HMS Erin

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Erin in the Moray Firth, August 1915
Ottoman Empire
NameReşad V
NamesakeSultan Mehmed V
Ordered8 June 1911
Builder
Vickers
Yard number425
Laid down6 December 1911
Launched3 September 1913
RenamedReşadiye
FateSeized, 31 July 1914
United Kingdom
NameErin
NamesakeErin
CompletedAugust 1914
DecommissionedMay 1922
FateSold for scrap, 19 December 1922
General characteristics (as built)
TypeDreadnought battleship
Displacement
  • 22,780 long tons (23,146 t) (normal)
  • 25,250 long tons (25,655 t) (
    deep load
    )
Length559 ft 6 in (170.54 m) (o/a)
Beam91 ft 7 in (27.9 m)
Draught28 ft 5 in (8.7 m)
Installed power
  • 15 ×
    Babcock & Wilcox boilers
  • 26,500 
    kW
    )
Propulsion4 × shafts; 4 × steam turbine sets
Speed21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph)
Range5,300 nmi (9,800 km; 6,100 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement
  • 976 (1914)
  • 1,064 (1915)
Armament
  • 5 × twin 13.5 in (343 mm) guns
  • 16 × single
    6 in (152 mm) guns
  • 6 × single
    6 pdr (57 mm) guns
  • 4 ×
    21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes
Armour

HMS Erin was a

First World War began in August 1914, Reşadiye was nearly complete and was seized at the orders of Winston Churchill, the First Lord of the Admiralty, to keep her in British hands and prevent her from being used by Germany or German allies. There is no evidence that the seizure played any part in the Ottoman government declaring war on Britain and the Triple Entente
.

Aside from a minor role in the Battle of Jutland in May 1916 and the inconclusive Action of 19 August the same year, Erin's 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. Erin served as the flagship of the reserve fleet at the Nore for most of 1920. She was sold for scrap in 1922 and broken up the following year.

Design and description

Main article: Reşadiye-class battleship

The design of the Reşadiye class was based on the

deep load. In 1914 her crew numbered 976 officers and ratings and 1,064 a year later.[3]

Erin was powered by a pair of

Babcock & Wilcox boilers. The turbines, rated at 26,500 shaft horsepower (19,800 kW), were intended to give the ship a maximum speed of 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph). The ship carried enough coal and fuel oil for a maximum range of 5,300 nautical miles (9,800 km; 6,100 mi) at a cruising speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).[3] This radius of action was somewhat less than that of contemporary British battleships, but was adequate for operations in the North Sea.[2]

Armament and armour

The ship was armed with a

armoured belt that was 12 inches (305 mm) thick over the ship's vitals. Her decks ranged in thickness from 1 to 3 inches (25 to 76 mm). The main gun turret armour was 11 inches (279 mm) thick and was supported by barbettes 9–10 inches (229–254 mm) thick.[6]

Wartime modifications

Four of the six-pounder guns were removed in 1915–1916, and a

rangefinder was fitted and flying-off platforms were installed on the roofs of 'B' and 'Q' turrets.[9]

Construction and career

Reşadiye being launched, 3 September 1913

Erin originally was ordered by the

launched on 3 September and completed in August 1914.[11] After the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand on 28 June, the British postponed delivery of Reşadiye on 21 July, despite the completion of payments and the arrival of the Ottoman delegation to collect Reşadiye and another dreadnought battleship, Sultan Osman I, after their sea trials.[14] Churchill ordered the Royal Navy to detain the ships on 29 July and prevent Ottoman naval personnel from boarding them; two days later, soldiers from the Sherwood Foresters Regiment formally seized them and Reşadiye was renamed Erin, a dative name for Ireland.[15] Churchill did this on his own initiative to augment the Royal Navy's margin of superiority over the German High Seas Fleet and to prevent them from being acquired by Germany or its allies.[16][17]

The takeover caused considerable ill will in the Ottoman Empire, where public subscriptions had partially funded the ships. When the Ottoman government had been in a financial deadlock over the budget of the battleships, donations for the Ottoman Navy had come in from taverns, cafés, schools and markets, and large donations were rewarded with a "Navy Donation Medal". The seizure, and the gift of the German

bombarded Russian ports in the Black Sea on 29 October as unambiguous evidence of an Ottoman attack and forced the government's hand into joining the war on Germany's side.[20]

1914–1915

floating drydock
, about 1918

Vice-Admiral David Beatty's 1st Battlecruiser Squadron. The fleet was back at Scapa Flow by 27 November. On 16 December, the Grand Fleet sortied during the German raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby, but failed to intercept the High Seas Fleet. Erin and the rest of the Grand Fleet made another sweep of the North Sea on 25–27 December.[24]

Jellicoe's ships, including Erin, practised gunnery drills on 10–13 January 1915 west of the Orkney and

Shetland Islands.[25] On the evening of 23 January, the bulk of the Grand Fleet sailed in support of Beatty's battlecruisers, but the fleet was too far away to participate in the Battle of Dogger Bank the following day.[26] On 7–10 March, the fleet made a sweep in the northern North Sea, during which it conducted training manoeuvres. Another cruise took place on 16–19 March. 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.[27]

Erin and Centurion (right) conducting gunnery training in Scapa Flow, May 1917

The Grand Fleet conducted sweeps into the central North Sea on 17–19 May and 29–31 May without encountering German vessels. During 11–14 June, the fleet practised gunnery and battle exercises off Shetland from 11 July.

