HMS Collingwood (1908)

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Collingwood at anchor, 1912
History
United Kingdom
NameCollingwood
Namesake
Ordered26 October 1907
BuilderDevonport Royal Dockyard
Laid down3 February 1908
Launched7 November 1908
Commissioned19 April 1910
FateSold for scrap, 12 December 1922
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type
dreadnought battleship
Displacement19,700 long tons (20,000 t) (normal)
Length536 ft (163.4 m) (o/a)
Beam84 ft 2 in (25.7 m)
Draught28 ft (8.5 m)
Installed power
Propulsion4 × shafts; 2 × steam turbine sets
Speed21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph)
Range6,900 nmi (12,800 km; 7,900 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement758
Armament
  • 5 × twin
    12-inch (305 mm) guns
  • 20 × single
    4-inch (102 mm) guns
  • 3 ×
    18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes
Armour

HMS Collingwood was a

battleline and lightly damaged a German battlecruiser. Other than that battle, and the inconclusive action of 19 August, her service during the war generally consisted of routine patrols and training in the North Sea. The ship was deemed obsolete after the war; she was reduced to reserve and used as a training ship before being sold for scrap
in 1922.

Design and description

The design of the St Vincent class was derived from that of the previous

deep load. In 1911 her crew numbered 758 officers and ratings.[3]

Brassey's Naval Annual

Collingwood was powered by two sets of

kW) and were intended to give the ship a maximum speed of 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph). During her full-power, eight-hour sea trials on 17 January 1910, she only reached a top speed of 20.62 knots (38.19 km/h; 23.73 mph) from 26,789 shp (19,977 kW). Collingwood carried enough coal and fuel oil to give her a range of 6,900 nautical miles (12,800 km; 7,900 mi) at a cruising speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).[4]

Armament and armour

The St Vincent class was equipped with ten

18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes, one on each broadside and the third in the stern.[2]

The St Vincent-class ships had a

Krupp cemented armour (KC) that was 10 inches (254 mm) thick between the fore and aftmost barbettes, reducing to a thickness of 2 inches (51 mm) before it reached the ships' ends. Above this was a strake of armour 8 inches (203 mm) thick. Transverse bulkheads 5 and 8 inches (127 and 203 mm) inches thick terminated the thickest parts of the waterline and upper armour belts once they reached the outer portions of the endmost barbettes.[8]

The three centreline barbettes were protected by armour 9 inches (229 mm) thick above the main deck that thinned to 5 inches (127 mm) below it. The wing barbettes were similar except that they had 10 inches of armour on their outer faces. The gun turrets had 11-inch (279 mm) faces and sides with 3-inch (76 mm) roofs. The three armoured decks ranged in thicknesses from .75 to 3 inches (19 to 76 mm). The front and sides of the forward conning tower were protected by 11-inch plates, although the rear and roof were 8 inches and 3 inches thick, respectively.[9]

Alterations

The guns on the forward turret roof were removed in 1911–1912 and the upper forward pair of guns in the superstructure were removed in 1913–1914. In addition,

anti-aircraft (AA) guns were added.[10]

By April 1917, Collingwood mounted thirteen 4-inch anti-torpedo boat guns as well as single 4-inch and 3-inch AA guns. Approximately 50 long tons (51 t) of additional deck armour had been added after the Battle of Jutland. Before the end of the war the AA guns were moved from the deckhouse between the aft turrets to the stern and the stern torpedo tube was removed. In 1918, a high-angle

rangefinder was fitted and flying-off platforms were installed on the roofs of the fore and aft turrets.[10]

Construction and career

Collingwood shortly after completion

Collingwood, named after

launched on 7 November 1908 and completed in April 1910. Including her armament, the ship's cost is quoted at £1,680,888[3] or £1,731,640.[5]

On 19 April 1910, Collingwood was

King George VI) was assigned to the ship on 15 September 1913.[15] Collingwood hosted Albert's older brother, Edward, Prince of Wales, during a short cruise on 18 April 1914. She became a private ship when Colville hauled down his flag on 22 June.[14]

World War I

Between 17 and 20 July 1914, Collingwood took part in a test

Shetland Islands and conducted gunnery practice on 8–12 December. Four days later, the Grand Fleet sortied during the German raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby, but failed to make contact with the High Seas Fleet. Collingwood and the rest of the Grand Fleet conducted another sweep of the North Sea on 25–27 December.[19]

The 1st Battle Squadron at sea, April 1915

The Grand Fleet, including Collingwood, conducted gunnery drills on 10–13 January 1915 west of

