HMS Hermes (1898)

	HMS Hermes at anchor, Dar es Salaam, German East Africa, before 1913
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Hermes
Namesake	Hermes
Ordered	1897
Builder	Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering, Govan
Laid down	30 April 1897
Launched	7 April 1898
Christened	Lady Kelvin
Completed	5 October 1899
Reclassified	Fitted to carry seaplanes in 1913
Fate	Sunk by U-27, 31 October 1914
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type	Highflyer-class protected cruiser
Displacement	5,650 long tons (5,740 t)
Length	350 ft (110 m) (pp.); 372 ft (113 m) (o/a);
Beam	54 ft (16.5 m)
Draught	21 ft 6 in (6.6 m)
Installed power	10,000 ihp (7,500 kW); 18 × Belleville boilers;
Propulsion	2 × shafts; 2 × 4-cylinder triple-expansion steam engines;
Speed	20 kn (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Complement	470
Armament	11 × single QF 6 in (152 mm) guns; 8 × single QF 12-pounder 12 cwt guns; 6 × single QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss guns; 2 × single 18 in (45 cm) torpedo tubes;
Armour	Deck: 1.5–3 in (38–76 mm); Gun shields: 3 in (76 mm); Conning tower: 6 in (152 mm); Engine hatches: 5 in (127 mm);

HMS Hermes was a

Straits of Dover

that October, with the loss of 21 lives.

Design and description

Hermes was designed to

Belleville boilers.^[1] She carried a maximum of 1,125 long tons (1,143 t) of coal and her complement consisted of 470 officers and ratings.^[2]

Her main armament consisted of 11

18-inch torpedo tubes.^[1]

The ship's protective deck armour ranged in thickness from 1.5 to 3 inches (38 to 76 mm). The engine hatches were protected by 5-inch (127 mm) of armour. The main guns were fitted with 3-inch gun shields and the conning tower had armour 6 inches thick.^[1]

Construction and service

Hermes, named after the Greek god

Babcock & Wilcox boilers. The work was undertaken by Harland & Wolff at Belfast, where she arrived from Devonport in May 1902, in tow of the special service vessel HMS Traveller.^[11]

She was assigned to the Channel Fleet until 1905 when she was reduced to reserve at

Nore Command the next month.^[12]

Work began to modify her to accommodate three seaplanes in April to evaluate the use of aircraft in support of the fleet. Her forward 6-inch gun was removed and a

petrol in tins.^[13]

Hermes was recommissioned on 7 May and loaded two unknown aircraft on 5 July, making nine flights with them before 14 July. For the trials she initially used a

John Jellicoe. The Folder could only carry a small wireless transmitter because of weight limits and it would be launched to search for enemy ships and report back to Hermes which would retransmit its message with its more powerful transmitter. The aircraft made a total of about 30 flights before 6 October. The tests showed that aircraft required radio transmitters to usefully perform reconnaissance, that sustained use of aircraft at sea was possible and that handling aircraft aboard ship and on the sea imposed their own set of requirements that could not be met by converted land-based aircraft.^[14]

The ship was paid off on 30 December,[13] but was recommissioned on 31 August 1914. Assigned to the Nore Command, she was used to ferry aircraft and stores to France.^[15] It is uncertain if the flying-off platform was reinstalled.^[16] On 30 October she arrived at Dunkirk with one load of seaplanes. The next morning, Hermes set out on the return journey but was recalled because a German submarine was reported in the area.^[17] Despite zigzagging at a speed of 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph), she was torpedoed by U-27 at a range of 300 yards (270 m).^[18] Hermes sank off Ruylingen Bank in the Straits of Dover with the loss of 21 of her crew.^[19] Her wreck lies upside down in approximately 30 metres (98 ft) of water at coordinates 51°06′18″N 1°50′18″E / 51.10500°N 1.83833°E / 51.10500; 1.83833.^[20] In January 2017, two English divers were charged with failing to declare items removed from the wreck of Hermes, in contravention of the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986.^[21]

