HMS King Alfred (1901)
_IWM_Q_021420.jpg) King Alfred during the First World War
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| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | HMS King Alfred |
| Namesake | Alfred the Great, King of Wessex |
| Builder | Vickers Limited, Barrow-in-Furness |
| Laid down | 11 August 1899 |
| Launched | 28 October 1901 |
| Christened | Countess of Lathom |
| Completed | 22 December 1903 |
| Fate | Sold for scrap, 30 January 1920 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | armoured cruiser |
| Displacement | 14,150 long tons (14,380 t) (normal) |
| Length | 533 ft 6 in (162.6 m) (o/a) |
| Beam | 71 ft 4 in (21.7 m) |
| Draught | 26 ft (7.9 m) |
| Installed power |
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| Propulsion |
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| Speed | 23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph) |
| Complement | 900 |
| Armament |
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| Armour | |
HMS King Alfred was one of four
Design and description
King Alfred was designed to
Her main armament consisted of two
By April 1918, the ship had all of the lower casemates for her six-inch guns plated over and six of them remounted on the upper deck so they could be used in heavy weather. Several twelve-pounders were removed to make room for the six-inch guns.[7]
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]
Construction and service
(bow).jpg)
King Alfred, named after
and was completed on 22 December 1903.After commissioning, she ran aground off Shoeburyness on 5 May 1905.[8] She became flagship of the China Station in 1906 and remained there until 1910. Upon her return home she was assigned to the reserve 2nd Fleet.[7] On 18 June 1910 King Alfred collided with the collier Cheapside off Start Point, Devon, sinking Cheapside, although King Alfred received little damage.[11][12][13] On 31 July 1913, King Alfred, which together with sister ships Good Hope and Drake and the light cruisers Active and Amphion, had left Grimsby that morning to take part in naval manoeuvres, collided with the Spanish steamer Umbre.Umbre sank within 75 minutes, with her crew rescued by King Alfred. The owners of Umbre took legal action for damages, and in the resultant court case, judgement was made in favour of Umbre's owners, with blame placed on King Alfred.[14][15]
When recommissioned in 1914, King Alfred was assigned to the 6th Cruiser Squadron, together with her
Notes
- ^ "Cwt" is the abbreviation for hundredweight, 12 cwt referring to the weight of the gun.
Footnotes
- ^ a b c d Chesneau & Kolesnik, p. 69
- ^ a b Friedman 2012, p. 336
- ^ Friedman 2011, pp. 71–72
- ^ Friedman 2012, pp. 243, 260–61
- ^ Friedman 2011, pp. 80–81
- ^ Friedman 2012, pp. 250, 336
- ^ a b Friedman 2012, p. 283
- ^ a b c Silverstone, p. 247
- ^ "Naval & Military Intelligence - Launch of the King Alfred". The Times. No. 36598. London. 29 October 1901. p. 8.
- ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36789. London. 9 June 1902. p. 12.
- ^ "Naval Matters – Past and Prospective: Devonport Dockyard". The Marine Engineer and Naval Architect. Vol. 33. August 1910. p. 11.
- ^ "SS Cheapside [+1910]". Wrecksite. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
- ^ "Cheapside". Clyde Built Ships. Caledonian Maritime Research Trust. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
- ^ "H.M.S. King Alfred in Collision: Spanish Steamer Sunk". The Times. No. 40279. 1 August 1913. p. 8.
- ^ "High Court Of Justice. Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division". The Times. No. 40374. 20 November 1913. p. 20.
- ^ Goldrick, p. 25
- ^ Gardiner & Gray, p. 12
- ^ Corbett, Vol. III, pp. 267–68
- ^ Newbolt, Vol. IV, pp. 177, 181, 184, 191
- ^ a b Transcript
- ^ "Ships hit during WWI HMS King Alfred". Uboat.net. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
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.
- Corbett, Julian (1997). Naval Operations. History of the Great War: Based on Official Documents. Vol. III (reprint of the 1940 second ed.). London and Nashville, Tennessee: Imperial War Museum in association with the Battery Press. ISBN 1-870423-50-X.
- 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.
- Newbolt, Henry (1996). Naval Operations. History of the Great War Based on Official Documents. Vol. IV (reprint of the 1928 ed.). Nashville, Tennessee: Battery Press. ISBN 0-89839-253-5.
- "Transcript: HMS KING ALFRED - September 1915 to May 1918, Central & North Atlantic, British waters". Royal Navy Log Books of the World War 1 Era. Naval-History.net. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
- Silverstone, Paul H. (1984). Directory of the World's Capital Ships. New York: Hippocrene Books. ISBN 0-88254-979-0.
External links
Media related to HMS King Alfred at Wikimedia Commons
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in April 1918 | |
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| Other incidents |
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