Rear-Admiral Hugh Evan-Thomas temporarily hoisted his flag aboard Collingwood.[23] On 11 April, the Grand Fleet conducted a patrol in the central North Sea and returned to port on 14 April; another patrol in the area took place on 17–19 April, followed by gunnery drills off Shetland on 20–21 April.[24]

The Grand Fleet conducted sweeps into the central North Sea on 17–19 May and 29–31 May without encountering any German vessels. During 11–14 June the fleet conducted gunnery practice and battle exercises west of Shetland.[25] Collingwood was briefly docked at Invergordon from 23 to 25 June. King George V inspected the ship on 8 July,[23] and the Grand Fleet conducted training off Shetland beginning three days later.[26] Rear-Admiral Ernest Gaunt temporarily used Collingwood as his flagship from 24 August to 24 September and from 10 December to 16 January 1916.[27] On 2–5 September 1915, the fleet went on another cruise in the northern end of the North Sea and conducted gunnery drills. Throughout the rest of the month, the Grand Fleet conducted numerous training exercises. The ship, together with the majority of the Grand Fleet, conducted another sweep into the North Sea from 13 to 15 October. Almost three weeks later, Collingwood participated in another fleet training operation west of Orkney during 2–5 November.[28] On 21 November, she sailed for Devonport Royal Dockyard for a minor overhaul and arrived back at Scapa on 9 December.[29]

The Grand Fleet departed for a cruise in the North Sea on 26 February 1916; Jellicoe had intended to use the

Horns Reef to distract the Germans while the Russian Navy relaid its defensive minefields in the Baltic Sea. The fleet returned to Scapa Flow on 24 April and refuelled before proceeding south in response to intelligence reports that the Germans were about to launch a raid on Lowestoft. The Grand Fleet arrived in the area after the Germans had withdrawn. On 2–4 May, the fleet conducted another demonstration off Horns Reef to keep German attention focused on the North Sea.[30]

Battle of Jutland

The British fleet sailed from northern Britain to the east while the Germans sailed from Germany in the south; the opposing fleets met off the Danish coast
Maps showing the manoeuvres of the British (blue) and German (red) fleets on 31 May – 1 June 1916

In an attempt to lure out and destroy a portion of the Grand Fleet, the German High Seas Fleet, composed of 16 dreadnoughts, 6 pre-dreadnoughts, 6 light cruisers, and 31 torpedo boats, departed the Jade Bight early on the morning of 31 May. The fleet sailed in concert with Rear Admiral Franz von Hipper's five battlecruisers and supporting cruisers and torpedo boats. The Royal Navy's Room 40 had intercepted and decrypted German radio traffic containing plans of the operation. In response, the Admiralty ordered the Grand Fleet, totalling some 28 dreadnoughts and 9 battlecruisers, to sortie the night before to cut off and destroy the High Seas Fleet.[31] Collingwood was the eighteenth ship from the head of the battle line after the Grand Fleet deployed for battle.[14]

The initial action was fought primarily by the British and German battlecruiser formations in the afternoon, but by 18:00,

sickbay and damaged the surrounding superstructure. Shortly afterwards, during the attack of the German destroyers around 19:20, the ship fired her main armament at a damaged destroyer without success and dodged two torpedoes that missed by 10 yards (9.1 m) behind and 30 yards (27 m) in front. This was the last time she fired her guns during the battle.[32]

Following the German destroyer attack, the High Seas Fleet disengaged, and Collingwood and the rest of the Grand Fleet saw no further action in the battle. This was, in part, due to confusion aboard the fleet flagship over the exact location and course of the German fleet; without this information, Jellicoe could not bring his fleet to action. At 21:30, the Grand Fleet began to reorganise into its night-time cruising formation. Early on the morning of 1 June, the Grand Fleet combed the area, looking for damaged German ships, but after spending several hours searching, they found none. Collingwood fired a total of 52

armour-piercing, capped and 32 HE shells from her main armament and 35 four-inch shells during the battle.[33] Prince Albert was a sub-lieutenant commanding the forward turret during the battle and sat in the open on the turret roof during a lull in the action.[34]

Subsequent activity

After the battle the ship was transferred to the

Admiralty concurred and stipulated that the Grand Fleet would not sortie unless the German fleet was attempting an invasion of Britain or there was a strong possibility it could be forced into an engagement under suitable conditions.[36]

