H.M.S. Royal Sovereign (1915)

H.M.S. Royal Sovereign (1915)
Pendant Number:	59 (Aug 1914) 5A (Jan 1918) 89 (Apr 1918)
Builder:	Portsmouth Royal Dockyard
Ordered:	1913 Programme
Laid down:	15 Jan, 1914
Launched:	29 Apr, 1915
Commissioned:	May, 1916
Sold:	5 Apr, 1949
Fate:	Scrapped

Construction

The keel plate was laid by Mrs. Heath, wife of the Admiral-Superintendent on Thursday, 15 January, 1914.

In July 1914, the ship was appropriated 42-foot motor launch No. 251, though the boat was not yet delivered from the contractor.

In March, 1915, Open Director Sights were ordered for all^[Inference] her turrets. They were likely in place by her completion.

Service

Royal Sovereign was completed just a little too late to take part in the Battle of Jutland, but joined her sisters Revenge and Royal Oak in the First Battle Squadron in June, 1916.

Her secondary battery directors were ordered in December, 1914 and installed in March, 1917.

In a torpedo firing practice exercise on 1 July, 1918, Royal Sovereign reloaded a submerged tube in a ninety seconds, and fired the second shot after a further delay of twenty seconds. The second tube failed to reload due to a misunderstood order.

She remained with First Battle Squadron through the end of the war and at least until January, 1921, but Royal Sovereign was re-commissioned at Portsmouth on 3 October, 1922 for service with the Second Battle Squadron, Atlantic Fleet.

After three years with 2 B.S., on 5 May 1925 Royal Sovereign was re-commissioned at the Nore on 5 May, 1925 for service with the First Battle Squadron in the Mediterranean.

She was completed to full complement on 15 May, 1928.

Re-commissioned at Portsmouth on 15 September, 1930.

The ship was re-commissioned at Portsmouth on 18 October, 1932.

Royal Sovereign was re-commissioned at Portsmouth on 23 August, 1935 for service with the Second Battle Squadron of the Home Fleet.

She was reduced to Reserve Complement on 2 June, 1937.

Soviet Service

In 1947, the Sovereign was transferred to the Soviet Navy and renamed the Archangelsk. She had the following 15" rounds – 693 AP, 97 HE, 53 Practice and 16 Training. There were 150 radar-assisted practice shoots during the handing-over period in 1944.

Scrap and use at Jodrell Bank

In January 1949, Royal Sovereign was returned to the Royal Navy by the Soviet Navy but much of her equipment was found to be in poor condition and unserviceable, in the particular the main battery gun turrets and so in May 1949 she was sold to the Thomas Ward scrapyard at Inverkeithing, Scotland to be broken up and sold for scrap and parts. In the early 1950s, the elevation mechanisms from her 18-inch main battery gun turrets were purchased - along with those from her sister ship Revenge - by an engineer from the Husband & Company engineering firm, who re-used the components in the 250-foot Mark I radio telescope (now the Lovell Telescope) at Jodrell Bank, constructed between 1955 and 1957.

Captains

Dates of appointment are provided when known.

• Rear-Admiral Allen T. Hunt, 3 March, 1916 – late July, 1917
• Captain Henry M. Doughty, July, 1917 – 16 June, 1919
• Captain Oliver Backhouse, 16 June, 1919 – 15 September, 1920
• Captain Robert N. Bax, 15 September, 1920 – December, 1920
• Captain William R. Napier, 27 May, 1922 – 25 April, 1924
• Captain Bernard St. G. Collard, 25 April, 1924 – 14 September, 1925^{[Citation needed]}
• Captain Barry E. Domvile, 14 September, 1925 – 1 November, 1926
• Captain William M. James, November, 1926 – December, 1927
• Captain Gerard A. Wells, 19 December, 1927 – August, 1929
• Captain Basil G. Washington, 3 August, 1929 – 15 September, 1930
• Captain James M. Pipon, 15 September, 1930 – 15 January, 1932
• Captain Kenelm E. L. Creighton, 11 January, 1932 – December, 1933
• Captain Bertram H. Ramsay, 25 November, 1933 – 18 June, 1935
• Captain Frank Elliott, 18 June, 1935 – 31 August, 1936
• Captain Roderick B. T. Miles, 31 August, 1936 – July, 1937
• Captain James W. S. Dorling, 18 February, 1938 – 26 July, 1939
• Captain Llewellyn V. Morgan, 26 July, 1939 – 19 October, 1939
• Commander Charles L. Robertson, 19 October, 1939 – 27 November, 1939
• Lieutenant-Commander Roger I. Hoyle, 27 November, 1939 – 28 November, 1939
• Commander Thomas Harland, 28 November, 1939 – 15 December, 1939
• Captain Humphrey B. Jacomb, 15 December, 1939 – 26 September, 1941  (vice "Harland")
• Captain Reginald H. Portal, 20 August, 1941 – 30 September, 1942
• Captain Desmond N. C. Tufnell, 7 August, 1942 – 13 November, 1942  (for the sick Portal)
• Acting Captain Peter Skelton, 19 November, 1942 – 10 December, 1943  (ship repaired in U.S. and returned to Rosyth)
• Captain (retired) Sydney Hopkins, 10 December, 1943 – 28 April, 1944
• Captain Allan T. G. C. Peachey, 28 April, 1944 – 28 June, 1944  (temporary)

See Also

• Wikipedia

Bibliography

• Admiralty, Gunnery Branch (1917). The Director Firing Handbook. O.U. 6125 (late C.B. 1259). Copy No. 322 at The National Archives. ADM 186/227.
• 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.
• 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).