H.M.S. King Edward VII (1903)

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H.M.S. King Edward VII (1903)
Pendant Number: 66 (1914)[1]
Builder: Devonport Royal Dockyard[2]
Ordered: 1901-02 Programme[3]
Laid down: 8 Mar, 1902[4]
Launched: 23 Jul, 1903[5]
Completed: Feb, 1905[6]
Commissioned: 7 Feb, 1905[7]
Mined: 6 Jan, 1916[8]
Fate: off Cape Wrath[9]

H.M.S. King Edward VII was the name ship of a class of eight late pre-dreadnought battleships. Her service until her loss in the Great War was as the flagship of the Third Battle Squadron which was centered upon these semi-useful but then-obsolescent battleships.

Construction

The casting for the rudder frame was made by Ayrshire Foundry Company. After it had been installed in the ship a "a crack and a large hole" were discovered in the casting which had been covered over by the company with welding.[10]

Service

As part of the Channel Fleet, King Edward VII underwent a refit from 13 December 1907 to 24 February 1908.[11]

Upon the formation of the Third Battle Squadron in May, 1912, King Edward VII was made its flagship.

On 23 August, 1914, King Edward VII reported two cracked 12-inch guns.[12] On 24 August she was ordered to Devonport to replace them and coat bottom. The Vice-Admiral's flag was briefly shifted to Dominion.[13]

King Edward VII was lost to a mine on 6 January, 1916 while proceeding to Belfast to be refit.[14]

When news of her sinking reached him, Ralph Lyall Clayton, who had briefly served in King Edward VII in 1906-7 and who was now serving as the disenchanted torpedo officer in Queen Mary recorded in his diary on 16 January that[15]

One takes the loss of the ‘King Edward’ very calmly; that class aren’t of much importance now

Radio

Although her class was the first to generally be fitted with Service Gear Mark II, in 1906, the ship was one of ten ships and two shore stations slated to receive "C" Tune Gear, capable of transmitting on "S", "T" and "U" tunes.[16] In 1908, it one of just nine equipped with the "C" Tune Gear, capable of transmitting on "S", "U" and "W" tunes. It was to receive a Service Mark II set in 1909.[17]

At the end of 1909, she was to receive one of eleven Short Distance Radio Sets, to be installed at her next refit behind armour near the fore bridge, intended to supplant flag signaling.[18] In mid-1913, this gear was redesignated as Type 3.[19]

Captains

Dates of appointment are provided when known.

See Also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 31.
  2. ↑ Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 31.
  3. ↑ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 38.
  4. ↑ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 38.
  5. ↑ Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 31.
  6. ↑ Burt. British Battleships: 1889-1904. p. 267.
  7. ↑ Burt. British Battleships: 1889-1904. p. 287.
  8. ↑ Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 31.
  9. ↑ Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 31.
  10. ↑ Appropriation Account, 1905–1906. p. 170.
  11. ↑ Report from Charles Beresford dated 18 April 1908 in Naval Policy - Strategy - Tactics: Miscellaneous papers from Private Office received by record office at The National Archives. ADM 116/942, unnumbered folio halfway within series. p. 1.
  12. ↑ "Grand Fleet Operations - Narrative of Events." Jellicoe Papers. British Library. Add MS. 48995. f. 57.
  13. ↑ "Grand Fleet Operations - Narrative of Events." Jellicoe Papers. British Library. Add MS. 48995. f. 59.
  14. ↑ See Third Battle Squadron (Royal Navy) for details on her service in 3BS.
  15. ↑ Clayton diary on Personal Naval Press website.
  16. ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1906. Wireless Appendix, p. 15.
  17. ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1908. Wireless Appendix, p. 13.
  18. ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1909. Wireless Appendix, p. 25.
  19. ↑ Admiralty Weekly Order No. 306 of 20 June, 1913.
  20. ↑ Leveson Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 472.
  21. ↑ Leveson Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 472.
  22. ↑ Pelly Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 483.
  23. ↑ Pelly Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 483.
  24. ↑ The Navy List. (January, 1910). p. 337.
  25. ↑ Brock Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 49.
  26. ↑ Brock Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 49.
  27. ↑ Everett Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 23.
  28. ↑ The Navy List. (April, 1911). p. 337.
  29. ↑ Everett Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 23.
  30. ↑ Williamson Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 22.
  31. ↑ Williamson Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 22.
  32. ↑ Heaton-Ellis Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 38.
  33. ↑ Heaton-Ellis Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 20/38.
  34. ↑ Ross Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44. f. 46.
  35. ↑ Ross Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44. f. 46.
  36. ↑ Grant Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 461.
  37. ↑ The Navy List. (June, 1914). p. 334.
  38. ↑ Grant Service Record The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 461.
  39. ↑ The Navy List. (October, 1915). p. 395g.
  40. ↑ Hepper. British Warship Losses in the Ironclad Era: 1860-1919. p. 50.

Bibliography

  • Dittmar, F.J.; Colledge, J.J. (1972). British Warships 1914–1919. London: Ian Allan.
  • Parkes, O.B.E., Ass.I.N.A., Dr. Oscar (1990). British Battleships 1860–1950. London: Pen & Sword Ltd. ISBN 0850526043. (on Bookfinder.com).
  • Preston, Antony (1972). Battleships of World War I. New York, NY: Galahad Books. ISBN 0883653001.


King Edward VII Class Pre-dreadnought
  Africa Britannia Commonwealth Dominion  
  Hibernia Hindustan King Edward VII Zealandia  
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