King Edward VII class battleship

The "King Edward VII" class was a class of predreadnought battleships launched by the Royal Navy between 1903 and 1905.

Technical Characteristics

By 1901, the 29 British battleships of the "Majestic", "Canopus", "Formidable", "London", "Queen", and "Duncan" classes then in service or under construction, which had all followed the same basic design by Sir William White, had become to come under criticism as being undergunned for their displacement. All had four 12-inch (305-mm) guns in two twin turrets and a secondary armament of twelve 6-inch (152-mm) guns on a displacement of 13,000 to 15,000 tons; questions were beginning to arise as to the usefulness of 6-inch (152-mm) guns in the face of improved armor in foreign battleships, and it was noted that foreign navies such as those of Italy and the United States had begun to arm their battleships with an intermediate battery of 8-inch (203-mm) guns. The "King Edward VII" class were built as a response, with the intention of halting the gap in firepower and maintaining the dominance of the Royal Navy. [Burt, p. 229]

Like the classes in between, the "King Edward VII" class was a direct descendant of the "Majestic" class, but it was also the first class to make a significant departure from the "Majestic" design, displacing about 1,000 tons more and mounting for the first time an intermediate battery of four 9.2-inch (234-mm) guns in addition to the standard outfit of 12-inch (305-mm) and 6-inch (152-mm) guns. The 9.2-inch was a quick-firing gun like the 6-inch, and its heavier shell made it a formidable weapon by the standards of the day when the "King Edward VII" class was designed. The four 9.2-inch were mounted in single turrets abreast the foremast and mainmast, and the ships thus could bring two of them to bear on either broadside. Even then, the "King Edwards" were criticized for not having a uniform secondary battery of 9.2-inch guns, something considered but rejected because of the length of time it would have taken to design the ships with such a radical revision of the secondary armament layout; an all-9.2-inch secondary battery would have to await the "Lord Nelson" class. In the end, it proved impossible to distinguish 12-inch and 9.2-inch shell splashes from one another, making fire control impractical for ships mounting both calibers, although the "King Edwards" had fire-control platforms on their fore- and mainmasts rather than the fighting tops of earlier classes. ["Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1860-1905", p. 38]

The first five ships ("Commonwealth", "Dominion", "Hindustan", "King Edward VII", and "New Zealand"/"Zealandia") mounted the Mark IX 12-inch (305-mm) gun, while the final three ("Africa", "Britannia", and "Hibernia") mounted the more advanced Mark X 12-inch (305-mm). [Burt, p. 233] Mounting of the 6-inch guns in casemates was abandoned in this class, the 6-inch instead being placed in a central battery amidships protected by 7-inch (178-mm) armored walls. Otherwise, armor was much as in the "London" class, although there were various differences in detail from the "London"s. ["Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1860-1905", p. 38]

The "King Edward VII" class were the first British battleships with balanced rudders since the 1870s and were very maneuverable, with a tactical diameter of 340 yards (311 m) at 15 knots (27.75 km/h). However, they were difficult to keep on a straight course, and this characteristic led to them being nicknamed "the Wobbly Eight" during their 1914-1916 service in the Grand Fleet. They had a slightly faster roll than previous British battleship classes, but were good gun platforms, although very wet in bad weather. ["Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1860-1905", p. 38]

Primarily powered by coal, all of the class except "New Zealand" had oil sprayers installed during construction, the first time this had been done in British battleships. These allowed steam pressure to be rapidly increased, improving the acceleration of the ships. The eight ships between them were given four different boiler installations for comparative purposes, but all exceeded their designed power, making between 18.1 and convert|19.3|kn|km/h on trials. ["Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1860-1905", p. 38]

