Difference between revisions of "H.M.S. Invincible (1907)"

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'''HMS ''Invincible'''''was a [[battlecruiser]] of the [[Royal Navy]], the [[lead ship]] of [[Invincible class (1907)|her class]] of three, and the first battlecruiser to be built by any country in the world.
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'''HMS ''Invincible''''' was a [[battlecruiser]] of the [[Royal Navy]], the [[lead ship]] of [[Invincible class (1907)|her class]] of three, and the first battlecruiser to be built by any country in the world.  After an initial period of near-constant modification she became an active unit of the Battlecruiser Force.  She participated in the [[Battle of Heligoland Bight]], the [[Battle of the Falkland Islands]] and the [[Battle of Jutland]], where she was sunk in action on [[31 May]], [[1916]].
  
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The ship was built at [[Sir W. G. Armstrong, Whitworth & Co., Ltd]] on Tyneside.  She was laid down on [[2 April]] [[1906]], and launched at 3 p.m. on [[13 April]] [[1907]] by Lady Allendale.  On [[28 December]], while still fitting out, she was hit by the collier ''Oden'', which resulted in the buckling of beams and frames in the hull and 5 bottom plates were stove in.  On [[8 September]], [[1908]] Captain [[Mark Edward Frederic Kerr|M.E.F. Kerr]] was appointed to command.  She was officially completed on [[16 March]] [[1909]], her completion having been delayed by the ''Oden'' incident and the installation of electric turrets.  On [[18 March]], she sailed from the Tyne to [[Portsmouth]], where she would be commissioned.  On the way, she collided with the brigantine ''Mary Ann'', and stood by until the [[lifeboat]] ''John Birch'' arrived from [[Yarmouth]] to take the brigantine in tow. She was commissioned into the fleet on [[20 March]] [[1909]] and joined the [[British 1st Cruiser Squadron|1st Cruiser Squadron]] (1st C.S.) of the [[British 1st Division|1st Division]], [[British Home Fleet|Home Fleet]].
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==Construction==
  
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She participated in fleet manoeuvres in April and June of 1909, the [[Fleet Review, Royal Navy|Spithead Review]] on [[12 June]] [[1909]], and the [[Fleet Review, Royal Navy|Fleet Review]] off Southend on [[2 July]].  Periodically she had to be taken in hand at Portsmouth for repairs, alterations and additions until [[27 March]], [[1911]] when she was reduced to a nuclues crew in preparation for refit.  On [[28 March]] Captain Kerr was replaced by Captain [[Richard Purefoy FitzGerald Purefoy|R.P.F. Purefoy]] and the ship went into refit at Portsmouth until [[2 June]], when she recommissioned at Portsmouth for further service in the 1st C.S..  On [[1 May]], [[1912]] Captain [[Michael Culme-Seymour|M. Culme-Seymour]] replaced Captain Purefoy.  On [[1 January]], [[1913]] the 1st C.S. became the [[British 1st Battlecruiser Squadron|1st Battlecruiser Squadron]] (1st B.C.S.).  On [[17 March]], [[1913]] she collided with the submarine C-34 in Stokes Bay (in the Solent), suffering no damage in the process.
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HMS ''Invincible'' was built at [[Sir W. G. Armstrong, Whitworth & Co., Ltd]] on Tyneside.  She was laid down on [[2 April]] [[1906]], and launched at 3 p.m. on [[13 April]] [[1907]] by Lady Allendale.
  
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In August, [[1913]] ''Invincible'' joined the [[British 2nd Battlecruiser Squadron|2nd Battlecruiser Squadron]] (2nd B.C.S.) in [[British Mediterranean Fleet|Mediterranean Fleet]] after annual manoeuvres.
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She was constructed with a new form of turret operation, namely electically powered mountings for the 12" guns - a first in British naval construction.  She was fitted with two turrets each built by [[Vickers Ltd.]] and the [[Elswick Ordnance Company]]. Her turbines were constructed by Humphreys of Tennant and was fitted with thirty-one Yarrow boilers.
  
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At the beginning of the [[First World War]], she took part in the action at the [[Battle of Heligoland Bight]] on [[28 August]] [[1914]], before being sent along with her sister [[HMS Inflexible (1908)|''Inflexible'']] to the [[South Atlantic]] where she fought in the first [[Battle of the Falkland Islands]] on [[8 December]] [[1914]]. In this battle, she fired off 513 12 inch shells at the enemy.
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On [[28 December]], while still fitting out, she was hit by the collier ''Oden'', which resulted in the buckling of beams and frames in the hull and 5 bottom plates were stove in.  On [[8 September]], [[1908]] Captain [[Mark Edward Frederic Kerr|M.E.F. Kerr]] was appointed to command.  She was officially completed on [[16 March]] [[1909]], her completion having been delayed by the ''Oden'' incident and the installation of electric turrets.  On [[18 March]], she sailed from the Tyne to [[Portsmouth]], where she would be commissioned.  On the way, she collided with the brigantine ''Mary Ann'', and stood by until the [[lifeboat]] ''John Birch'' arrived from [[Yarmouth]] to take the brigantine in tow. She was commissioned into the fleet on [[20 March]] [[1909]] and joined the [[British 1st Cruiser Squadron|1st Cruiser Squadron]] (1st C.S.) of the [[British 1st Division|1st Division]], [[British Home Fleet|Home Fleet]].
  