Collingwood received a brief refit at Rosyth in early September before rejoining the Grand Fleet. On 29 October Sturdee came aboard to present the ship with her battle honour, "Jutland 1916". Captain Wilmot Nicholson briefly assumed command on 1 December before transferring to the new battlecruiser Glorious upon his relief by Captain Cole Fowler on 26 March 1917. Together with the rest of the 4th Battle Squadron, Collingwood put to sea for tactical exercises for a few days in February 1917. The ship was present at Scapa Flow when her sister ship Vanguard's magazines exploded on 9 July and her crew recovered the bodies of three men killed in the explosion. In January 1918, Collingwood and other of the older dreadnoughts cruised off the coast of Norway for several days, possibly to provide distant cover for a convoy to Norway.[37] Along with the rest of the Grand Fleet, she sortied on the afternoon of 23 April after radio transmissions revealed that the High Seas Fleet was at sea after a failed attempt to intercept the regular British convoy to Norway. The Germans were too far ahead of the British, and no shots were fired.[38] By early November, Collingwood was at Invergordon to receive a brief refit in the floating dock based there, and missed the surrender of the High Seas Fleet on the 21st. She was slightly damaged on 23 November while attempting to come alongside the oiler RFA Ebonol.[39]

In January 1919, Collingwood was transferred to Devonport and assigned to the Reserve Fleet. Upon the dissolution of the Grand Fleet on 18 March, the Reserve Fleet was redesignated the Third Fleet and Collingwood became its flagship. She became a

paid off on 31 March 1922. Collingwood was sold to John Cashmore Ltd for scrap on 12 December and arrived at Newport, Wales, on 3 March 1923 to be broken up.[39]

Relics

Footnotes

  1. quick-firing QF Mark III guns. In addition, he lists a 12-pounder (three-inch (76 mm)) gun.[3] Preston concurs on the number of 4 inchers, but does not list the 12 pounder.[2] Parkes says twenty 4-inch guns; while not identifying the type, he does say that they were 50-calibre guns[5] and Preston agrees.[6] Friedman shows the QF Mark III as a 40-calibre gun and states that the 50-calibre BL Mark VII gun armed all of the early dreadnoughts.[7]
  2. ^ The times used in this section are in UT, one hour behind CET, which is often used in German works.

Citations

  1. ^ Burt, pp. 75–76
  2. ^ a b c Preston 1972, p. 125
  3. ^ a b c Burt, p. 76
  4. ^ Burt, pp. 76, 80
  5. ^ a b c Parkes, p. 503
  6. ^ Preston 1985, p. 23
  7. ^ Friedman, pp. 97–98
  8. ^ Burt, pp. 76, 78; Parkes, p. 503
  9. ^ Burt, pp. 76, 78; Parkes, p. 504
  10. ^ a b Burt, p. 81
  11. ^ Silverstone, p. 223
  12. ^ a b c Burt, p. 86
  13. ^ a b c Brady, Part One, p. 29
  14. ^ a b c d Burt, p. 88
  15. ^ Judd, p. 28
  16. ^ Massie, pp. 15–20
  17. ^ Preston 1985, p. 32
  18. ^ Jellicoe, pp. 163–165
  19. ^ Brady, Part One, p. 32; Jellicoe, pp. 172, 179, 183–184
  20. ^ Jellicoe, pp. 190, 194–196
  21. ^ Brady, Part One, p. 32
  22. ^ Jellicoe, p. 206
  23. ^ a b Brady, Part One, p. 33
  24. ^ Jellicoe, pp. 211–212
  25. ^ Jellicoe, pp. 217, 218–219, 221–222
  26. ^ Jellicoe, p. 228
  27. ^ Brady, Part One, pp. 33–34
  28. ^ Jellicoe, pp. 243, 246, 250, 253
  29. ^ Brady, Part One, p. 34
  30. ^ Jellicoe, pp. 271, 275, 279–280, 284, 286–290
  31. ^ Tarrant, pp. 54–55, 57–58
  32. ^ Campbell, pp. 37, 116, 146, 157, 205, 208, 212, 214, 229–230
  33. ^ Campbell, pp. 256, 274, 309–310, 346, 348, 358
  34. ^ Gordon, pp. 454, 459
  35. ^ Brady, Part Two, p. 19
  36. ^ Halpern, pp. 330–332
  37. ^ Brady, Part Two, pp. 19–22
  38. ^ Massie, p. 748
  39. ^ a b Brady, Part Two, pp. 23–24
  40. ^ Gordon, p. 417

Bibliography

External links