H.M.S. Swiftsure (1903)

From The Dreadnought Project
Jump to navigationJump to search
H.M.S. Swiftsure (1903)
Pendant Number: P.05 (Jan 1918)[1]
Builder: Armstrong, Whitworth & Company[2]
Ordered: Purchased 3 Dec, 1903[3]
Laid down: 26 Feb, 1902[4]
Launched: 12 Jan, 1903[5]
Commissioned: Jun, 1904[6]
Sold: 18 Jun, 1920[7]
Fate: Scrapped

H.M.S. Swiftsure was originally built for Chile as Constitucion; she was purchased along with sister Triumph on 3 December, 1903.[8] As a consequence, she did not resemble contemporary British ships.

Service

Swiftsure was recommissioned at Portsmouth on 26 March, 1913 to become flagship of the East Indies station.[9]

At 3am on the night of 28 January 1915, while in the Suez Canal supporting ground forces, Swiftsure switched on her searchlights to engage enemies attacking a friendly outpost. She opened fire with 7.5-in lyddite shells at 7.05am, ceasing fire at 7.40 when the enemy retreated.[10]

On 10 August, 1915, a gun aboard Swiftsure accidentally fired and caused casualties on a transport. A Court of Enquiry found that gunnery Lieutenant-Commander Cuthbert Winthrop Swithinbank had permitted the gun to remain loaded after the gun crew had fallen out. He received an expression of the Vice-Admiral's dissatisfaction with his neglect of duty.[11]

Swiftsure served in the East Indies until 1915 and then moved to the Mediterranean.[12] She paid off on 26 April, 1917.[13]

Alterations

In mid-1913 it was approved that these ships receive a Mark III Dumaresq, Pattern 760. Having been supplied with the Mark III variant, each was to surrender a Mark I instrument.[14]

In 1918, Swiftsure was converted to a blockship at Chatham Royal Dockyard, but was never used as such.[15]

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. ↑ Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 31.
  4. ↑ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 39.
  5. ↑ Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 31.
  6. ↑ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 39.
  7. ↑ Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 31.
  8. ↑ Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 31.
  9. ↑ The Navy List. (April, 1914). p. 379.
  10. ↑ Transcribed ships log.
  11. ↑ Swithinbank Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/50/49. f. ?.
  12. ↑ Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships: 1914-1919. p. 31.
  13. ↑ The Navy List. (November, 1917). p. 398c.
  14. ↑ Admiralty Weekly Order No. 283 of 6 June, 1913.
  15. ↑ Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 31.
  16. ↑ The Navy List. (October, 1904). p. 381.
  17. ↑ Galloway Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/19. f. 139/276.
  18. ↑ Galloway Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/19. f. 139/276.
  19. ↑ Cradock Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 89.
  20. ↑ Cradock Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 89.
  21. ↑ The Navy List. (October, 1908). p. 380.
  22. ↑ Thursby Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/20. f. 658.
  23. ↑ Thursby Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/20. f. 658.
  24. ↑ Tower Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 32.
  25. ↑ The Navy List. (April, 1911). p. 380.
  26. ↑ Hornby Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 338.
  27. ↑ Hornby Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 338.
  28. ↑ Gaunt Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/49. f. 161.
  29. ↑ "Naval Appointments." The Times (London, England), 29 Aug. 1912, p. 2.
  30. ↑ Dutton Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44. f. 258.
  31. ↑ Dutton Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44. f. 258.
  32. ↑ Preston Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44/79. f. 79.
  33. ↑ Preston Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44/79. f. 79.
  34. ↑ Marshall Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43/110. f. 117.
  35. ↑ Marshall Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43/110. f. 117.
  36. ↑ The Navy List. (April, 1914). p. 379.
  37. ↑ The Navy List. (April, 1914). p. 379.
  38. ↑ The Navy List. (April, 1915). p. 398m.
  39. ↑ The Navy List. (April, 1915). p. 398m.
  40. ↑ Talbot Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43/421. f. 421.
  41. ↑ The Navy List. (December, 1916). p. 398m.
  42. ↑ Talbot Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43/421. f. 421.
  43. ↑ The Navy List. (February, 1919). p. 912a.

Bibliography

  • Dittmar, F.J.; Colledge, J.J. (1972). British Warships 1914–1919. London: Ian Allan.
  • Chesneau, Robert; Kolesnik, Eugene (editors) (1979). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. London: Conway Maritime Press. (on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk).
  • 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.
  • 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.


Triumph Class Pre-dreadnought
  Swiftsure Triumph  
<– Duncan Class Battleships (UK) King Edward VII Class –>


Retrieved from "http://dreadnoughtproject.org/tfs/index.php?title=H.M.S._Swiftsure_(1903)&oldid=305628"