HMS Queen (1902)

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For other ships with the same name, see HMS Queen.

HMS Queen, c. 1909
History
United Kingdom
NameHMS Queen
BuilderDevonport Dockyard
Laid down12 March 1901
Launched8 March 1902
CompletedMarch 1904
Commissioned7 April 1904
DecommissionedNovember 1919
Fate
Broken up
, 1921
General characteristics
Class and typeLondon-class battleship
Displacement
Length431 ft 9 in (131.6 m) o/a
Beam75 ft (22.9 m)
Draught26 ft (7.9 m)
Installed power
Propulsion
  • 2 ×
    triple-expansion steam engines
  • 2 ×
    screw propellers
Speed18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)
Complement714
Armament
  • 4 ×
    BL 12-inch (305-mm) Mk IX guns
  • 12 ×
    BL 6 in (152 mm) Mk VII guns
  • 14 ×
    QF 12-pounder guns
  • 6 ×
    QF 3-pounder guns
  • 4 ×
    18-inch (457-mm) submerged torpedo tubes
Armour

HMS Queen was a member of the

Atlantic Fleet, the Home Fleet, and finally the 5th Battle Squadron of the Second Fleet
in 1914.

After the outbreak of the

broken up
the following year.

Design

Main article: London-class battleship
Line-drawing of the Formidable class; the Londons were identical in appearance

The five ships of the London class were ordered in 1898 in response to increased naval construction for the

belt armour, the belt was carried further forward and gradually tapered in thickness. Deck armour was also strengthened.[1] Due to slight differences between the last two members of the class—Queen and Prince of Wales—and the rest of the London-class ships, these vessels are sometimes referred to as the Queen class.[2]

Queen was 431 feet 9 inches (131.60 m)

amidships. The Formidable-class ships had a top speed of 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) from 15,000 indicated horsepower (11,000 kW).[3]

Queen had a

18-inch (457 mm) torpedo tubes submerged in the hull. The tubes were placed on the broadside, abreast of the main battery barbettes.[3][4]

Queen had an armoured belt that was 9 inches (229 mm) thick; the transverse bulkheads on the aft end of the belt was 9 to 12 in (229 to 305 mm) thick. Her main battery turrets sides were 8 to 10 in (203 to 254 mm) thick, atop 12 in (305 mm) barbettes, and the casemate battery was protected with 6 in of Krupp steel. Her conning tower had 14 in (356 mm) thick sides as well. She was fitted with two armoured decks, 1 and 2.5 in (25 and 64 mm) thick, respectively.[3]

Service history

Pre-World War I

HMS Queen was

Queen Alexandra on 8 March 1902, in the presence of King Edward VII. It was the first major public event attended by the couple since the end of the mourning period after Edward VII's accession the previous year.[6] The ship was completed in March 1904.[7]

HMS Queen was

Portsmouth.[7]

World War I

When

armoured cruisers, which ultimately failed to materialize, led the British to send the battleships to guard against it in company with the Harwich Force. When it had become clear that the German fleet posed no threat, Queen and Implacable returned to the Channel Fleet. On 14 November 1914, the 5th Battle Squadron was transferred to Sheerness in case of a possible German invasion attempt, but the squadron returned to Portland on 30 December 1914.[9][10]

In March 1915, as the British and French fleets waging the

Gaba Tepe on 25 April 1915. Queen arrived off the landing beach at about midnight, along with the battleships London and Prince of Wales; they were tasked with supporting the landing of the 3rd Australian Brigade. Queen covered the right side of the beach. Over the course of the landing, Queen and the other covering ships provided covering fire as the ANZAC troops advanced inland and helped to suppress Ottoman artillery.[11]

Queen, Implacable, London, and Prince of Wales were transferred to the 2nd Detached Squadron, organised to reinforce the Italian Navy in the Adriatic Sea when Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary. She arrived at her new base, Taranto, Italy, on 27 May 1915.[12][13] From December 1916 to February 1917, Queen was refitted for service as a depot ship for the personnel of the Otranto Barrage that attempted to block German and Austro-Hungarian U-boats from passing through the Strait of Otranto. Most of her crew returned to the United Kingdom, leaving only a care-and-maintenance crew behind, and she was gradually disarmed as her guns were allocated to other duties. Most of her 6-inch (150 mm) guns had been removed by April 1917, and all of her 12-inch (300 mm) guns had been put ashore by October 1917, where they were turned over to the Italian Army for use in repelling attacks by the Austro-Hungarian Army, although the turrets were left aboard. Queen became flagship of British Naval Forces, Taranto, serving as such until February 1918.[12]

Postwar career

Queen left Taranto and returned to the United Kingdom in April 1919 and was placed on the disposal list at

broken up on 5 August 1921.[12]

Footnotes

Wikimedia Commons has media related to HMS Queen (ship, 1904).

Notes

  1. 3rd Battle Squadron, First Fleet.[8]

Citations

  1. ^ Burt, pp. 206–209.
  2. ^ Burt, p. 248.
  3. ^ a b c Lyon & Roberts, p. 37.
  4. ^ Burt, p. 253.
  5. ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36401. London. 13 March 1901. p. 7.
  6. ^ "Royal launches and H.M.S. Queen". The Times. No. 36711. London. 10 March 1902. p. 6.
  7. ^ a b Burt, p. 259.
  8. ^ Preston, p. 8.
  9. ^ Burt, pp. 201, 203.
  10. ^ Corbett 1920, pp. 76, 98, 227–229, 259–261.
  11. ^ Corbett 1921, pp. 208, 227, 310–324.
  12. ^ a b c Burt, p. 260.
  13. ^ Corbett 1923, p. 24.

References

Further reading
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