RN Armoured Cruisers: Minotaur Class

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Brian James
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Joined: Sun Aug 12, 2018 6:58 am

RN Armoured Cruisers: Minotaur Class

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Minotaur Class Armoured Cruiser HMS Defence pictured in 1913...Built at Pembroke Dockyard and commissioned on February 9th 1909, she was the last Armoured Cruiser built for the Royal Navy. She was stationed in the Mediterranean when the First World War began and participated in the pursuit of the German Battlecruiser SMS Goeben and Light Cruiser SMS Breslau. She was transferred to the Grand Fleet in January 1915 and remained there for the rest of her career.Defence was sunk on May 31st 1916 during the Battle of Jutland, the largest naval battle of the war. Escorting the main body of the Grand Fleet, she was fired upon by one German Battlecruiser and four Dreadnoughts as she attempted to engage a disabled German Light Cruiser. The fire from the German ships was heavy and Defence was hit by two salvos from the German ships that caused the aft 9.2-inch magazine to explode. The resulting fire spread via the ammunition passages to the adjacent 7.5-inch magazines which detonated in turn.She exploded at 6:20 with the loss of all men on board;between 893 and 903 men were killed. The only known survivor was Govan man Richard Creath. At the time, it was believed that Defence had been reduced to fragments by the explosion, but the wreck was discovered in mid-1984 by Clive Cussler and a NUMA survey of the North Sea and English Channel. She was dived upon in 2001 by a team led by nautical archaeologist Innes McCartney and found to be largely intact, despite the violence of her sinking. Defence, along with the other Jutland wrecks, was belatedly declared a protected place under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986, to discourage further damage to the resting place of approximately 900 men.
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Brian James
Posts: 8764
Joined: Sun Aug 12, 2018 6:58 am

Re: RN Armoured Cruisers: Minotaur Class

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Minotaur Class Armoured Cruiser HMS Shannon pictured c1906...She served with the Home Fleet, generally as the flagship of a Cruiser Sqdn. She remained with the Grand Fleet, as the Home Fleet was renamed when the war began, for the entire war, but only participated in a single battle, the Battle of Jutland in May 1916. Shannon spent most of the war unsuccessfully patrolling the North Sea for German warships and commerce raiders. She was paid off in 1919 and sold for scrap in 1922.
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Brian James
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Joined: Sun Aug 12, 2018 6:58 am

Re: RN Armoured Cruisers: Minotaur Class

Unread post by Brian James »

The last Armoured Cruiser built for the RN....Minotaur Class Armoured Cruiser HMS Defence pictured c 1909.
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