Notes

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

Footnotes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Chesneau & Kolesnik, p. 79
^ ^a ^b Friedman 2012, p. 336
^ Friedman 2011, p. 87
^ Friedman 2012, p. 171
^ Friedman 2011, pp. 87–88
^ Silverstone, p. 238
^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 35485. London. 8 April 1898. p. 5.
^ "Naval & Military Intelligence". The Times. No. 36045. London. 22 January 1900. p. 6.
^ "Naval & Military Intelligence". The Times. No. 36082. London. 6 March 1900. p. 11.
^ "Naval & Military Intelligence". The Times. No. 36090. London. 15 March 1900. p. 7.
^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36764. London. 10 May 1902. p. 8.
^ Hobbs, p. 18
^ ^a ^b Friedman 1988, p. 28
^ Friedman 1988, p. 28; Hobbs, pp. 16–17; Layman, pp. 35, 37
^ Gardiner & Gray, p. 16
^ Friedman 1988, p. 30
^ Corbett, p. 234
^ Goldrick, p. 152
^ Roll of Honour, list of casualties
^ "HMS Hermes (+1914)". Wrecksite.eu. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
^ Whiteside, Philip (30 January 2017). "Two charged over items taken from protected WWI wreck". news.sky.com. Sky plc. Retrieved 1 February 2017.

Bibliography

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
.

Friedman, Norman (1988). British Carrier Aviation: The Evolution of the Ships and Their Aircraft. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.
ISBN 0-87021-054-8
.

Friedman, Norman (2012). British Cruisers of the Victorian Era. Barnsley, South Yorkshire, UK: Seaforth.
ISBN 978-1-59114-068-9
.

Friedman, Norman (2011). Naval Weapons of World War One. Barnsley, South Yorkshire, UK: Seaforth.
ISBN 978-1-84832-100-7
.

Gardiner, Robert & Gray, Randal, eds. (1985). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.
ISBN 0-85177-245-5
.

Goldrick, James (1984). The King's Ships Were at Sea: The War in the North Sea August 1914–February 1915. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.
ISBN 0-87021-334-2
.

Hobbs, David (2013). British Aircraft Carriers: Design, Development and Service Histories. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing.
ISBN 978-1-84832-138-0
.

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

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

[ck8-2] Chesneau & Kolesnik, p. 79

[f6-3] Friedman 2012, p. 336

[4] Friedman 2011, p. 87

[5] Friedman 2012, p. 171

[6] Friedman 2011, pp. 87–88

[s7-7] Silverstone, p. 238

[8] "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 35485. London. 8 April 1898. p. 5.

[9] "Naval & Military Intelligence". The Times. No. 36045. London. 22 January 1900. p. 6.

[10] "Naval & Military Intelligence". The Times. No. 36082. London. 6 March 1900. p. 11.

[11] "Naval & Military Intelligence". The Times. No. 36090. London. 15 March 1900. p. 7.

[12] "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36764. London. 10 May 1902. p. 8.

[h8-13] Hobbs, p. 18

[f8-14] Friedman 1988, p. 28

[15] Friedman 1988, p. 28; Hobbs, pp. 16–17; Layman, pp. 35, 37

[16] Gardiner & Gray, p. 16

[17] Friedman 1988, p. 30

[18] Corbett, p. 234

[19] Goldrick, p. 152

[Roll-20] Roll of Honour, list of casualties

[21] "HMS Hermes (+1914)". Wrecksite.eu. Retrieved 10 March 2014.

[22] Whiteside, Philip (30 January 2017). "Two charged over items taken from protected WWI wreck". news.sky.com. Sky plc. Retrieved 1 February 2017.

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Highflyer-class cruisers
Hermes Highflyer Hyacinth
Preceded by: Pelorus class Followed by: Challenger class
List of cruisers of the Royal Navy

v t e Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in October 1914
Shipwrecks	6 Oct: SMS S116 10 Oct: Alma A. E. Holmes 11 Oct: Pallada 15 Oct: HMS Hawke 17 Oct: HMS Holland 4, Takachiho, SMS S115, SMS S119 18 Oct: HMS E3 20 Oct: Glitra 27 Oct: HMS Audacious 28 Oct: Mousquet, Zhemchug 29 Oct: SMS Tiger 30 Oct: HMHS Rohilla 31 Oct: HMS Hermes
Other incidents	10 Oct: Akula, Wasgenwald 17 Oct: Noordam. Ophelia
1913 1914 1915 September 1914 November 1914