Gorgon Class Battleship (1914)
The two coast defence battleships (sometimes referred to as monitors) of the Gorgon Class were being built for the Royal Norwegian Navy and were taken up for Royal Navy service. They were completed in 1918.
Their dissimilarity from Royal Navy vessels caused great delay in their eventual completion in late 1918.
They had a speed of around 14 knots and a draught of less than 17 feet.
| Overview of 2 vessels | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Citations for this data available on individual ship pages | |||||
| Name | Builder | Laid Down | Launched | Completed | Fate |
| Glatton | Armstrong, Whitworth & Company, Elswick | 26 May, 1913 | 8 Aug, 1914 | Sep, 1918 | Exploded 16 Sep, 1918 |
| Gorgon | Armstrong, Whitworth & Company, Elswick | 11 Jun, 1913 | 9 Jun, 1914 | 1 May, 1918 | Sold 28 Aug, 1928 |
Armament
Mechanical Aid-to-Spotter
One of both of the ships were equipped with Mechanical Aid-to-Spotter Mark II*s with Evershed Bearing Transmitters.[1] The installations generally consisted of placing one on each side of the foretop, driven by flexible shafting from a gearbox on the director tower's Evershed rack.[2]
Supplies of these devices began in June 1918.[3]
Guns
The ships were armed as follows.[4]
As designed:
- two 9.4-in B.L. guns in single turrets
- four 6-in B.L. in single turrets
- six 4-in Q.F.
- four 3-pdr Q.F.
As completed:
- two 9.2-in B.L. guns in single turrets
- four 6-in B.L. in single turrets
- two 3-in H.A. II
- two 2-pdr pom-poms
The ships 9.2-in and 6-in guns were altered forms of those already started so they'd play nicely with British stockpiles. The 4-in guns already being made for them were reappropriated to arm merchant ships under the designation of 4-in Q.F. Mark X gun on P. XIV mounting.
The 9.2-in guns used 6 crh shells and a super-charge to reach 28,500 yards.
Torpedoes
- two Elswick 18-in submerged, rear-loading broadside tubes forward undepressed and bearing 90. Impulse from Elswick H.P. air. [5]
In 1916, it was said that the torpedoes used were 18-in Fiume Mark III** V. B.[6]
These were, however, removed around 1917.[7]
Fire Control
Directors
Directors for these ships were approved in 1917,[8] and both ships had directors for 9.2-in and 6-in batteries in place upon joining the fleet.[9]
Designs for the 9.2-in guns were called for on 12 September, 1917 and for the 6-in guns on 25 October, 1917.[10]
Torpedo Control
Transmitting Stations
Dreyer Table
These ships had no fire control tables.[11]
Fire Control Instruments
See Also
Footnotes
- ↑ Glatton, despite her loss, is mentioned in Manual of Gunnery of H.M. Fleet, Volume III, 1920, p. 35. Perhaps Gorgon was meant?
- ↑ Manual of Gunnery (Volume III) for His Majesty's Fleet, 1920. p. 35, 37.
- ↑ The Technical History and Index, Vol. 3, Part 23. pp. 25-6.
- ↑ The Technical History and Index, Vol. 4, Part 28. pp. 33, 36.
- ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1915. p. 36.
- ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1916. p. 46.
- ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1917. p. 76.
- ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1917. p. 229.
- ↑ The Technical History and Index, Vol. 3, Part 23. p. 15.
- ↑ The Technical History and Index, Vol. 3, Part 23. p. 15.
- ↑ absent from list in Handbook of Capt. F.C. Dreyer's Fire Control Tables, p. 3.
Bibliography
- H.M.S. Vernon. (Jan 1916) Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1915. C.B. 1166. Copy 1025 at The National Archives. ADM 189/35.
- Admiralty, Gunnery Branch (1910). Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1909. Copy No. 173 is Ja 345a at Admiralty Library, Portsmouth, United Kingdom.
- Admiralty, Gunnery Branch (1918). Handbook of Captain F. C. Dreyer's Fire Control Tables, 1918. C.B. 1456. Copy No. 10 at Admiralty Library, Portsmouth, United Kingdom.
- Admiralty, Technical History Section (1919). The Technical History and Index: Fire Control in H.M. Ships. Vol. 3, Part 23. C.B. 1515 (23) now O.U. 6171/14. At The National Archives. ADM 275/19.
| Gorgon Class Monitor | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Glatton | Gorgon | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| <– | Humber Class | Monitors (UK) | Abercrombie Class | –> | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
