HMS Shannon (1906)
.jpg) Shannon with short funnels (1908–09)
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | Shannon |
| Builder | Chatham Dockyard |
| Laid down | 2 January 1905 |
| Launched | 20 September 1906 |
| Completed | November 1907 (for trials) |
| Commissioned | 19 March 1908 |
| Decommissioned | 2 May 1919 |
| Fate | Sold for scrap, 12 December 1922 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | armoured cruiser |
| Displacement | 14,600 long tons (14,800 t) |
| Length | 519 ft (158.2 m) (overall) |
| Beam | 75.5 ft (23.0 m) |
| Draught | 26 ft (7.9 m) (mean) |
| Installed power |
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| Propulsion | 2 shafts; 2 triple-expansion steam engines |
| Speed | 22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph) |
| Range | 8,150 nmi (15,090 km; 9,380 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement | 842 (1912) |
| Armament |
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| Armour |
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HMS Shannon was a
Description
Shannon displaced 14,600 long tons (14,800 t) as built and 16,630 long tons (16,900 t) at
The ship's main armament consisted of four
The
Construction and career
Shannon was ordered as part of the 1904–05 naval construction programme as one of the three Minotaur-class armoured cruisers. She was laid down on 2 January 1905 at Chatham Dockyard. The ship was christened on 27 April 1907 by Lady Carrington and commissioned on 19 March 1908[4] at the cost of £1,415,135.[5] While fitting out in Portsmouth, Shannon was accidentally struck on 5 December 1907 by the battleship Prince George which had broken loose from her anchorage; both ships were only lightly damaged.[4]
Upon commissioning, the ship became the flagship of the 5th Cruiser Squadron of Home Fleet and was later transferred to the 2nd Cruiser Squadron as a private ship when the fleet reorganized in April 1909. She became the flagship of her squadron on 1 March 1910 and made a port visit to Torbay in January 1911. Shannon was relieved as flagship by the battlecruiser Indomitable on 5 March 1912 and was transferred to the 3rd Cruiser Squadron as that squadron's flagship. In January 1914, she relieved Indomitable as flagship of the 2nd Cruiser Squadron during exercises off the northwest coast of Spain. The following month, Shannon, together with the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron and the rest of the 2nd Cruiser Squadron, made a port visit to Brest, France.[4]
In October 1914, the ship was patrolling off the coast of Norway and almost intercepted the
During the Battle of Jutland on 31 May 1916, she was on the unengaged side of the fleet and did not fire her 9.2 or 7.5-inch guns at all during the battle.
Notable commanding officers
Notes
- ^ British "18-inch" torpedoes were 17.72 inches (45.0 cm) in diameter.
- ^ "Cwt" is the abbreviation for hundredweight, 18 cwt referring to the weight of the gun.
Footnotes
- ^ Burt, pp. 86, 93–95.
- ^ Burt, p. 94.
- ^ Burt, p. 86.
- ^ a b c d Burt, p. 92.
- ^ Parkes, p. 447.
- ^ Hampshire, p. 105.
- ^ Burt, pp. 87, 92.
- ^ Campbell, p. 361.
- ^ Burt, pp. 87, 93.
- ^ Gardiner & Gray, pp. 10, 13.
- ^ "Vice-Admiral Sir C. D. Carpendale" (obituary) in The Times dated 23 March 1968, Issue 57208, column F, p. 10
References
- Burt, R. A. (1987). "Minotaur: Before the Battlecruiser". Warship. 42. London: Conway Maritime Press: 83–95. ISSN 0142-6222.
- Campbell, John (1998). Jutland: An Analysis of the Fighting. ISBN 1-55821-759-2.
- 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.
- Hampshire, A. Cecil (1961). They Called It Accident. London: William Kimber. OCLC 7973925.
- Parkes, Oscar (1990). British Battleships (reprint of the 1957 ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-075-4.
Further reading
- 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.
External links