Second Battle Squadron (2nd BS) sometime between September and December.[30][31]

1916–1918

The 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 re-laid its defensive minefields in the Baltic Sea. The fleet returned to Scapa Flow on 24 April and refuelled before sailing south, over intelligence reports that the Germans were about to launch a raid on Lowestoft, but the Germans had withdrawn before the fleet arrived. On 2–4 May, the Grand Fleet conducted another demonstration off Horns Reef to keep German attention on the North Sea.[33]

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
Main article: Battle of Jutland

To lure out and destroy a portion of the Grand Fleet, the High Seas Fleet (Admiral

Admiralty had intercepted and decrypted German radio traffic containing plans of the operation. The Admiralty ordered the Grand Fleet, with 28 dreadnoughts and 9 battlecruisers, to sortie the night before, to cut off and destroy the High Seas Fleet.[34]

During the Battle of Jutland on 31 May, Beatty's battlecruisers managed to bait Scheer and Hipper into a pursuit as they fell back upon the main body of the Grand Fleet. After Jellicoe deployed his ships into line of battle, Erin was the fourth from the head of the line.[35] Scheer's manoeuvres after spotting the Grand Fleet were generally away from Jellicoe's leading ships, and the poor visibility hindered their ability to close with the Germans before Scheer could disengage under the cover of darkness. Opportunities to shoot during the battle were rare, and she only fired 6 six-inch shells from her secondary armament. Erin was the only British battleship not to fire her main guns during the battle.[36]

Subsequent activity

Erin making a smoke screen, as seen from a kite balloon

The Grand Fleet sortied on 18 August to ambush the High Seas Fleet while it advanced into the southern North Sea, but miscommunications and mistakes prevented Jellicoe from intercepting the German fleet before it returned to port. Two light cruisers were sunk by German U-boats during the operation, prompting Jellicoe to decide to not risk the major units of the fleet south of 55° 30' North due to the prevalence of German submarines and mines. The Admiralty concurred and stipulated that the Grand Fleet would not sortie unless the German fleet was attempting an invasion of Britain or that it could be forced into an engagement at a disadvantage.

rear-admiral on 26 April 1917, he was replaced by Captain Walter Ellerton.[38][39]

Erin underway with a kite balloon moored aft, 1918

In April 1918, the High Seas Fleet sortied against British convoys to Norway. Wireless silence was enforced, which prevented Room 40 cryptanalysts from warning the new commander of the Grand Fleet, Admiral Beatty. The British only learned of the operation after an accident aboard the battlecruiser SMS Moltke forced her to break radio silence and inform the German commander of her condition. Beatty ordered the Grand Fleet to sea to intercept the Germans, but he was not able to reach the High Seas Fleet before it turned back for Germany.[40] The ship was at Rosyth, Scotland, when the surrendered High Seas Fleet arrived on 21 November and she remained part of the 2nd BS through 1 March 1919.[41][42]

Postwar

Captain

3rd Battle Squadron of the Home Fleet.[44] In October, she was placed in reserve at the Nore but was stationed at Portland Harbour as of 18 November.[11][45] Richmond was relieved by Captain Percival Hall-Thompson on 1 December. Erin had returned to the Nore by January 1920 and became a gunnery training ship there by February.[46][47] By June, the ship had become flagship of Rear-Admiral Vivian Bernard, Rear-Admiral, Reserve Fleet, Nore.[48] In July–August 1920, she underwent a refit at Devonport Dockyard.[11] Through 18 December 1920, Erin remained Bernard's flagship and continued to serve as a gunnery training ship.[49] The Royal Navy had originally intended that she should be retained as a training ship under the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922, but a change of plan meant that this role was filled by Thunderer, so the ship was listed for disposal in May 1922. Erin was sold to the ship-breaking firm of Cox and Danks on 19 December and broken up at Queenborough the following year.[11]

Notes

  1. ^ Sources disagree on the number of each model of gun mounted on the ship, although everyone agrees that most of the guns fitted were Mk VI guns. Friedman claims that two Mk V guns were mounted and that doing so expedited the completion of the ship. Campbell says that she carried a Mk V gun for a time. Campbell and Friedman state the Mk V guns aboard Erin were provided with reduced powder charges to match the ballistic trajectories of the Mk VI guns.[4] Preston says that they were all Mk VI guns, while Parkes and Silverstone do not identify the exact types.[2][5]
  2. ^ "Cwt" is the abbreviation for hundredweight, 20 cwt referring to the weight of the gun.
  3. ^ Sources disagree regarding the initial name of the ship. Langensiepen and Güleryüz, in their history of the Ottoman Navy, state that her only name prior to the British seizure was Reşadiye and Silverstone agrees with them.[13][10]
  4. ^ In his 1919 book, Jellicoe generally named ships only when they were undertaking individual actions. Usually he referred to the Grand Fleet or by squadrons. Unless otherwise specified, this article assumes that Erin is participating in the activities of the Grand Fleet.[23]

