HMS Good Hope (1901)

Coordinates: 36°59′1″S 73°48′49″W / 36.98361°S 73.81361°W / -36.98361; -73.81361
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For other ships with the same name, see HMS Good Hope.

Good Hope before 1914
History
United Kingdom
NameGood Hope
BuilderFairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering, Govan
Laid down11 September 1899
Launched21 February 1901
ChristenedEthel Elgar
Completed8 November 1902
FateSunk at the Battle of Coronel, 1 November 1914
General characteristics
Class and type
armoured cruiser
Displacement14,150 long tons (14,380 t) (normal)
Length533 ft 6 in (162.6 m) (o/a)
Beam71 ft 4 in (21.7 m)
Draught26 ft (7.9 m)
Installed power
  • 30,000 ihp (22,000 kW)
  • 43 ×
    Belleville boilers
Propulsion
  • 2 × shafts
  • 2 ×
    triple-expansion steam engines
Speed23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph)
Complement900
Armament
Armour

HMS Good Hope was one of four

2nd Cruiser Squadron in 1908. She was reduced to reserve
in 1913, but was recommissioned in mid-1914.

When war was declared in August 1914, Good Hope was ordered to reinforce the

commerce raiders
.

He was then ordered further south to the Strait of Magellan to block any attempt of the German East Asia Squadron to penetrate into the South Atlantic. He found the German squadron on 1 November off the coast of Chile. The German squadron outnumbered Cradock's force and were individually more powerful; they sank Cradock's two armoured cruisers in the Battle of Coronel, both, including Good Hope, being lost with all hands.

Design and description

Good Hope was designed to

Belleville boilers.[1] She carried a maximum of 2,500 long tons (2,500 t) of coal and her complement consisted of 900 officers and ratings.[2]

Her main armament consisted of two

breech-loading (BL) 9.2-inch (234 mm) Mk X guns in single gun turrets, one each fore and aft of the superstructure.[2] Her secondary armament of sixteen BL 6-inch Mk VII guns was arranged in casemates amidships. Eight of these were mounted on the main deck and were only usable in calm weather.[3] A dozen quick-firing (QF) 12-pounder 12 cwt guns were fitted for defence against torpedo boats. Two additional 12-pounder 8 cwt guns could be dismounted for service ashore.[4] Good Hope also carried three 3-pounder Hotchkiss guns and two submerged 17.72-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes.[1]

The ship's waterline armour belt had a maximum thickness of 6 inches (152 mm) and was closed off by 5-inch (127 mm) transverse bulkheads. The armour of the gun turrets and their barbettes was 6 inches thick while the casemate armour was 5 inches thick. The protective deck armour ranged in thickness from 1–2.5 inches (25–64 mm) and the conning tower was protected by 12 inches (305 mm) of armour.[1]

Service

Good Hope in Table Bay, by Charles Dixon

Good Hope, named after the

laid down on 11 September 1899 with the name of Africa[5] by Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering at their Govan shipyard.[1] She was renamed Good Hope on 2 October and launched on 21 February 1901, when she was formally named by Mrs. (Ethel) Elgar, wife of Francis Elgar, manager of the shipbuilding company.[6][5] She arrived in Portsmouth to be completed and armed in late December 1901.[7] Captain Charles Edward Madden was appointed in command for her first commission on 8 November 1902.[8]

She was to be commissioned as

Simon's Town before returning home along the West Coast of Africa.[11] After her return in February, she joined her sister ship HMS Drake cruising with the Mediterranean squadron until May 1903.[12]

In 1906 she became the flagship of the 1st Cruiser Squadron, Atlantic Fleet and was the flagship of the 2nd Cruiser Squadron when she visited South Africa two years later. Good Hope was placed in reserve in 1913.[13]

Good Hope was re-commissioned in mid-1914 with a crew composed mainly of

midshipmen to assist Cradock with his command. They would become the first Royal Canadian Navy casualties of the First World War.[14]

Cradock's command was despatched to the coast of South America later that month at his own suggestion to better hunt for the German ships preying upon British merchant ships. Good Hope was coaled at the

Graf Maximilian von Spee, in the vicinity of Cape Horn and the Strait of Magellan in accordance to his orders from the Admiralty.[18]

At the end of September, Cradock made his first fruitless search of the

colliers departed the following day, taking the shorter route through the Strait of Magellan.[19]

