HMS Empress (1914)
.jpg) Empress in 1918
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | SS Empress |
| Owner | South East and Chatham Railway |
| Builder | William Denny and Brothers Dumbarton |
| Laid down | 1906 |
| Launched | 13 April 1907 |
| Completed | 1907 |
| Fate | Leased to Royal Navy, August 1914 |
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | HMS Empress |
| Acquired | 11 August 1914 |
| Commissioned | 25 August 1914 |
| Out of service | November 1919 |
| Fate | Returned to owners, November 1919 |
| United Kingdom | |
| Name | SS Empress |
| Owner | South East and Chatham Railway/ Southern Railway |
| Acquired | November 1919 |
| Fate | Sold, 1923 |
 France | |
| Name | SS Empress |
| Owner | Société Anoynyme de Gérance et d'Armament |
| Acquired | 1923 |
| Fate | Scrapped, 1933 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Seaplane carrier |
| Tonnage | 1,694 gross register tons (GRT) |
| Displacement | 2,540 long tons (2,580 t) |
| Length | 323 ft (98.5 m) |
| Beam | 41 ft (12.5 m) |
| Draught | 15 ft (4.6 m) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) |
| Range | 1,355 nmi (2,509 km; 1,559 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
| Complement | about 200 |
| Armament |
|
| Aircraft carried | 3–4 × seaplanes |
HMS Empress was a
Mediterranean. During the last year of the war, she conducted anti-submarine patrols in the Mediterranean. Empress was returned to her owners in 1919 and was then sold to a French company in 1923. She was scrapped
in 1933.
Description
Empress had an
boilers generated enough steam to produce 8,800 shaft horsepower (6,600 kW) from the turbines.[1] The ship had a designed speed of 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph), but she made a speed of 22.26 knots (41.23 km/h; 25.62 mph) during her sea trials with 8,872 shaft horsepower (6,616 kW).[3] Empress carried 425 tonnes (418 long tons) of coal,[1] enough to give her a range of 1,355 nautical miles (2,509 km; 1,559 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph).[2]
Service
Built as a fast packet for the
Cuxhaven Raid on hangars housing Zeppelin airships.[5] Seven of the nine seaplanes successfully took off for the attack, but they inflicted little damage. Only three of the aircraft returned to be recovered, but the crews of the other three ditched safely[5] and were recovered by a British submarine[6] and the Dutch trawler Marta van Hattem.[7]
From 9 May to 18 July 1915,General Officer Commanding, Egypt and its primary duty was watch and to attack Turkish positions and movements in southern Palestine and the Sinai in early 1916.[8] In April, Empress was detached from the squadron to support operations off the Aegean coast of Bulgaria, where her aircraft observed for several naval bombardments.[9] After a refit at Genoa, the ship rejoined the squadron and supported operations off the Syrian and Palestinian coasts until November. In January 1918, she was assigned anti-submarine duties, first at Port Said and later at Gibraltar.[8]
She was returned to her owners in November 1919 and was sold to the Société Anoynyme de Gérance et d'Armament of France in 1923.[8] On 12 January 1926, Empress collided with the British schooner John Gibson in the English Channel and sank her.[10] Empress was scrapped in France in 1933.[8]
Notes
- ^ "Cwt" is the abbreviation for hundredweight, 12 cwt referring to the weight of the gun.
Footnotes
- ^ a b c d Layman, p. 38
- ^ a b Friedman, p. 364
- ^ a b Friedman, p. 30
- ^ Layman, pp. 38, 40
- ^ a b c Friedman, p. 32
- ^ Barnes and James, p. 98
- ^ "The Rescue of Flight Commander Hewlett". Flight. Vol. No. 315, no. 8 January 1915. 8 January 1915. p. 24. Retrieved 28 October 2011.
{{cite magazine}}:|volume=has extra text (help) - ^ a b c d e Layman, p. 40
- ^ Friedman, p. 43
- ^ "Casualty reports". The Times. No. 44168. London. 13 January 1926. col F, p. 23.
References
- Barnes, Christopher H.; Derek N. James (1989). Shorts Aircraft Since 1900. London: Putnam. ISBN 0-85177-819-4.
- Friedman, Norman (1988). British Carrier Aviation: The Evolution of the Ships and Their Aircraft. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-054-8.
- Layman, R. D. (1989). Before the Aircraft Carrier: The Development of Aviation Vessels 1859–1922. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-210-9.
External links
- "Royal Navy Log Books of the World War 1 Era – HMS Empress". Retrieved 15 December 2013. Transcription of ship's logbooks January 1916 to December 1918
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1926 | |
|---|---|
| Shipwrecks |
|
| Other incidents |
|
