H.M.S. Indomitable (1907)

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H.M.S. Indomitable (1907)
Pendant Number: 77 (1914)
75 (Jan 1918)
05 (Apr, 1918)[1]
Builder: Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Govan[2]
Laid down: 1 Mar, 1906[3]
Launched: 16 Mar, 1907[4]
Commissioned: 25 Jun, 1908[5]
Sold: 1 Dec, 1921[6]
Fate: Scrapped

Construction and Acceptance

When in December 1906 Indomitable's anchor and hawsepipe arrangements seemed problematic in mock-up, Lusitania was fitting out in Clydebank, and it was observed that she had a more elegant plan. It was mimicked for Inflexible and Indomitable.[7]

Construction Costs, pounds Sterling[8]
Hull and fittings 801,066
Propelling and Machinery 476,539
Hydraulics and Air Compressing 325,708
Gun mountings 12,979
Total 1,617,791

Navigational Equipment

The ship was one of seven which tested Willis and Robinson Electric Revolution Telegraphs. Testing was completed in late 1913.[9]

Boats

In July 1914, the ship was appropriated 42-foot motor launch No. 261, though the boat was not yet delivered from the contractor.[10]

Radio

Indomitable received the first sea-going Service Mark II radio set, and conducted range tests to Vernon while on her voyage to Quebec in 1908.[11]

Sometime before 1913, she may have also had a Type 3 Battleship Auxiliary set, but it was to be replaced by a Type 10 Cruiser Auxiliary set.[12]

Main Battery

Indomitable incorporated new turret training engines controlled by a single wheel which proved a great advance over earlier equipment. The new gear showed "marked reduction in throw-off and good control of starting, stopping and creep with little effort on the handwheel.[13]

Alterations

Armament

The 4-inch guns on top of "P" and "Q" turrets were not removed until 16 June, 1916.[14]

Directors

In 1913, Indomitable was slated as part of the seventeen ship order to receive a director. It was fitted after December, 1915 and shortly before the Battle of Jutland,[15] as her first-ever test firing with it occurred on 23 May, 1916 and – while a success – its newness prompted the choice to not employ it at Jutland.[16]

Spotting

In late 1913, the ship landed a Pattern 740 Zeiss stereo spotting telescope Mark II at Portsmouth in order to take on a Ross Pattern 873 model for a three-month comparative evaluation.[17]

Service

Indomitable cruised to Quebec in July 1908 in order to convey the Prince of Wales back to Britain. Departing on 29 July, she sighted land at Cowes on 940pm 3 August, having averaged over 25 knots for the entire passage. The eventual King George took an opportunity, during the passage, to visit a stokehold and assist by shoveling some coal into the boilers.[18]

On 23 February, 1909, Fleet Paymaster Henry de Courcy Ward reported to Captain Herbert Goodenough King-Hall that £2,900 of public money was missing from the safe in his cabin. A Court Martial was convened aboard H.M.S. Acheron on 25 May, 1909, and Ward was found guilty on a charge of having failed to keep the keys to the safe on his person as required by the King's Regulations. He was sentenced to be severely reprimanded.[19]

Indomitable recommissioned at Chatham on 21 February 1912.[20]

She recommissioned at Sheerness on 10 February, 1914.[21]

Pursuit of Goeben and Breslau

Main article: Pursuit of Goeben and Breslau

Indomitable, along with H.M.S. Indefatigable, shadowed the German battlecruiser Goeben and light cruiser Breslau on 4 August, 1914 after the German ships had bombarded the French Algerian port of Phillipeville.

Battle of Dogger Bank

Main article: Battle of Dogger Bank

Jutland

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

Captain Francis W. Kennedy was in command. She expended 164 rounds of 12-in Lyddite.[22]

Post-War

It was decided in November 1919 that Indomitable was to be the first of the British battlecruisers to be scrapped.[23]

She paid off at the Nore on 31 March, 1920.[24]

Captains

Dates of appointment are provided when known.

See Also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 35.
  2. ↑ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. p. 24.
  3. ↑ Clydebank Battlecruisers. p. 15.
  4. ↑ Clydebank Battlecruisers. p. 16.
  5. ↑ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. p. 24.
  6. ↑ Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 35.
  7. ↑ Clydebank Battlecruisers. p. 16.
  8. ↑ Clydebank Battlecruisers. p. 16.
  9. ↑ Admiralty Weekly Order No. 607 of 24 Oct, 1913.
  10. ↑ Admiralty Weekly Order No. 122 of 10 July, 1914.
  11. ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1908. Wireless Appendix, p. 14.
  12. ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1913. W/T Appendix, p. 13.
  13. ↑ Brooks. Dreadnought Gunnery. p. 46.
  14. ↑ Diary of Frank Layard. Entry for 16 June, 1916. Layard Papers. National Museum of the Royal Navy. RNM 1990/271/3.
  15. ↑ The Technical History and Index, Vol. 3, Part 23. pp. 9-11.
  16. ↑ Arthur. The True Glory. pp. 72-3.
  17. ↑ Admiralty Weekly Order No. 662 of 21 Nov, 1913.
  18. ↑ "The Doom of the Dreadnoughts." The Times (London, England), 15 Nov. 1919, p. 12.
  19. ↑ "The Theft from the Indomitable." The Times (London, England), 26 May 1909, p. 9.
  20. ↑ The Navy List. (July, 1913). p. 331.
  21. ↑ The Navy List. (April, 1914). p. 329.
  22. ↑ Letter from Kennedy to Admiral of the Fleet Gerard Noel‎ dated 10 October, 1916 at National Maritime Museum, NOE/5/1.
  23. ↑ "The Doom of the Dreadnoughts." The Times (London, England), 15 Nov. 1919, p. 12.
  24. ↑ The Navy List. (January, 1921). p. 792.
  25. ↑ "Naval and Military Intelligence" (Official Appointments and Notices). The Times. Friday, 17 April, 1908. Issue 38623, col E, p. 9.
  26. ↑ The Navy List. (July, 1909). p. 331.
  27. ↑ King-Hall Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 42.
  28. ↑ Roberts. Battlecruisers. p. 122.
  29. ↑ Bartolomé Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 208.
  30. ↑ Bartolomé Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 208.
  31. ↑ Roberts. Battlecruisers. p. 122.
  32. ↑ The Navy List. (April, 1911). p. 331.
  33. ↑ Maclachlan Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42/449. f. 46.
  34. ↑ Maclachlan Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42/449. f. 46.
  35. ↑ Roberts. Battlecruisers. p. 122.
  36. ↑ Baird Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 249.
  37. ↑ Kennedy Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 131.
  38. ↑ The Navy List. (October, 1915). p. 395a.
  39. ↑ Kennedy Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 131.
  40. ↑ The Navy List. (December, 1916). p. 395j.
  41. ↑ Hodges Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 471.
  42. ↑ Hodges Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 471.
  43. ↑ The Navy List. (November, 1917). p. 394q.
  44. ↑ Loring Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 103.
  45. ↑ Loring Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 103.
  46. ↑ The Navy List. (February, 1919). p. 819.
  47. ↑ Heard Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 84.
  48. ↑ Heard Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 84.
  49. ↑ Veale Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43/305. f. 335.
  50. ↑ The Navy List. (August, 1919). p. 819.
  51. ↑ Veale Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43/305. f. 335.

Bibliography


Invincible Class Battlecruiser
  Indomitable Inflexible Invincible  
<– Minotaur Class Major Cruisers (UK) Indefatigable Class –>


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