Battle of Coronel

HMS Good Hope plaque, CFB Halifax
Main article: Battle of Coronel

Good Hope rendezvoused with the rest of the squadron at Vallenar Roads in the remote Chonos Archipelago of Chile on 27 October to recoal. They departed two days later, just as Canopus arrived, Cradock ordering the battleship to follow as soon as possible. He sent the light cruiser Glasgow to scout ahead and to enter Coronel, Chile, to pick up any messages from the Admiralty and acquire intelligence regarding German activities. The cruiser began to pick up German radio signals from the light cruiser SMS Leipzig on the afternoon of 29 October, and delayed entering Coronel for two days with Cradock's permission to avoid being trapped by the fast German ships. A German supply ship was already there and radioed Spee that Glasgow had entered the harbour around twilight. The cruiser departed on the morning of 1 November, but Spee had already made plans to catch her when informed of her presence the previous evening.[20]

Glasgow departed Coronel at 09:15 after having picked up the squadron's mail and rendezvoused with the rest of the squadron four hours later. Cradock ordered his ships to form line abreast with an interval of 15 nautical miles (28 km; 17 mi) between ships to maximise visibility at 13:50, and steered north at a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph). At 16:17 Leipzig spotted Glasgow, the easternmost British ship, to its west and she spotted Leipzig's

armed merchant cruiser Otranto, and he opened up the range to 18,000 yards (16,000 m) until conditions changed to suit him. The sun set at 18:50, which silhouetted the British ships against the light sky while the German ships became indistinguishable from the shoreline behind them.[21]

Spee immediately turned to close and signalled his ships to open fire at 19:04 when the range closed to 12,300 yards (11,200 m). Spee's flagship, Scharnhorst, engaged Good Hope while Gneisenau fired at

midshipmen aboard the ship were the first casualties of the newly formed Royal Canadian Navy.[24]

Notable commanding officers

Notes

  1. ^ "Cwt" is the abbreviation for hundredweight, 12 cwt referring to the weight of the gun.

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b c d Chesneau & Kolesnik, p. 69
  2. ^ a b Friedman, p. 336
  3. ^ Friedman, pp. 243, 260–61
  4. ^ Friedman, pp. 250, 336
  5. ^ a b Silverstone, p. 235
  6. ^ "Naval & Military intelligence - Launch of the Good Hope and the Bacchante". The Times. No. 36385. London. 22 February 1901. p. 10.
  7. ^ "Naval & Military Intelligence". The Times. No. 36645. London. 23 December 1901. p. 8.
  8. ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36918. London. 6 November 1902. p. 9.
  9. ^ "Mr. Chamberlain′s visit to South Africa". The Times. No. 36911. London. 29 October 1902. p. 3.
  10. ^ "Mr. Chamberlain´s visit to South Africa". The Times. No. 36933. London. 24 November 1902. p. 6.
  11. ^ "Mr. Chamberlain′s Departure - Itiniary". The Times. No. 36935. London. 26 November 1902. p. 10.
  12. ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36983. London. 21 January 1903. p. 8.
  13. ^ Gardiner & Gray, p. 12
  14. ^ "HMS Good Hope -- Canadian Midshipmen". Lives of the First World War. Imperial War Museums. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  15. ^ Record of Service of the Bermuda Militia Artillery (Report). British Army. B.M.A. at Ireland Island did good work assisting in coaling warships during the first six months of mobilization and received the thanks of the Admiralty (Having coaled the "Good Hope" on her last a fatal trip.)
  16. ^ "HMS Good Hope -- West Indian "native" stokers". Lives of the First World War. Imperial War Museums. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  17. ^ "War Memorial in Castries, St. Lucia". Lives of the First World War. Imperial War Museums. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  18. ^ Corbett, pp. 40, 51, 257, 261, 309–10
  19. ^ Massie, pp. 210–19
  20. ^ Massie, pp. 221–24
  21. ^ Massie, pp. 223–28
  22. ^ Massie, pp. 228–30, 236
  23. ^ "Battle of Coronel". World War 1 at Sea - Naval Battles in outline with Casualties etc. naval-history.net. 30 October 2013. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  24. ^ First Canadian Casualties in the RCN
  25. ^ "Vice-Admiral Sir C. D. Carpendale" (obituary) in The Times dated 23 March 1968, Issue 57208, column F, p. 10

Bibliography

External links

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