H.M.S. Inflexible (1907)
| H.M.S. Inflexible (1907) | |
|---|---|
| Pendant Number: | 83 (1914) 75 (Jan 1918) 47 (April, 1918)[1] |
| Builder: | John Brown & Company, Clydebank (Ship no. 374)[2] |
| Laid down: | 5 Feb, 1906[3] |
| Launched: | 26 Jun, 1907[4] |
| Commissioned: | Oct, 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 | 785,512 |
| Propelling and Machinery | 467,976 |
| Hydraulics and Air Compressing | 311,696 |
| Gun mountings | 12,824 |
| Total | 1,578,373 |
The ship's heavy gun mountings were manufactured by Vicker's, whereas her sisters' were by Armstrong's. Inflexible's guns were criticised for "poor training control . The creep is not at all good; the turrets to do not start or stop with precision, the reversal of direction of training is erratic," and a pointed contrast made with the same fittings in the other ships. Moreover, the fire control arrangements were not ready by the time of the gun tests.[9]
Service
On May 26, 1911, she was in collision with the battleship Bellerophon. Bellerophon received damage whilst Inflexible took bow damage which put her in the dockyard until November, 1911.
In mid-1913, Inflexible was Admiral Milne's flagship in the Mediterranean.[10]
Pursuit of Goeben and Breslau
- Main article: Pursuit of Goeben and Breslau
At the end of August, Richard Fortescue Phillimore returned to command the ship.
Battle of the Falklands
- Main article: Battle of the Falklands
Invincible and Inflexible left Devonport on the 11th of November, 1914 to begin the long voyage to the Falkland Islands to fend off the expected advance of von Spee's East Asia Squadron. One day after the British battlecruisers arrived at Port Stanley on 7 December, 1914, the German squadron arrived to discover they'd been anticipated and outplayed.
Operations in the Dardanelles
Mined on 18 March, the seriously damaged ship was forced to return Malta.
Battle of Jutland
- Main article: H.M.S. Inflexible at the Battle of Jutland
Post-War
Inflexible paid off at the Nore on 31 March, 1920.[11]
The ship was one of seven which tested Willis and Robinson Electric Revolution Telegraphs. Testing was completed in late 1913.[12]
Radio
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.[13]
Boats
In July 1914, the ship was appropriated 42-foot motor launch No. 260, though the boat was not yet delivered from the contractor.[14]
Alterations
By November, 1909, Inflexible had her training engines' control machinery altered from the original combination of a two-position lever for direction and a hand-wheel operated "creep valve" to control the speed of traversal to a hand wheel which controlled both functions and made operation much less clumsy and permitted a training rate of 3 degrees per second, albeit requiring three full turns of the wheel to get there.[15]
In 1913, Inflexible was slated as part of the seventeen ship order to receive a director. It was fitted sometime between December, 1915 and the Battle of Jutland.[16]
Captains
Dates of appointment are provided when known.
- Captain Henry H. Torlesse, 1 June, 1908[17][18] – 14 December, 1909[19]
- Captain Charles L. Napier, 14 December, 1909[20][21] – 21 November, 1911[22]
- Captain Richard F. Phillimore, 21 November, 1911[23] – 14 May, 1912[24]
- Captain Robert S. Phipps Hornby, 14 May, 1912[25] – 4 November, 1912[26]
- Captain Arthur N. Loxley, 5 November, 1912[27][28] – 28 August, 1914[29] (and as Flag Captain)
- Captain Richard F. Phillimore, 28 August, 1914[30] – 13 April, 1915[31] (in command at the Battle of the Falkland Islands)
- Captain Edward H. F. Heaton-Ellis, 13 April, 1915[32] – 29 November, 1916[33] (in command at Battle of Jutland)
- Captain Arthur A. M. Duff, 29 November, 1916[34]
- Captain Bertram S. Thesiger, 21 August, 1917[35][36] – November, 1917[37]
- Captain James R. P. Hawksley, November, 1917[38] – 15 March, 1919
- Captain Ernest W. Denison, 15 March, 1919[39] – 31 March, 1920 (and as Flag Captain to R.A.C. Nore Reserve)
See Also
Footnotes
- ↑ Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 35.
- ↑ Clydebank Battlecruisers. Footers.
- ↑ Clydebank Battlecruisers. p. 15.
- ↑ Clydebank Battlecruisers. p. 16.
- ↑ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. p. 24.
- ↑ Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 35.
- ↑ Clydebank Battlecruisers. p. 16.
- ↑ Clydebank Battlecruisers. p. 16.
- ↑ Clydebank Battlecruisers. p. 16.
- ↑ The Navy List. (July, 1913). p. 332.
- ↑ The Navy List. (January, 1921). p. 792.
- ↑ Admiralty Weekly Order No. 607 of 24 Oct, 1913.
- ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1913. W/T Appendix, p. 13.
- ↑ Admiralty Weekly Order No. 122 of 10 July, 1914.
- ↑ Brooks. Dreadnought Gunnery. pp. 45-46.
- ↑ The Technical History and Index, Vol. 3, Part 23. pp. 9-11.
- ↑ Roberts. Battlecruisers. p. 122.
- ↑ Torlesse Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/39. f. 1314.
- ↑ Torlesse Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/39. f. 1314.
- ↑ Roberts. Battlecruisers. p. 122.
- ↑ Napier Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 72.
- ↑ Napier Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 72.
- ↑ Phillimore Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 29a.
- ↑ Phillimore Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 29a
- ↑ Hornby Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 338.
- ↑ Hornby Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 338.
- ↑ The Navy List. (July, 1913). p. 332.
- ↑ Loxley Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44. f. 33.
- ↑ Loxley Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44. f. 33.
- ↑ Phillimore Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 29a.
- ↑ Phillimore Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 29a
- ↑ The Navy List. (December, 1916). p. 395k.
- ↑ Heaton-Ellis Service Record. The National Archives. 196/43. f. 20/38.
- ↑ Duff Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 390.
- ↑ The Navy List. (November, 1917). p. 394r.
- ↑ Thesiger Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 472.
- ↑ Thesiger Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 472.
- ↑ The Navy List. (February, 1919). p. 820.
- ↑ The Navy List. (August, 1919). p. 820.
Bibliography
- Dittmar, F.J.; Colledge, J.J. (1972). British Warships 1914–1919. London: Ian Allan.
- 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.
- Parkes, O.B.E., Ass.I.N.A., Dr. Oscar (1990). British Battleships 1860–1950. London: Pen & Sword Ltd. ISBN 0850526043. (on Bookfinder.com).
- Roberts, John (1997). Battlecruisers. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 186176006X. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1557500681. (on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk).
- Johnston, Ian (2011). Clydebank Battlecruisers: Forgotten Photographs from John Brown's Shipyard. South Yorkshire: Seaforth Publishing, Pen & Sword Books. (on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk).
- David K Brown. The Design of HMS Inflexible in Warship, Issue 5.
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