HMS Inflexible (1907)
Inflexible in New York City, 1909
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History | |
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United Kingdom | |
Name | Inflexible |
Ordered | 1905 |
Builder | John Brown & Company, Clyde |
Laid down | 5 February 1906 |
Launched | 26 June 1907[1] |
Commissioned | 20 October 1908[2] |
Stricken | 31 March 1920 |
Fate | Scrapped, 1922 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Invincible-class battlecruiser |
Displacement | |
Length |
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Beam | 78 ft 10.13 in (24.0317 m) |
Draught | 29 ft 9 in (9.07 m) (deep load) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion | 4 × shafts; 2 × direct-drive steam turbine sets |
Speed | 26.48 knots (49 km/h; 30 mph) (trials) |
Range | 3,090 nmi (5,720 km; 3,560 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
Complement | 784 |
Armament |
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Armour |
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HMS Inflexible was one of three
Design
The Invincible-class ships were formally known as armoured cruisers until 1911 when they were redesignated as battlecruisers by an Admiralty order of 24 November 1911. Unofficially a number of designations were used until then, including cruiser-battleship, dreadnought cruiser and battle-cruiser.[3]
General characteristics
Inflexible was significantly larger than her
Propulsion
Inflexible had two paired sets of Parsons direct-drive turbines, each of which was housed in a separate engine-room and drove an outboard and inboard shaft. The high-pressure ahead and astern turbines were coupled to the outboard shafts and the low-pressure turbines to the inner shafts. A cruising turbine was also coupled to each inner shaft; these were not used often and were eventually disconnected. The turbines were powered by thirty-one
Armament
Inflexible mounted eight
Her
Armour
The armour protection given to the Invincibles was heavier than that of the Minotaurs; their waterline belt measured 6 in (152 mm) amidships in contrast to the 4 in (102 mm) belt of their predecessors. The belt was 6 inches thick roughly between the fore and aft 12-inch gun turrets, but was reduced to four inches from the fore turret to the bow, but did not extend aft of the rear turret. The gun turrets and barbettes were protected by 7 in (178 mm) of armour, except for the turret roofs which used 3 in (76 mm) of Krupp non-cemented armour (KNC). The thickness of the main deck was 1–2 in (25–51 mm) and the lower deck armour was 1.5–2.5 in (38–64 mm). Mild steel torpedo bulkheads of 2.5-inch thickness were fitted abreast the magazines and shell rooms.[11]
After the Battle of Jutland revealed her vulnerability to plunging shellfire, additional armour was added in the area of the magazines and to the turret roofs. The exact thickness is not known, but it was unlikely to be thick as the total amount was less than 100 long tons (102 t).[12]
Construction and career
She was authorized in the naval expansion program of 1905, and built at the
First World War
Pursuit of Goeben and Breslau
On the outbreak of the
The Germans sortied from Messina on 6 August and headed east, towards
Battle of the Falklands
The West Indies Squadron of
Spee – making a leisurely voyage back to the Atlantic – wished to destroy the radio station at Port Stanley, so he sent the armoured cruiser SMS Gneisenau and the light cruiser Nürnberg to see if the harbor was clear of British warships on the morning of 8 December. They were spotted at 07:30, although the pre-dreadnought Canopus, grounded in Stanley Harbor to defend the town and its wireless station, did not receive the signal until 07:45. It mattered little because Sturdee was not expecting an engagement and most of his ships were coaling. Furthermore, the armoured cruiser Cornwall and the light cruiser Bristol had one or both of their engines under repair. The armed merchant cruiser Macedonian was patrolling the outer harbor entrance while the armoured cruiser Kent was anchored in the outer harbor, scheduled to relieve the Macedonian at 08:00. The Germans were not expecting any resistance and the first salvo from Canopus's guns at 09:20 caused them to sheer off from their planned bombardment of the wireless station and fall back on Spee's main body.[19]
Sturdee's ships did not sortie from the harbor until 09:50, but they could see the retreating German ships on the southwest horizon. The Invincibles, fresh out of dry dock, had a 5 knots (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph) advantage over Spee's ships which all had fouled bottoms that limited their speeds to 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) at best. The light cruiser Leipzig was lagging behind the other ships and Inflexible opened fire on her when the range dropped to 17,500 yards (16,000 m) at 12:55. Invincible opened fire shortly afterwards and both ships began straddling Leipzig as the range closed to 13,000 yards (12,000 m). At 13:20, Spee ordered his squadron to separate and ordered his light cruisers to turn to the southwest while his armoured cruisers turned to the north east to cover their retreat. The German ships opened fire first at 13:30 and scored their first hit at 13:44 when SMS Scharnhorst hit Invincible, although the shell burst harmlessly on the belt armour. Both sides fired rapidly during the first half-hour of the engagement before Sturdee opened up the range a little to put his ships outside the effective range of the German guns. British gunnery was very poor during this period, scoring only four hits out of 210 rounds fired. The primary cause was the smoke from the guns and funnels as the British were downwind of the Germans.[20]
