Warrior-class cruiser
HMS Warrior
| |
Class overview | |
---|---|
Name | Warrior |
Operators | Royal Navy |
Preceded by | Duke of Edinburgh class |
Succeeded by | Minotaur class |
Built | 1903–1907 |
In service | 1907–1919 |
Completed | 4 |
Lost | 2 |
Scrapped | 2 |
General characteristics | |
Type | Armoured cruiser |
Displacement | 12,590 long tons (12,790 t) |
Length | |
Beam | 73.5 ft (22.4 m) |
Draught | 27.5 ft (8.4 m) |
Installed power |
|
Propulsion | 2 shafts; 2 triple-expansion steam engines |
Speed | 23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph) |
Range | 8,130 nmi (15,060 km; 9,360 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
Complement | 789 |
Armament |
|
Armour |
|
The Warrior class consisted of four
Design and description
The four armoured cruisers of the 1903–1904 Naval Programme were originally intended to be repeats of the preceding Duke of Edinburgh class, but complaints from the fleet that the low placement of the secondary armament of earlier ships of this type meant that the guns could not be fought in anything other than a dead calm sea caused the issue to be reviewed by the Board of Admiralty in late 1903 and early 1904. Based on the Duke of Edinburghs, the Warriors were expected to be lighter, which allowed weight to be used for changing the secondary armament. Officers from the fleet suggested changing the armament to four 7.5-inch (191 mm) guns in single-gun turrets raised to the upper deck. As the ships had only just begun construction, the change would cost a total of £250,000 for all four ships and the Admiralty approved the change on 30 March 1904.[1]
The Warrior-class ships were designed to
The ships' complement was 770 officers and enlisted men.[3] They were much steadier gun platforms than their predecessors, with a metacentric height of 2.75 feet (0.8 m),[4] so much so that Achilles and Natal were the best-shooting ships in the fleet in 1907 and 1909 respectively. Very good sea boats, according to naval historian Oscar Parkes, "they gained the reputation of being the best cruisers we (the British) ever built."[5]
The cruisers were powered by two 4-cylinder
Armament
The Warriors' main armament consisted of six 45-
Their secondary armament of four 50-calibre
Twenty-four Vickers
The ships also mounted three submerged
Armour
The Warrior-class ships had a 6-inch (152 mm)
The faces of the main gun turrets were 7.5 inches thick with 5.5-inch (140 mm) sides and a 2-inch (51 mm) roof.[17] The secondary gun turrets were a newer design and had armour 6–8-inch (152–203 mm) thick and the same roof thickness as the other turrets.[11] The barbettes were protected by six inches of armour as were the ammunition hoists, although the armour for those thinned to three inches between the armour belt. The thickness of the lower deck was only .75 inches (19 mm) except for a patch of 1.5-inch (38 mm) armour over the steering gear and another 2 inches (51 mm) thick over the engine cylinders.[7] The sides of the conning tower were 10 inches (254 mm) thick.[2]
Modifications
Only the modifications for
The guns on top of Cochrane's centreline 9.2-inch turrets were removed in 1915–16. The aftermost 3-pounder guns on the superstructure were removed during 1917 as well as the guns on top of the forward 9.2-inch wing turrets. This reduced her total to twenty 3-pounder guns, excluding the AA guns. Cochrane's foremast was converted to a tripod mast to support the weight of a fire-control director in 1917, but the director was not actually fitted until August 1918.[18]
Ships
Ship | Builder | Laid down[22]
|
Launched[22] | Completed[22] | Cost (including armament)[2] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Warrior | HM Dockyard, Pembroke
|
5 Nov 1903 | 25 Nov 1905 | 12 Dec 1906 | £1,186,395 |
Cochrane | Fairfield Shipping and Engineering, Govan
|
24 Mar 1904 | 20 May 1905 | 18 Feb 1907 | £1,193,121 |
Achilles | Elswick
|
22 Feb 1904 | 17 Jun 1905 | 22 Apr 1907 | £1,191,103 |
Natal | Vickers, Barrow-in-Furness | 6 Jan 1904 | 30 Sep 1905 | 5 Mar 1907 | £1,218,244 |
Service
After completion, the four sisters were assigned to the cruiser squadrons of the Channel and Home Fleets. Natal and Cochrane escorted the royal yacht in 1911–12 for the newly crowned