The "King Edwards" were powerful ships when they were designed, and completely fulfilled the goals set for them at that time. However, they were unlucky in that the years of their design and construction were ones of revolutionary advancement in naval guns, fire control, armor, and propulsion. The ships joined the fleet between early 1905 and the very beginning of 1907, but were made quickly obsolete by the commissioning of the revolutionary battleship HMS|Dreadnought|1906|6 at the end of 1906 and the large numbers of the new dreadnought battleships that commissioned in succeeding years, although "Commonwealth" was reconstructed in 1917-1918 with all the trappings of modern battleships, so as to provide an adequate gunnery training platform. By 1914, the "King Edward VII" class was, like all predreadnoughts, so outclassed that they spent much of their Grand Fleet service steaming at the heads of divisions of the far more valuable dreadnoughts, protecting the dreadnoughts from naval mines by being the first battleships to either sight or strike them. [Burt, p. 235]

Operational History

and those that survived the war were sold for scrapping in 1920 and 1921. [Burt, pp. 246-258]

hips of the class

HMS "Africa"

HMS|Africa|1905|2 served in the Atlantic Fleet (1906-1907), Channel Fleet (1907-1908), and Home Fleet (1908-1914); in 1912 experiments with aircraft, she became the first large British warship ever to launch an aircraft (from a flying-off platform on her deck). She was part of the 3rd Battle Squadron (1912-1916), which was detached from the Home Fleet for service in the Mediterranean during the First Balkan War in 1912-1913. The 3rd Battle Squadron's World War I service was in the Grand Fleet (1914), the Channel Fleet (1914), and Grand Fleet again (1914-1916). "Africa" then served in the Atlantic 1917-1918, then was in reserve until sold for scrapping in 1920. [Burt, pp. 257-258]

HMS "Britannia"

HMS|Britannia|1904|2 served in the Atlantic Fleet (1906-1907), Channel Fleet (1907-1909), and Home Fleet 1909-1914. She was part of the 3rd Battle Squadron (1912-1913), which was detached from the Home Fleet for service in the Mediterranean during the First Balkan War in 1912-1913. She returned to the 3rd Battle Squadron for its World War I service in the Grand Fleet (1914), the Channel Fleet (1914), and Grand Fleet again (1914-1916). "Britannia" then served in the Adriatic Sea (1916-1917) and Atlantic (1917-1918). She was torpedoed and sunk just two days before the armistice, on 9 November 1918 by German submarine "UB-50" off Cape Trafalgar, with the loss of 50 dead and 80 injured. She was the last British warship lost in World War I. [Burt, pp. 251, 253; "Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1906-1921", p. 9]

HMS "Commonwealth"

HMS|Commonwealth|1903|2 served in the Atlantic Fleet (1905-1907), Channel Fleet (1907-1909), and Home Fleet 1909-1914. She was part of the 3rd Battle Squadron (1912-1917), which was detached from the Home Fleet for service in the Mediterranean during the First Balkan War in 1912-1913. The 3rd Battle Squadron's World War I service was in the Grand Fleet (1914), the Channel Fleet (1914), and Grand Fleet again (1914-1916), then in the Nore Command (1916-1917). "Commonwealth" served on the Northern Patrol (1918), then as a seagoing gunnery training ship (1918-1921). She was sold for scrapping in 1921. [Burt, p. 255]

HMS "Dominion"

HMS|Dominion|1903|2 served in the Atlantic Fleet (1905-1907), Channel Fleet (1907-1909), and Home Fleet (1909-1914). She was part of the 3rd Battle Squadron (1912-1918), which was detached from the Home Fleet for service in the Mediterranean during the First Balkan War in 1912-1913. The 3rd Battle Squadron's World War I service was in the Grand Fleet (1914), the Channel Fleet (1914), and Grand Fleet again (1914-1916), then in the Nore Command (1916-1918). "Dominion" served in subsidiary duties (1918-1919) and was sold for scrapping in 1921. [Burt, pp. 255-256]

HMS "Hibernia"