Spee turned to the south in the hope of disengaging while the British had their vision obscured, but only opened the range to 17,000 yards (16,000 m) before the British saw his course change. This was futile as the British battlecruisers gave chase at 24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph). Forty minutes later, the British opened fire again at 15,000 yards (14,000 m). Eight minutes later, Spee turned again to the east to give battle; this time, his strategy was to close the range on the British ships so he could bring his 15 cm (5.9 in) secondary armament to bear. He was successful, and they were able to open fire at 15:00 at maximum elevation. On this course, the smoke bothered both sides, but multiple hits were made regardless. Those made by the Germans either failed to detonate or hit in some insignificant area. On the contrary, Gneisenau had her starboard engine room put out of action. Sturdee ordered his ships at 15:15 back across their own wakes to gain the windward advantage. Spee turned to the northwest, as if to attempt to cross the British T, but actually to bring Scharnhorst's undamaged starboard guns to bear as most of those on his port side were out of action. The British continued to hit Scharnhorst and Gneisenau regularly during this time and Scharnhorst ceased fire at 16:00 before capsizing at 16:17 with no survivors. Gneisenau had been slowed by earlier damage and was battered for another hour and a half by Inflexible and Invincible at ranges down to 4,000 yards (3,700 m). Despite the damage her crew continued to fire back until she ceased firing at 16:47. Sturdee was ready to order 'Cease fire' at 17:15 when an ammunition hoist was freed up and she made her last shot. The British continued to pound her until 17:50, after her captain had given the order to scuttle her at 17:40. She slowly capsized at 18:00 and the British were able to rescue 176 men.[21] She had fired 661 twelve-inch shells during the battle[17] and had only been hit three times because she was often obscured by Invincible's smoke. Only one man was killed and five wounded aboard the battlecruisers during the battle.[22][23]
Dardanelles Campaign
After the Battle of the Falklands Inflexible was repaired and refitted at
Battle of Jutland
At the end of May 1916, the 3rd BCS was temporarily assigned to the Grand Fleet for gunnery practice. On 30 May, the entire Grand Fleet, along with Admiral Beatty's battlecruisers, was ordered to sea to prepare for an excursion by the German High Seas Fleet. In order to support Beatty, Admiral Hood took his three battlecruisers ahead of the Grand Fleet. At about 14:30,[Note 1] Invincible intercepted a radio message from the light cruiser Galatea, attached to Beatty's Battlecruiser Force, reporting the sighting of two enemy cruisers. This was amplified by other reports of seven enemy ships steering north. Hood interpreted this as an attempt to escape through the Skagerrak and ordered an increase in speed to 22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph) at 15:11 and steered East-Southeast to cut off the fleeing ships. Twenty minutes later, Invincible intercepted a message from Beatty reporting five enemy battlecruisers in sight and later signals reporting that he was engaging the enemy on a south-easterly course. At 16:06, Hood ordered full speed and a course of south-southeast in an attempt to converge on Beatty. At 16:56, with no British ships in sight, Hood requested Beatty's course, position and speed, but he never received a reply.[27]
Hood continued on course until 17:40, when gunfire was spotted in the direction to which his light cruiser Chester had been dispatched to investigate other gunfire flashes. Chester encountered four light cruisers of Hipper's 2nd Scouting Group and was badly damaged before Hood turned to investigate and was able to drive the German cruisers away. At 17:53, Invincible opened fire on Wiesbaden; the other two Invincibles followed two minutes later. The German ships turned for the south after fruitlessly firing torpedoes at 18:00 and attempted to find shelter in the mist. As they turned, Invincible hit Wiesbaden in the engine room and knocked out her engines while Inflexible hit Pillau once. The 2nd Scouting Group was escorted by the light cruiser Regensburg and 31 destroyers of the 2nd and 9th Flotillas and the 12th Half-Flotilla which attacked the 3rd BCS in succession. They were driven off by Hood's remaining light cruiser Canterbury and the five destroyers of his escort. In a confused action, the Germans only launched 12 torpedoes and disabled the destroyer Shark with gunfire. Having turned due west to close on Beatty's ships, the Invincibles were broadside to the oncoming torpedoes, but Invincible turned north, while Inflexible and Indomitable turned south to present their narrowest profile to the torpedoes. All the torpedoes missed, although one passed underneath Inflexible without detonating. As Invincible turned north, her helm jammed and she had to come to a stop to fix the problem, but this was quickly done and the squadron reformed heading west.[28]