At the beginning of World War I, Natal, Achilles and Cochrane were assigned to the 2nd Cruiser Squadron of the Grand Fleet and Warrior was in the
Achilles was refitting in May 1916 and did not participate in the Battle of Jutland, although both of her surviving sisters did.[23] Warrior was heavily damaged by German capital ships during the battle,[27] losing 71 crewmen killed and 36 wounded. She took on a lot of water and foundered the following morning after her crew was evacuated.[28] The 2nd Cruiser Squadron was not engaged during the battle and did not fire a shot.[29] Achilles was assigned blockade duties in the North Sea after the battle and sank the German raider Leopard in early 1917.[30] Both of the surviving ships were briefly transferred to the North America and West Indies Station in late 1917 for convoy escort duties before returning home in early 1918.[18][31] Achilles began a lengthy refit in February 1918[25] while Cochrane was based in Murmansk in mid-1918 during the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War. She became stranded in the Mersey on 14 November 1918 and broke in two. The wreck was broken up in place by June 1919.[18] Achilles, the last surviving sister, became a training ship in late 1918 and was sold for scrap in May 1921.[32]
Notes
- ^ While most sources show the ships with three torpedo tubes,[7][8] the ship plans for the Duke of Edinburgh class included in McBride do not show a stern torpedo room[14] and Friedman only lists two torpedo tubes.[3]
- ^ "Cwt" is the abbreviation for hundredweight, 20 cwt referring to the weight of the gun.
References
- ^ Friedman 2012, pp. 260–262
- ^ a b c Parkes, p. 444
- ^ a b c d e f Friedman 2012, p. 336
- ^ McBride, p. 379
- ^ Parkes, pp. 445–447
- ^ McBride, p. 391
- ^ a b c d e Chesneau & Kolesnik, p. 72
- ^ a b Parkes, p. 445
- ^ a b Parkes, pp. 445–446
- ^ Friedman 2011, pp. 71–72
- ^ a b Friedman 2011, p. 77
- ^ Parkes, p. 443
- ^ Friedman 2011, pp. 117–118
- ^ McBride, p. 374
- ^ McBride, p. 371
- ^ Parkes, pp. 444, 446
- ^ Friedman 2011, p. 72
- ^ a b c d e f Roberts, p. 34
- ^ "Britain 6-pdr / 8cwt (2.244"/40 (57 mm)) QF Marks I and II". navweaps.com. 16 May 2008. Retrieved 11 November 2009.
- ^ "British 12-pdr (3"/45 (76.2 cm)) 20cwt QF HA Marks I, II, III and IV". navweaps.com. 27 February 2007. Retrieved 11 November 2009.
- ^ "British Vickers 3-pdr (1.4 kg) [1.85"/50 (47 mm)] QF Marks I and II". navweaps.com. 13 May 2006. Retrieved 19 May 2010.
- ^ a b c Silverstone, pp. 207, 223, 253, 276
- ^ a b c Preston, p. 13
- ^ "Squadron to Meet Reid Funeral Ship" (PDF). New York Times. 22 December 1912. Retrieved 29 January 2011.
- ^ a b c Parkes, p. 447
- ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Hms Natal: Nigg Bay, Cromarty Firth (101920)". Canmore. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
- ^ Campbell, pp. 181–182
- ^ McBride, pp. 381–383
- ^ Campbell, p. 361
- ^ Newbolt, IV, pp. 192–194
- ^ Newbolt, V, p. 135
- ^ Preston, p. 10
Bibliography
- Campbell, John (1998). Jutland: An Analysis of the Fighting. ISBN 1-55821-759-2.
- 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.
- ISBN 0-89839-256-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.
- McBride, Keith (1990). "The Dukes and the Warriors". Warship International. XXVII (4). International Naval Research Organization: 362–93. ISSN 0043-0374.
- 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.
- Newbolt, Henry (1997). Naval Operations. History of the Great War: Based on Official Documents. Vol. V (reprint of the 1931 ed.). London and Nashville, Tennessee: Imperial War Museum and Battery Press. ISBN 1-870423-72-0.
- Parkes, Oscar (1990). British Battleships (reprint of the 1957 ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-075-4.
- ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
- Roberts, John (October 1989). "HMS Cochrane". Warship. Warship. Vol. III. London: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 34–36. ISBN 0-85177-204-8.
- Silverstone, Paul H. (1984). Directory of the World's Capital Ships. New York: Hippocrene Books. ISBN 0-88254-979-0.
External links
- The Dreadnought Project Technical details of the Warrior class.