HMS Black Prince (1904)

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For other ships with the same name, see HMS Black Prince.

Black Prince
History
United Kingdom
NameBlack Prince
Namesake
Edward, the Black Prince
BuilderThames Ironworks
Laid down3 June 1903
Launched8 November 1904
Commissioned17 March 1906
FateSunk, 1 June 1916 at the Battle of Jutland
General characteristics
Class and type
armoured cruiser
Displacement
  • 12,590 long tons (12,790 t) (normal)
  • 13,965 long tons (14,189 t) (
    deep load
    )
Length505 ft 6 in (154.1 m)
Beam73 ft 6 in (22.4 m)
Draught27 ft (8.2 m) (maximum)
Installed power23,000 ihp (17,000 kW)
Propulsion
  • 2 shafts, 4-cylinder
    triple-expansion steam engines
  • 20
    boilers
Speed23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph)
Range8,130 nmi (15,060 km; 9,360 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement789
Armament
  • 6 × 1 -
    BL 9.2-inch (234 mm) Mk X guns
  • 10 × 1 -
    BL 6-inch (152 mm) Mk XI guns
  • 20 × 1 - Vickers QF
    3-pounder
    guns
  • 3 × 1 - submerged
    18 inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes
Armour

HMS Black Prince was a

Mediterranean when the First World War began and participated in the pursuit of the German battlecruiser SMS Goeben and light cruiser SMS Breslau. After the German ships reached Ottoman waters, the ship was sent to the Red Sea in mid-August to protect troop convoys arriving from India and to search for German merchant ships. After capturing two ships, Black Prince was transferred to the Grand Fleet in December 1914. She was sunk on 1 June 1916 during the Battle of Jutland
with the loss of all hands.

Design and description

A view of her broadside guns

Two

Edward, the Black Prince, were ordered for the Royal Navy as part of the 1902–03 Naval Estimates. They were the first ships to be designed for the Royal Navy under the supervision of the new Director of Naval Construction, Sir Philip Watts. The new design was significantly larger than the previous Monmouth and Devonshire-class cruisers, mounting a heavier main armament of six 9.2 in (234 mm) guns in single turrets.[1][2]

Black Prince displaced 12,590 long tons (12,790 t) as built and 13,965 long tons (14,189 t) fully loaded. The ship had an

triple-expansion steam engines, driving two shafts, which produced a total of 23,000 indicated horsepower (17,000 kW) and gave a maximum speed of 23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph). The engines were powered by 20 Babcock & Wilcox water-tube boilers and six cylindrical boilers. The ship carried a maximum of 2,150 long tons (2,180 t) of coal and an additional 600 long tons (610 t) of fuel oil that was sprayed on the coal to increase its burn rate. At full capacity, she could steam for 8,130 nautical miles (15,060 km; 9,360 mi) at a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph). The ship's complement was 789 officers and ratings.[3]

Her main armament consisted of six

18-inch torpedo tubes.[4]

Construction and career

Black Prince was laid down on 3 June 1903 at the Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company's shipyard at Blackwall, London. She was launched on 8 November 1904 and completed on 17 March 1906.[1] When completed, Black Prince served with the 2nd Squadron until 1907, the 1st Cruiser Squadron from 1907 to 1908, the 5th Cruiser Squadron (as part of the Atlantic Fleet) from 1908 to 1912 and the Third from 1912 to 1913.[5]

Black Prince at anchor in 1914

At the beginning of the

Robert Keith Arbuthnot.[7]

Black Prince was modified in March 1916 as a result of lessons learned at the Battle of Coronel, with the 6-inch guns removed from their casemates and replaced by six 6-inch guns mounted individually behind shields between the beam 9.2-inch turrets.[5][8]

Loss

The ship participated in the Battle of Jutland, where she was sunk with the loss of her entire crew. The circumstances under which she sank were mysterious for some years after. As the British had lost contact and did not see the ship destroyed, they were unsure as to whether a submarine or surface ship was responsible for sinking Black Prince.[9] During the battle, the 1st Cruiser Squadron was deployed as part of a screening force several miles ahead of the main force of the Grand Fleet,[10] but Black Prince lost contact with the rest of the Squadron as it came into contact with German forces, at about 17:42.[11] Soon after, two other members of the 1st Cruiser Squadron, Defence and Warrior, were heavily engaged by German battleships and battlecruisers, with Defence blowing up and Warrior receiving heavy damage, which later caused her to sink.[12]