At 18:21, with both Beatty and the Grand Fleet converging on him, Hood turned south to lead Beatty's battlecruisers. Hipper's battlecruisers were 9,000 yards (8.2 km) away and the Invincibles almost immediately opened fire on Hipper's flagship, Lützow, and Derfflinger. Lützow quickly took ten hits from Lion, Inflexible and Invincible, including two hits below the waterline forward by Invincible that would ultimately doom her.[29] But at 18:30, Invincible abruptly appeared as a clear target before Lützow and Derfflinger. The two German ships then fired three salvoes each at Invincible, and sank her in 90 seconds. A 305 mm (12-inch) shell from the third salvo struck the roof of Invincible's midships 'Q' turret, flash detonated the magazines below, and the ship blew up and broke in two, killing all but six of her crew of 1,032 officers and men, including Rear-Admiral Hood.[30]
Inflexible and Indomitable remained in company with Beatty for the rest of the battle. They encountered Hipper's battlecruisers only 10,000 yards (9.1 km) away as the sun was setting about 8:19 and opened fire. Seydlitz was hit five times before the German battlecruisers were rescued by the appearance of the pre-dreadnought battleships of Rear Admiral Mauve and the British shifted fire to the new threat. Three of the predreadnoughts were hit before they too were able to turn into the gloom.[31]
Post-Jutland career
The loss of three battlecruisers at Jutland (the others were
The end of the war saw the end for many of the older vessels, not least the two remaining Invincible-class ships. Inflexible was paid off to the Reserve Fleet in January 1919 before being decommissioned on 31 March 1920. Chile briefly considered purchasing the ship in 1920, however the sale did not materialise. She was sold for scrap on 1 December 1921, and scrapped in Germany the following year.[14] Mount Inflexible in the Canadian Rockies was named after the battlecruiser in 1917.[33][34]
Notes
References
- ^ a b The Times (London), Wednesday, 26 June 1907, p. 13
- ^ a b The Times (London), Wednesday, 21 October 1908, p. 12
- ^ Roberts, pp. 24–25
- ^ Roberts, pp. 43–44
- ^ Roberts, pp. 70–75
- ^ Roberts, pp. 76, 80
- ^ Roberts, p. 76
- ^ a b Preston, p. 24
- ^ Roberts, pp. 96–97
- ^ a b Roberts, p. 83
- ^ Roberts, pp. 109, 112
- ^ Burt, p. 48
- ^ Roberts, p. 41
- ^ a b c d e f Roberts, p. 122
- ^ Massie, p. 39
- ^ Massie, pp. 45–46
- ^ a b Preston, p. 25
- ^ Massie, pp. 248–251
- ^ Massie, pp. 254–261
- ^ Massie, pp. 261–266
- ^ Massie, pp. 261–273
- ^ Massie, p. 280
- ^ HMS Inflexible ship's log and after action report.
- ISBN 1-84067-531-4.
- ^ The Inflexibles ship log for March 1915
- ^ Burt, pp. 56–57
- ^ Tarrant, pp. 98–99
- ^ Tarrant, pp. 103–105
- ^ Campbell, p. 183
- ^ Campbell, p. 159
- ^ Campbell, pp. 252–254, 272
- ^ Burt, p. 57
- ^ "Mount Inflexible". cdnrockiesdatabases.ca. Retrieved 16 December 2009.
- ^ Place-names of Alberta. Ottawa: Geographic Board of Canada. 1928. p. 67.
Bibliography
- Burt, R. A. (1986). British Battleships of World War One. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-863-8.
- Campbell, John (1986). Jutland: An Analysis of the Fighting. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-324-5.
- Johnston, Ian & Buxton, Ian (2013). The Battleship Builders – Constructing and Arming British Capital Ships. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-027-6.
- ISBN 0-679-45671-6.
- ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
- Johnston, Ian (2011). Clydebank Battlecruisers: Forgotten Photographs from John Brown's Shipyard (Hardcover). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1591141204.
- Roberts, John (1997). Battlecruisers. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-068-1.
- Tarrant, V. E. (1986). Battlecruiser Invincible: The History of the First Battlecruiser, 1909–16. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-147-1.
- From the Royal Navy log book for HMS Inflexible, 7 and 8 December 1914. Transcribed by the Old Weather[?] project. The Inflexible's ship log and captain's after action report have been transcribed and are available at this link.
- From the Royal Navy log book for HMS Inflexible, 18 to 21 March 1915. Transcribed by the Old Weather[?] project. The Inflexible's ship log have been transcribed and are available at this link.
External links
- "HMS Inflexible Photo Gallery". MaritimeQuest. Retrieved 27 December 2006.
- "Royal Navy Log Books – HMS Inflexible". naval-history.net. Retrieved 3 January 2014.OldWeather.org transcription of ship's logbooks October 1914 to March 1915
- Battle of Jutland Crew Lists Project – HMS Inflexible Crew List