Citations

  1. ^ Burt, p. 245
  2. ^ a b c d Preston, p. 36
  3. ^ a b Burt, p. 248
  4. ^ Friedman, p. 52; Campbell 1981, p. 97
  5. ^ Parkes, p. 597; Silverstone, pp. 192, 405
  6. ^ Burt, pp. 247–248, 252
  7. ^ Burt, pp. 252–253
  8. ^ Brooks, p. 168
  9. ^ Burt, pp. 253, 256
  10. ^ a b c Langensiepen & Güleryüz, p. 141
  11. ^ a b c d e f Burt, p. 256
  12. ^ Parkes, p. 599
  13. ^ a b Silverstone, p. 409
  14. ^ Langensiepen & Güleryüz, p. 29
  15. ^ Hastings, p. 115
  16. ^ Silverstone, p. 230
  17. ^ Fromkin, pp. 56–57
  18. ^ Hough, pp. 143–144
  19. ^ Fromkin, pp. 68—72
  20. ^ Fromkin, pp. 58–61, 67–72
  21. His Majesty's Stationery Office. 18 November 1914. p. 312. Archived
    from the original on 9 August 2016. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  22. ^ Jellicoe, pp. 129–133
  23. ^ Jellicoe, p. 129
  24. ^ Jellicoe, pp. 135–137, 143, 156, 158, 163–165, 179, 182–184
  25. ^ Jellicoe, p. 190
  26. ^ Monograph No. 12, p. 224
  27. ^ Jellicoe, pp. 194–196, 206, 211–212
  28. ^ Jellicoe, pp. 217–219, 221–222
  29. ^ Jellicoe, pp. 228, 243, 246, 250, 253
  30. ^ "Supplement to the Monthly Navy List Showing the Organisation of the Fleet, Flag Officer's Commands, &c". National Library of Scotland. London: Admiralty. September 1915. p. 10. Archived from the original on 25 June 2012. Retrieved 16 December 2017 – via Internet Archive.
  31. ^ "Supplement to the Monthly Navy List Showing the Organisation of the Fleet, Flag Officer's Commands, &c". National Library of Scotland. London: Admiralty. December 1915. p. 10. Archived from the original on 27 August 2016. Retrieved 16 December 2017 – via Internet Archive.
  32. ^ Jellicoe, pp. 271, 275, 279–280
  33. ^ Jellicoe, pp. 284, 286–290
  34. ^ Tarrant, pp. 54–55, 57–58
  35. ^ Corbett, frontispiece map and p. 428
  36. ^ Campbell 1986, pp. 96, 148, 197–198, 248, 273–274, 346, 358
  37. ^ Halpern, pp. 330–332
  38. ^ "Victor Albert Stanley". The Dreadnought Project. Archived from the original on 6 February 2018. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  39. ^ "The Navy List". National Library of Scotland. London: His Majesty's Stationery Office. 18 November 1918. p. 788. Retrieved 17 December 2017 – via Internet Archive.
  40. ^ Halpern, pp. 418–420
  41. ^ "Operation ZZ". The Dreadnought Project. Archived from the original on 17 October 2017. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  42. ^ "Supplement to the Monthly Navy List Showing the Organisation of the Fleet, Flag Officer's Commands, &c". National Library of Scotland. London: Admiralty. 1 March 1919. p. 10. Retrieved 17 December 2017 – via Internet Archive.
  43. ^ "The Navy List". National Library of Scotland. London: His Majesty's Stationery Office. 18 November 1919. p. 770. Retrieved 17 December 2017 – via Internet Archive.
  44. ^ "Supplement to the Monthly Navy List Showing the Organisation of the Fleet, Flag Officer's Commands, &c". National Library of Scotland. Admiralty. 1 May 1919. p. 5. Archived from the original on 23 June 2012. Retrieved 17 December 2017 – via Internet Archive.
  45. ^ "The Navy List". National Library of Scotland. London: His Majesty's Stationery Office. 18 November 1919. p. 709. Retrieved 17 December 2017 – via Internet Archive.
  46. ^ "The Navy List". National Library of Scotland. London: His Majesty's Stationery Office. January 1920. pp. 707, 770. Archived from the original on 27 August 2016. Retrieved 17 December 2017 – via Internet Archive.
  47. ^ "The Navy List". National Library of Scotland. London: His Majesty's Stationery Office. 18 November 1919. p. 770. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
  48. ^ "The Navy List". National Library of Scotland. London: His Majesty's Stationery Office. October 1920. pp. 695–6. Retrieved 17 December 2017 – via Internet Archive.
  49. ^ "The Navy List". National Library of Scotland. London: His Majesty's Stationery Office. 18 December 1920. pp. 695–6, 770–1. Retrieved 17 December 2017 – via Internet Archive.

References

External links

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