RN Battlecruisers: Invincible Class

[Brian James]

Three photos of Invincible Class Battlecruiser HMS Inflexible taken within a short time of one another,in light conditions off John Brown & Company Shipyards on the Firth of Clyde during her final trials period in September 1908.

[designeraccd]

Very nice views, especially the 2 speed shots! Here are a couple of deck shots. DFO

[ivorthediver]

Good man , thanks Dennis , you know how to please me , always after the detail , very kind thanks .

[designeraccd]

Nice to always see both details and overall views! Not having detail shots made me miss numerous items on some of my older models.... DFO

[ivorthediver]

Totally agree Dennis , I take it she was in for a refit or fitting out , judging by the gear on the decks , and the covers on the funnels

[designeraccd]

Fitting out shots! DFO

[ivorthediver]

Thank you , Dennis I thought it may have been . many thanks

[Brian James]

A rare clandestine photo taken from Harland & Wolff Shipyards,Belfast in 1915.(Many of the Irish populace were German sympathisers during the First World War) showing Lead Ship,the ill fated Battlecruiser HMS Invincible and to her left the Dutch passenger liner SS Statendam fitting out,whilst to her right is the White Star Olympic Class Liner SS Britannic being fitting out as a Hospital Ship.

[Brian James]

HMS Indomitable pictured c1908.
She was one of three Invincible Class Battlecruisers built for the Royal Navy before World War I,built at Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Company, Govan on Clydeside in 1907,she had an active career during the war. She tried to hunt down the German ships Goeben and Breslau in the Mediterranean when war broke out and bombarded Turkish fortifications protecting the Dardanelles even before the British declared war on Turkey. She helped to sink the German armoured cruiser Blücher during the Battle of Dogger Bank in 1915 and towed the damaged British Battlecruiser HMS Lion to safety after the battle. She damaged the German Battlecruisers Seydlitz and Derfflinger during the Battle of Jutland in mid-1916 and watched her sister ship HMS Invincible explode. Deemed obsolete after the war, she was sold for scrap in 1921.
The Invincible Class were formally known as Armoured Cruisers until 1911 when they were redesignated as Battlecruisers by an Admiralty order of November 24th 1911. Unofficially a number of designations were used until then, including 'Cruiser-Battleship', 'Dreadnought Cruiser' and 'Battle-Cruiser'.
Indomitable was significantly larger than her Armoured Cruiser predecessors of the Minotaur class. She had an overall length of 567 feet, a beam of 78 feet 7.75 inches, and a draft of 30 feet at deep load. She displaced 17,250 long tons at load and 20,420 long tons at deep load, nearly 3,000 long tons more than the earlier ships.Immediately after commissioning, Indomitable embarked the Prince of Wales (soon to be King George V) for the City of Quebec Tercentenary celebration. On her return voyage,her average speed was a fraction below 25 knots, almost equalling the record for an Atlantic crossing of 25.08 knots, set by the liner RMS Lusitania.She returned on August 10th and was immediately returned to her builders for final completion.

[Brian James]

The ill fated Battlecruiser HMS Invincible pictured in the Hudson River,for the Hudson-Fulton Celebrations, New York City, 1909.