HMS Monmouth (1901)

Coordinates: 36°53′53″S 73°50′45″W / 36.89806°S 73.84583°W / -36.89806; -73.84583
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Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other ships with the same name, see HMS Monmouth.

Monmouth at anchor
History
United Kingdom
NameMonmouth
NamesakeMonmouthshire
BuilderLondon & Glasgow Shipbuilding, Govan
Laid down29 August 1899
Launched13 November 1901
Completed2 December 1903
FateSunk at the Battle of Coronel, 1 November 1914
General characteristics
Class and type
armoured cruiser
Displacement9,800 long tons (10,000 t) (normal)
Length463 ft 6 in (141.3 m) (o/a)
Beam66 ft (20.1 m)
Draught25 ft (7.6 m)
Installed power
Propulsion2 × shafts; 2 ×
triple-expansion steam engines
Speed23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph)
Complement678
Armament
Armour

HMS Monmouth was the

armoured cruisers built for the Royal Navy
in the first decade of the 20th century. The ships were also known as the County Cruisers (each being named after a British county).

She was assigned to the

Rear Admiral Christopher Cradock's squadron in their search for the German East Asia Squadron. 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
. Monmouth was lost with all hands.

Design and description

The Monmouths were intended to protect British merchant shipping from fast

kW) which was designed to give the ships a maximum speed of 23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph). Monmouth, however, was one of three of the ships of the class that failed to meet their designed speed.[1] She carried a maximum of 1,600 long tons (1,600 t) of coal and her complement consisted of 678 officers and ratings.[2]

The Monmouth-class ships' main armament consisted of fourteen

18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes.[1]

The ship's

amidships and two-inch (51 mm) forward. The armour of the gun turrets, their barbettes and the casemates was four inches thick. The protective deck armour ranged in thickness from 0.75–2 inches (19–51 mm) and the conning tower was protected by ten inches (254 mm) of armour.[5]

Construction and career

Monmouth c. 1902, while still fitting out
Monmouth leaving Esquimalt Harbour with Prince Fushimi, 1907

Monmouth, named for the

launched on 13 November 1901.[7] Her completion was delayed due to a collision with the liner Assyria in Glasgow harbour in late March 1902.[8] She arrived at Devonport in late August that year for trials, but was not finally completed and accepted until 2 December 1903,[1] when she was initially assigned to the 1st Cruiser Squadron of the Channel Fleet. She was briefly placed in reserve in Devonport at the end of January 1906, before being recommissioned in April for service on the China Station.[9] During 1913 Monmouth paid a courtesy visit to the German treaty port of Tsingtao on the Chinese Mainland.[10] Later in the same year she returned home and was assigned to the reserve Third Fleet.[11]

She was mobilised on 4 August 1914 with a crew of 738 personnel consisting of 570 ratings and 29 officers in addition to 25 members of the

colliers departed the following day, taking the shorter route through the Strait of Magellan.[15]

Battle of Coronel

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 1914 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.[16]

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 a distance 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.[17]

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 Monmouth. The German shooting was very accurate, with both armoured cruisers quickly scoring hits on their British counterparts while still outside six-inch gun range, starting fires on both ships. Cradock, knowing his only chance was to close the range, continued to do so despite the battering that Spee's ships inflicted. By 19:23 the range was almost half of that when the battle began and the British ships bore onwards. One shell from Gneisenau blew the roof off Monmouth's forward turret and started a fire, causing an ammunition explosion that completely blew the turret off the ship. Spee tried to open the range, fearing a torpedo attack, but the British were only 5,500 yards (5,000 m) away at 19:35. Severely damaged, Monmouth began to slow and veered out of line.[18]

Glasgow fought almost an entirely separate battle as the German armoured cruisers ignored her almost completely and she inconclusively dueled the light cruisers Leipzig and Dresden. Glasgow broke contact with the German squadron at 20:05 and discovered Monmouth, listing and down by the bow, having extinguished her fires, 10 minutes later. She was trying to turn north to put her stern to the heavy northerly swell and was taking water at the bow. There was little that Glasgow could do to assist the larger ship as the moonlight illuminated both ships and the Germans were searching for them.[19]

The light cruiser

capsized at 21:58, taking her entire crew of 734 men with her[20] as the seas were too rough to attempt any rescue effort.[21]

Notes

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

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b c d Roberts, p. 70
  2. ^ a b Friedman 2012, p. 336
  3. ^ Friedman 2011, p. 81
  4. ^ Friedman 2012, pp. 251–252, 260–261
  5. ^ McBride, p. 21
  6. ^ Silverstone, p. 252
  7. ^ "Naval & Military Intelligence". The Times. No. 36612. London. 14 November 1901. p. 9.
  8. ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36724. London. 25 March 1902. p. 9.
  9. ^ Preston, p. 12
  10. ^ Dixon, p55
  11. ^ Friedman 2012, p. 249
  12. ^ Massie, p. 203
  13. ^ "HMS Monmouth Roll of Honour". www.maritimequest.com. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  14. ^ Corbett, Vol. I, pp. 41, 43, 258, 309
  15. ^ Massie, pp. 210–219
  16. ^ Massie, pp. 221–224
  17. ^ Massie, pp. 223–228
  18. ^ Massie, pp. 228–230
  19. ^ Massie, pp. 232–233
  20. ^ "Battle of Coronel". World War 1 at Sea - Naval Battles in outline with Casualties etc. naval-history.net. 16 June 2023. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  21. ^ Massie, pp. 233–234; Silverstone, p. 252

Bibliography

External links

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