. Beginning around 1895 all of these guns were converted into quick-firing guns (QF) with a much faster rate of fire. Using cordite extended their range to 9,275 yards (8,481 m).[12] For defence against torpedo boats the ships carried a dozen QF 6-pounder (2.2-inch (57 mm)) Hotchkiss guns and eight QF 3-pdr (1.9-inch (47 mm)) Hotchkiss guns. They also mounted four 14-inch (356 mm) above-water torpedo tubes, one pair on each broadside.[3]

Collingwood's waterline belt of compound armour extended across the middle of the ship between the rear of each barbette for a the length of 140 feet (42.7 m). It had a total height of 7 feet 6 inches (2.3 m) deep of which 5 feet (1.5 m) was below water and 2 feet 6 inches (0.8 m) above at normal load; at deep load, the ship's draught increased by another 6 inches. The upper 4 feet (1.2 m) of the belt armour was 18 inches (457 mm) thick and the plates tapered to 8 inches (203 mm) at the bottom edge. Lateral bulkheads at the ends of the belt connected it to the barbettes; they were 16 inches (406 mm) thick at main deck level and 7 inches (178 mm) below.[13]

Each barbette was a roughly pear-shaped, 11-sided polygon, 60 by 45 feet (18.3 m × 13.7 m) in size with sloping walls 11.5 inches (292 mm) thick and a 10-inch (254 mm) rear. The main ammunition hoists protected by armoured tubes with walls 10–12 inches thick.[4] The conning tower also had 12-inch thick walls as well as roofs 2 inches (51 mm) thick. The deck of the central armoured citadel had a thickness of 3 inches (76 mm) and the lower deck was 2–2.5 inches (51–64 mm) thick from the ends of the belt to the bow and stern.[4][9]

Construction and career

Collingwood, named after Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood, Horatio Nelson's second-in-command in the British victory at the Battle of Trafalgar,[14] was the second ship of her name to serve in the Royal Navy.[15] The ship was laid down at Pembroke Dockyard on 12 July 1880[9] and launched by Mrs. Louise Chatfield, wife of the dockyard's Captain-Superintendent, Captain Alfred Chatfield,[16] on 22 November 1882.[9] While conducting gunnery trials on 4 May 1886, Collingwood's rear left gun partially shattered and all of the Mk II guns were withdrawn from service. They were replaced by heavier Mk Vw models with approximately the same performance.[11] Excluding her armament, she cost £636,996. The ship was commissioned at Portsmouth on 1 July 1887 for Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee Fleet review and was paid off into reserve in August.[17]

Collingwood was recommissioned for the annual summer manoeuvres for the next two years, before she was assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet, where she served from November 1889 until March 1897, with a refit in Malta in 1896.[17] Captain Charles Penrose-Fitzgerald commanded the ironclad when she joined the Mediterranean Fleet in 1889.[18] The ship became the coastguard ship at Bantry, Ireland, upon her return.[17] Collingwood accidentally collided with the cruiser Curacoa in Plymouth harbour on 23 January 1899, badly damaging the latter ship.[19] The ship was paid off into the reserve in June 1903 and was transferred to East Kyle in January 1905. Collingwood remained there until she was sold for scrap[17] to Hughes Bolckow at Dunston, Tyne and Wear[9] for £19,000[17] on 11 May 1909.[14]

Notes

  1. ^ Brown, p. 91
  2. ^ Beeler, pp. 161–62
  3. ^ a b c Chesneau & Kolesnik, p. 29
  4. ^ a b c Parkes, p. 302
  5. ^ Beeler, pp. 164–66
  6. ^ Brown, pp. 92–93; Parkes, pp. 300, 303, 305–306
  7. ^ a b Parkes, p. 301
  8. ^ Brown, p. 94
  9. ^ a b c d e Winfield & Lyon, p. 258
  10. ^ a b Parkes, p. 316
  11. ^ a b Campbell 1981, p. 202
  12. ^ Campbell 1983, pp. 171–72
  13. ^ Parkes, p. 303
  14. ^ a b Silverstone, p. 223
  15. ^ Colledge, p. 74
  16. ^ Phillips, pp. 225, 326
  17. ^ a b c d e Parkes, p. 304
  18. ^ Phillips, p. 225
  19. ^ The Annual Register: A Review of Public Events at Home and Abroad for the Year 1899. London: Longmans, Green & Co. 1900. p. 5. Retrieved 11 April 2016.

References

  • Beeler, John (2001). Birth of the Battleship: British Capital Ship Design 1870-1881. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-213-7.
  • Brown, D.K. (2003). Warrior to Dreadnought. London: Caxton Editions. ISBN 1-84067-529-2.
  • Campbell, N.J.M. (1981). "British Naval Guns 1880–1945 No. 3". In Roberts, John (ed.). Warship V. London: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 200–02. ISBN 0-85177-244-7.
  • Campbell, N.J.M. (1983). "British Naval Guns 1880–1945 No. 10". In Roberts, John (ed.). Warship VII. London: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 170–72. ISBN 0-85177-630-2.
  • Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
  • Chesneau, Roger; Kolesnik, Eugene M., eds. (1979). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. Greenwich: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-8317-0302-4. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |last-author-amp= ignored (|name-list-style= suggested) (help)
  • Parkes, Oscar (1990). British Battleships (reprint of the 1957 ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-075-4.
  • Phillips, Lawrie; Lieutenant Commander (2014). Pembroke Dockyard and the Old Navy: A Bicentennial History. Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK: The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7509-5214-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  • Silverstone, Paul H. (1984). Directory of the World's Capital Ships. New York: Hippocrene Books. ISBN 0-88254-979-0.
  • Winfield, R.; Lyon, D. (2004). The Sail and Steam Navy List: All the Ships of the Royal Navy 1815–1889. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-032-6. OCLC 52620555.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to HMS Collingwood.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=HMS_Collingwood_(1882)&oldid=714808631"