RN Battleships: Pre-Dreadnoughts

[Brian James]

Lead Ship, Pre-Dreadnought Battleship HMS Swiftsure...Built at Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd Shipyards at Elswick, Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1903. She was ordered by the Chilean Navy as Constitución but she was purchased by the United Kingdom as part of ending the Argentine–Chilean naval arms race. In British service, Swiftsure was initially assigned to the Home Fleet and Channel Fleets before being transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet in 1909. She rejoined Home Fleet in 1912 and was transferred to the East Indies Station in 1913, to act as its flagship. After the beginning of World War I in August 1914, Swiftsure escorted troop convoys in the Indian Ocean until she was transferred to the Suez Canal Patrol in December. After defending the Canal in early 1915 from Ottoman attacks, she was then transferred to the Dardanelles in February and saw action in the Dardanelles Campaign bombarding Ottoman fortifications. Swiftsure was assigned to convoy escort duties in the Atlantic from early 1916 until she was paid off in April 1917 to provide crews for Anti-Submarine vessels. In mid-1918, she was disarmed to be used as a Blockship during a proposed second raid on Ostend. Swiftsure but was sold for scrap in 1920.

[Brian James]

Lead Ship, Pre-Dreadnought Battleship HMS Swiftsure pictured in 1910..Built at Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Company Shipyards at Elswick, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and completed in June 1904...She was ordered by the Chilean Navy, but she was purchased by the United Kingdom as part of ending the Argentine–Chilean naval arms race. In RN service, Swiftsure was initially assigned to the Home Fleet and Channel Fleets before being transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet in 1909. She rejoined Home Fleet in 1912 and was transferred to the East Indies Station in 1913, to act as its flagship.
After the beginning of World War I in August 1914, Swiftsure escorted troop convoys in the Indian Ocean until she was transferred to the Suez Canal Patrol in December. After defending the Canal in early 1915 from Ottoman attacks, she was then transferred to the Dardanelles in February and saw action in the Dardanelles Campaign bombarding Ottoman fortifications. Swiftsure was assigned to convoy escort duties in the Atlantic from early 1916 until she was paid off in April 1917 to provide crews for Anti-Submarine vessels. In mid-1918 she was disarmed to be used as a Blockship during a proposed second raid on Ostend. Swiftsure was sold for scrap in 1920.

[Brian James]

Swiftsure Class Pre-Dreadnought Battleship HMS Triumph pictured c 1908.....Laid down as Libertad in February 1902 for the Chilean Navy at Vickers, Sons & Maxim Shipyard at Barrow-in-Furness, she was purchased by the UK as part of ending the Argentine–Chilean naval arms race. Triumph was initially assigned to the Home Fleet and Channel Fleets before being transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet in 1909. She briefly rejoined the Home Fleet in 1912 before she was transferred abroad to the China Station in 1913. Triumph participated in the hunt for the German East Asia Squadron of Maximilian Graf von Spee and in the campaign against the German colony at Tsingtao, China early in World War I. She was transferred to the Mediterranean in early 1915 to participate in the Dardanelles Campaign against the Ottoman Empire. She was torpedoed and sunk off Gaba Tepe by the German submarine U-21 on May 25th 1915...She was underway off Gaba Tepe, firing on Ottoman positions, with torpedo nets out and most watertight doors shut, when she sighted a Submarine periscope 300 to 400 yards off her starboard beam at about 1230 hours. It belonged to the U-boat U-21 under the command of Lieutenant Otto Hersing. Triumph opened fire on the periscope, but was almost immediately struck by a torpedo, which easily cut through her torpedo net, on her starboard side. A tremendous explosion resulted, and Triumph took on a list 10° to starboard. She held that list for about five minutes, then it increased to 30°. The Destroyer Chelmer evacuated most of her crew before she capsized ten minutes later. She remained afloat upside down for about 30 minutes, then began to sink slowly in about 180 feet of water. Three officers and 75 ratings died in her sinking.

[Brian James]

Lead Ship, Pre-Dreadnought Battleship HMS Lord Nelson pictured c1910.

[Brian James]

London Class Pre-Dreadnought Battleship HMS Prince Of Wales pictured c 1906.

[Brian James]

Audacious Class Ironclad Battleship HMS Invincible pictured c1872...She was built at Robert Napier & Sons Shipyard at Govan on the Clyde and commissioned on October 1st 1870. She was armed with ten 9-inch muzzle-loading guns, supported by four 6-inch muzzle loaders. These were located in a broadside pattern over a 59 ft two-deck battery amidships—this was the area of the ship least affected by its motion, and made for a very stable gun platform. On September 17th 1914, she sank during a storm off Portland Bill with the loss of 21 of her crew of 64. She was being towed from Portsmouth to Scapa Flow where she was to act as a Receiving Ship for seamen newly mobilised for WWI. She now lies upside down with the bottom of the hull about 164 ft below sea level.

[Brian James]

Lead Ship, Pre-dreadnought Battleship HMS Swiftsure pictured c1909...She was ordered by the Chilean Navy, but was purchased by the UK as part of ending the Argentine–Chilean naval arms race, Swiftsure was ordered by Chile as Constitución and laid down by Armstrong Whitworth at Elswick on February 26th 1902 and launched on January 12th 1903. She was completed in June 1904 and commissioned at Chatham Dockyard June 21st 1904 for service in the Home Fleet. She was sold for scrap on June 18th 1920 to the Stanlee Shipbreaking Company.

[Brian James]

The style of the era, Admiral's Sternwalk and Stern Stream anchors shown on Majestic Class Pre-Dreadnought HMS Magnificent and Canopus Class Pre-Dreadnought HMS Albion c 1908.

[Brian James]

MK XI BL 9.2inch/50cal secondary armament turret pictured on Lead Ship, Pre-Dreadnought Battleship HMS Lord Nelson c1912.

[Brian James]

Pre-Dreadnought Battleship HMS Renown pictured under tow on her way to Shipbreakers Messrs Hughes, Bolckow & Company, Limited in Blyth Harbor in April 1914.