HMS Berwick (1902)
 Berwick at anchor
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| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | Berwick |
| Namesake | Berwickshire |
| Builder | Beardmore, Dalmuir |
| Laid down | 19 April 1901 |
| Launched | 20 September 1902 |
| Christened | Lady Houstoun-Boswall |
| Completed | 9 December 1903 |
| Fate | Sold for scrap, 1 July 1920 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | armoured cruiser |
| Displacement | 9,800 long tons (10,000 t) (normal) |
| Length | 463 ft 6 in (141.3 m) (o/a) |
| Beam | 66 ft (20.1 m) |
| Draught | 25 ft (7.6 m) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | 2 × shafts; 2 × triple-expansion steam engines |
| Speed | 23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph) |
| Complement | 678 |
| Armament |
|
| Armour |
|
HMS Berwick was one of 10
4th Cruiser Squadron on the North America and West Indies Station
later that year.
She captured a German merchant ship shortly after World War I began. The ship patrolled for German
paid off and sold for scrap
in 1920.
Design and description
The Monmouths were intended to protect British merchant shipping from fast
kW) which was designed to give the ships a maximum speed of 23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph).[1] The ship carried a maximum of 1,600 long tons (1,600 t) of coal and her complement consisted of 678 officers and ratings.[2]
The Monmouth-class ships' main armament consisted of fourteen
18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes.[1]
Beginning in 1915, the main deck six-inch guns of the Monmouth-class ships were moved to the upper deck and given
anti-aircraft guns were installed on the upper deck, although Berwick had hers removed before the end of the war.[5]
The ship's
amidships and two-inch (51 mm) forward. The armour of the gun turrets, their barbettes and the casemates was four inches thick. The protective deck armour ranged in thickness from 0.75–2 inches (19–51 mm) and the conning tower was protected by ten inches (254 mm) of armour.[6]
Construction and service
Berwick, named for the
bows during a night exercise in the English Channel, south of the Isle of Wight. Tiger was sliced in two and sank with the loss of 36 lives. After a refit at Portsmouth Royal Dockyard that ended in April 1909, she was assigned to the 4th Cruiser Squadron on the North America and West Indies Station.[9]
She was still there when World War I began in August 1914, and captured the Hamburg America Line merchant ship Spreewald on 10 September. She patrolled for German raiders and escorted convoys for the rest of the war. Berwick was assigned to the 8th Light Cruiser Squadron in 1919[10] before she was sold for scrap on 1 July 1920. She was broken up in Germany in 1922.[7]
Notes
- ^ "Cwt" is the abbreviation for hundredweight, 12 cwt referring to the weight of the gun.
Footnotes
- ^ a b c Roberts, p. 70
- ^ a b Friedman 2012, p. 336
- ^ Friedman 2011, p. 81
- ^ Friedman 2012, pp. 251–252, 260–261
- ^ Friedman 2012, pp. 280, 286
- ^ McBride, p. 21
- ^ a b Silverstone, p. 217
- ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36879. London. 22 September 1902. p. 8.
- ^ Preston, pp. 12, 19
- ^ Preston, p. 12
Bibliography
- ISBN 0-89839-256-X.
- ISBN 978-1-59114-068-9.
- Friedman, Norman (2011). Naval Weapons of World War One: Guns, Torpedoes, Mines and ASW Weapons of All Nations; An Illustrated Directory. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-100-7.
- ISBN 0-679-45671-6.
- McBride, Keith (1988). "The First County Class Cruisers of the Royal Navy, Part I: The Monmouths". Warship. 46 (April). London: Conway Maritime Press: 19–26. ISSN 0142-6222.
- ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
- J, Helen, ed. (9 October 2018). "HMS Berwick – March 1914 to July 1919, West Atlantic (4th Cruiser Squadron), North America & West Indies Station, North Atlantic convoys, Pacific coast of South America (8th Light Cruiser Squadron)". Royal Navy Log Books of the World War 1 Era. Naval-History.net. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
- Roberts, John (1979). "Great Britain and Empire Forces". In Chesneau, Roger & Kolesnik, Eugene M. (eds.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905. Greenwich, UK: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 1–113. ISBN 0-8317-0302-4.
- Silverstone, Paul H. (1984). Directory of the World's Capital Ships. New York: Hippocrene Books. ISBN 0-88254-979-0.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to HMS Berwick (1902).
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1908 | |
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| Shipwrecks |
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| Other incidents |
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