H.M.S. Colossus (1910)

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H.M.S. Colossus (1910)
Pendant Number: 93 (1914)
43 (Jan 1918)
24 (Apr 1918)[1]
Builder: Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Greenock[2]
Laid down: 8 Jul, 1909[3]
Launched: 9 Apr, 1910[4]
Completed: 5 Aug, 1911[5]
Commissioned: 8 Aug, 1911
Sold: Jul, 1928[6]
Fate: Scrapped
First cost: £1,540,403[7]

H.M.S. Colossus was one of two Colossus class battleships completed for the Royal Navy in 1911.


Service

Colossus was completed under the oversight of Commander Oliver Backhouse, who'd been appointed to her on 9 January, 1911.[8]

Colossus was commissioned at Devonport on 8 August, 1911, by Captain Dudley R. S. de Chair for service in the Second Division of the Home Fleet.[9]

At the end of 1912, she had one of the twelve Short Distance Radio Sets then installed in sea-going ships of five-mile range, situated behind armour near the fore bridge.[10] From at least December 1912, she served in the First Battle Squadron alongside her sister ship, H.M.S. Hercules.

By the end of 1913, she and the rest of the First Battle Squadron were all equipped with Battleship Auxiliary W/T sets.[11]

On 28 July, 1914, two men died during coaling operations at Portland. Engineer Lieutenant R. H. M. Bury was caught by a whip and dropped twenty feet, landing on his head, and Electrical Artificer Tripps was also killed.[12]

Jutland

Main article: H.M.S. Colossus at the Battle of Jutland

She served under the command of Captain A. Dudley P. R. Pound as part of the First Battle Squadron.

Late War

Colossus and Hercules remained with the First Battle Squadron until June 1916, when they were transferred to the Fourth Battle Squadron, with Colossus becoming that formation's second flagship. In June 1917, she relinquished her flag role within the squadron, but she resumed it in October 1917.

Fate

In February 1919, Colossus was sent to Devonport when the Fourth was disestablished, where she was Reduced to Reserve on 4 March, 1919.[13]

Colossus was placed on the disposal list in July, 1921 but was reprieved in September for service as a Boys' Training Ship. She was paid off in May, 1922 but recommissioned again on 31 January, 1924 with a special complement as an accommodation ship for the Training Ship Impregnable.[14] She was paid off again in January, 1928 and sold to Alloa SB Company in July. She left Devonport under tow on 15 August and arrived at Rosyth for breaking up on 5 September.

Captains

Dates of appointment are provided when known.

See Also

Footnotes

  1. Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 32.
  2. Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 32.
  3. Navy (Dockyard Expense Accounts). 1912–1913. p. 35.
  4. Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 32.
  5. Navy (Dockyard Expense Accounts). 1912–1913. p. 35.
  6. Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 32.
  7. Navy (Dockyard Expense Accounts). 1913–1914. p. 137.
  8. The Navy List. (April, 1911). p. 294.
  9. "The New Battleship Colossus" (News). The Times. Wednesday, 9 August, 1911. Issue 39659, col C, p. 7.
  10. Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1912. W/T Appendix, p. 8.
  11. Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1913. W/T Appendix, p. 13.
  12. "Naval & Military Intelligence." The Times (London, England), Wednesday, Jul 29, 1914; pg. 13; Issue 40588.
  13. The Navy List. (December, 1920). p. 749.
  14. The Navy List. (April, 1925). p. 226.
  15. De Chair Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 259.
  16. The Navy List. (August, 1912). p. 294.
  17. De Chair Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 259.
  18. Goodenough Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 433.
  19. Goodenough Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 433.
  20. Smith Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 312.
  21. Smith Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 312.
  22. Stafford Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/20. f. 524.
  23. The Navy List. (October, 1915). p. 393.
  24. Stafford Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/20. f. 524.
  25. The Navy List. (December, 1916). p. 393e.
  26. Pound Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44. f. 294.
  27. Pound Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44. f. 294.
  28. Tomkinson Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44. f. 375.
  29. The Navy List. (November, 1917). p. 392n.
  30. Tomkinson Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44. f. 375.
  31. The Navy List. (February, 1919). p. 761.
  32. Beaty-Pownall Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 235.
  33. Hornell Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44/435. f. 437.
  34. Hornell Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44/435. f. 437.
  35. The Navy List. (August, 1919). p. 761.
  36. The Navy List. (December, 1920). p. 748.
  37. Clutterbuck Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44. f. 445.
  38. Fact check: read from free image of Clutterbuck Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/90. f. 181.
  39. Collard Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44. f. 277.
  40. Collard Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44. f. 277.
  41. Humphreys Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/46/165. f. ?.
  42. Humphreys Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/46/165. f. ?.
  43. "Naval and Military." The Times (London, England), 15 July 1924, p. 20.
  44. "Naval and Military." The Times (London, England), 15 July 1924, p. 20.
  45. Wilson Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/49/299. f. 153.
  46. The Navy List. (July, 1927). p. 225.
  47. Wilson Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/49/299. f. 153.
  48. Warner Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/51/158. f. 169.
  49. Warner Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/51/158. f. 169.

Bibliography

  • Navy (Dockyard Expense Accounts). 1912–1913. London: Printed under the Authority of His Majesty's Stationary Office. 1914.
  • Navy (Dockyard Expense Accounts). 1913–1914. London: Printed under the Authority of His Majesty's Stationary Office. 1915.
  • 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.
  • Dittmar, F.J.; Colledge, J.J. (1972). British Warships 1914–1919. London: Ian Allan.


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