There were no positive sightings of Black Prince by the British fleet after that, although a wireless signal from her was received at 20:45, reporting a submarine sighting.[11] During the night of 31 May–1 June, the British destroyer Spitfire, badly damaged after colliding with the German battleship Nassau, sighted what appeared to be a German battlecruiser, with two widely spaced funnels, described as being "...a mass of fire from foremast to mainmast, on deck and between decks. Flames were issuing out of her from every corner." The mystery ship exploded at about midnight. It was later thought that the burning ship may have been Black Prince, with the two midships funnels having collapsed or been shot away.[13]

Recent historians, however, hold to the German account of the ship's sinking. Black Prince briefly engaged the German battleship

GMT, scoring two hits with 6-inch shells.[14] Separated from the rest of the British fleet, Black Prince approached the German lines shortly after midnight. She turned away from the German battleships, but it was too late. The German battleship Thüringen fixed Black Prince in her searchlights and opened fire. Up to five other German ships, including the battleships Nassau, Ostfriesland, and Friedrich der Grosse, joined in the bombardment, with return fire from Black Prince being ineffective. Most of the German ships were between 750 and 1,500 yards (700 and 1,350 m) of Black Prince[15] — effectively point-blank range for contemporary naval gunnery. The ship was hit by at least twelve heavy shells and several smaller ones,[16] sinking within 15 minutes. There were no survivors from her crew of 857.[17]

The wrecksite is designated as a protected place under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986.[18]

Popular culture

In the first episode of Series 4 of the SBS-TV (Australia) series Who Do You Think You Are?, Australian writer-actor-comedian Shaun Micallef discovered that his great-grandfather Giovanni (John) Micallef, a steward on Black Prince, was among those killed.[19]

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b Chesneau and Kolesnik 1979, p. 71.
  2. ^ Brown 2003, p. 161.
  3. ^ Parkes 1990, p. 442.
  4. ^ Parkes 1990, pp. 442–443.
  5. ^ a b c Preston 1985, p. 13.
  6. ^ Corbett 1938, I, p. 371, 406–407.
  7. ^ Corbett 1929, II, p. 418.
  8. ^ Brown 2003, pp. 161–162.
  9. ^ Jellicoe 1919, p. 477.
  10. ^ Campbell 1998, p. 36.
  11. ^ a b Campbell 1998, p. 122.
  12. ^ Campbell 1998, pp. 152–153.
  13. ^ Fawcett and Hooper 1921, pp. 180–181.
  14. ^ Campbell 1998, pp. 286–287.
  15. ^ Campbell 1998, p. 290.
  16. ^ Campbell 1998, p. 303.
  17. ^ Campbell 1998, p. 338.
  18. ^ SI 2008/950 Designation under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986
  19. ^ SBS-TV - Who Do You Think You Are (Series 4)

References

  • Brown, David K. (2003). Warrior to Dreadnought: Warship Developments 1860–1905. London: Caxton Editions.
    ISBN 1-84067-529-2
    .
  • Campbell, John (1998). Jutland: An Analysis of the Fighting.
    ISBN 1-55821-759-2
    .
  • 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
    .
  • ISBN 0-89839-256-X
    .
  • ISBN 1-870423-74-7
    .
  • Fawcett, Harold William; Hooper, Geoffrey William Winsmore (1921). The Fighting at Jutland: the Personal Experiences of Forty-Five Officers and Men of the British Fleet (Abridged ed.). London: Macmillan.
  • Jellicoe, John (1919). The Grand Fleet 1914–1916: Its Creation, Development and Work. New York: George H. Doran. Retrieved 18 November 2011. Grand Fleet 1914-1916.
  • Parkes, Oscar (1990). British Battleships (reprint of the 1957 ed.). Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press.
    ISBN 1-55750-075-4
    .
  • ISBN 0-85177-245-5
    .
  • Roberts, John (October 1989). "HMS Cochrane". Warship. Warship. Vol. III:9. London: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 34–36.
    ISBN 0-85177-204-8
    . Retrieved 5 August 2009.

External links

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