HMS|Hibernia|1905|2 served in the Atlantic Fleet (1906-1907), Channel Fleet (1907-1909), and Home Fleet (1909-1914); in 1912 she conducted experiments with flying off aircraft, She was part of the 3rd Battle Squadron (1912-1917), which was detached from the Home Fleet for service in the Mediterranean during the First Balkan War in 1912-1913. The 3rd Battle Squadron's World War I service was in the Grand Fleet (1914), the Channel Fleet (1914), Grand Fleet again (1914-1916) -- "Hibernia" was part of a division of the squadron detached to the Dardanelles Campaign (1915-1916) -- and Nore Command (1916-1917). "Hibernia" was in reserve 1917-1919 and was sold for scrapping in 1921. [Burt, p. 257]

HMS "Hindustan"

HMS|Hindustan|1903|2 served in the Atlantic Fleet (1905-1907), Channel Fleet (1907-1909), and Home Fleet 1909-1914. She was part of the 3rd Battle Squadron (1912-1918), which was detached from the Home Fleet for service in the Mediterranean during the First Balkan War in 1912-1913. The 3rd Battle Squadron's World War I service was in the Grand Fleet (1914), the Channel Fleet (1914), and Grand Fleet again (1914-1916), then in the Nore Command (1916-1918). "Hindustan" then served in subsidiary duties (1918), went into reserve (1918-1919), and was sold for scrapping in 1921. [Burt, p. 256]

HMS "King Edward VII"

HMS|King Edward VII|1903|2, at the request of King Edward VII, was a flagship throughout her career. She served in the Atlantic Fleet (1905-1907), Channel Fleet (1907-1909), and Home Fleet (1908-1914). She was part of the 3rd Battle Squadron (1912-1916), which was detached from the Home Fleet for service in the Mediterranean during the First Balkan War in 1912-1913. The 3rd Battle Squadron's World War I service was in the Grand Fleet (1914), the Channel Fleet (1914), and Grand Fleet again (1914-1916). On 6 January 1916 she struck a mine off Cape Wrath; her engine rooms flooded and she capsized nine hours later and sank without loss of life. [Burt, pp. 246-249, 251]

HMS "New Zealand", later HMS "Zealandia"

HMS|New Zealand|1904|2 served in the Atlantic Fleet (1905-1907), Channel Fleet (1907-1909), and Home Fleet (1909-1914); she was renamed "Zealandia" in 1911 to allow battlecruiser HMS "New Zealand" to use her original name. She was part of the 3rd Battle Squadron (1912-1917), which was detached from the Home Fleet for service in the Mediterranean during the First Balkan War in 1912-1913. The 3rd Battle Squadron's World War I service was in the Grand Fleet (1914), the Channel Fleet (1914), Grand Fleet again (1914-1916) -- "Zealandia" was part of a division of the squadron detached to the Dardanelles Campaign (1915-1916) -- and Nore Command (1916-1917). "Zealandia" was in reserve 1917-1919 and was sold for scrapping in 1921. [Burt, p. 258]

ee also

Notes

References

*Burt, R. A. "British Battleships 1889-1904". Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1988. ISBN 0870210610.
*Chesneau, Roger, and Eugene M. Kolesnik, eds. "Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships, 1860-1905". New York: Mayflower Books, Inc., 1979. ISBN 0831703024.
*Gibbons, Tony. "The Complete Encyclopedia of Battleships and Battlecruisers: A Technical Directory of All the World's Capital Ships From 1860 to the Present Day". London: Salamander Books Ltd., 1983.
*Archibald, E.H.H.; Ray Woodward (ill.) (1971). The Metal Fighting Ship in the Royal Navy 1860-1970. New York: Arco Publishing Co.. ISBN 0-6680-2509-3.

External links

* [http://www.maritimequest.com/warship_directory/great_britain/pages/battleships/king_edward_7_class.htm MaritimeQuest King Edward VII Class Overview]
* [http://www.maritimequest.com/warship_directory/great_britain/pages/battleship_index.htm MaritimeQuest Royal Navy Battleship Index]
* [http://www.worldwar1.co.uk/pre-dreadnought/hms-king-edward-vii.html World War 1 Naval Combat]