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At the [[Battle of Jutland]] on [[31 May]] [[1916]], she was the flagship of the 3rd Battlecruiser Squadron. She was hit in her "Q" turret by a salvo from [[SMS Lützow|''Lützow'']], which blew the roof off the turret over the site.  It was either this shell hit which caused a flash down the magazine or a second shell in the same salvo that penetrated the armor and exploded in the magazine, causing a massive explosion.  The ship broke in two and sank with the loss of all but six of her crew of 1,021.  Admiral [[Horace Lambert Alexander Hood|Hood]] was among the dead.
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==Early career==
  
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After the war, the wreckage was located by a minesweeper at 57-02-40 North Latitude, 06-07-15 East Longitude, 180 feet down.
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She participated in fleet manoeuvres in April and June of 1909, the [[Fleet Review, Royal Navy|Spithead Review]] on [[12 June]] [[1909]], and the [[Fleet Review, Royal Navy|Fleet Review]] off Southend on [[2 July]].  Periodically she had to be taken in hand at Portsmouth for repairs, alterations and additions until [[27 March]], [[1911]] when she was reduced to a nuclues crew in preparation for refit.  On [[28 March]] Captain Kerr was replaced by Captain [[Richard Purefoy FitzGerald Purefoy|R.P.F. Purefoy]] and the ship went into refit at Portsmouth until [[2 June]], when she recommissioned at Portsmouth for further service in the 1st C.S..  On [[1 May]], [[1912]] Captain [[Michael Culme-Seymour|M. Culme-Seymour]] replaced Captain Purefoy.  On [[1 January]], [[1913]] the 1st C.S. became the [[British 1st Battlecruiser Squadron|1st Battlecruiser Squadron]] (1st B.C.S.).  On [[17 March]], [[1913]] she collided with the submarine C-34 in Stokes Bay (in the Solent), suffering no damage in the process.
  
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=== General Design ===
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In August, [[1913]] ''Invincible'' joined the [[British 2nd Battlecruiser Squadron|2nd Battlecruiser Squadron]] (2nd B.C.S.) in the [[British Mediterranean Fleet|Mediterranean Fleet]] after annual manoeuvres.  At the same time Captain [[Henry Bertram Pelly|H.B. Pelly]] was appointed to command. From [[30 October]] to [[5 November]], [[1913]] she was under refit at Malta.  In December she returned to Britain to undertake a major refit which began in March, [[1914]].  She was reduced to a nucleus crew while major work was done, Captian Pelly remaining in charge until completion of work in July.
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In 1904 the [[Royal Navy]] was at a crossroads. Since 1887 successive governments, most notably that of  Lord Salisbury in its second and third iteration, pursued a “Two-Power Standard” for the [[Royal Navy]], building it up to the size of the next two largest naval power combined. This policy had seen Naval Estimates rise from less than £12.5 million in 1887 to a new peak of £36.8 million by 1904.
 
  
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The navies of [[France]], [[Russia]], [[Japan]], the [[United States]] and now [[Germany]] were growing at a rapid rate, and so too was the effort which the Royal Navy had to make to stay ahead. Of particular threat were the large numbers of large, powerful [[armoured cruiser]]s being built by all these powers. These ships were large, fast and well suited to attacking Great Britain’s trade routes.
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===1914 refit===
  
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Between 1897 and 1904, the Royal Navy ordered 457,300 tons of large [[armoured cruiser]]s and 434,670 tons of [[battleship]]s. The cost of this construction was ruinous, as was the cost of maintaining extensive fleets and squadrons of large and small warships on a worldwide basis.  The new Liberal Government, and the new First Sea Lord [[John Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher|Jackie Fisher]] were determined to cut naval expenditure. Fisher himself was convinced that the Royal Navy of the future needed to be leaner, less costly and more powerful. In particular he was disdainful of the many small cruisers on foreign stations, deeming them “too small to fight and too slow to run away” from the modern, large armoured cruisers.  Fisher wanted smaller numbers of larger, fast ships and very powerful ships that could run down and destroy smaller enemy vessels. [[HMS Dreadnought (1906)|''HMS Dreadnought'']] was one part of the solution found by Fisher’s committee. The other part was a new class of armoured cruisers.
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During the refit ''Invincible's'' 12" electrically-operated turrets were changed to operate on hydraulic power.  The 4" guns atop '''A''' and '''Y''' turrets were removed to the forward superstructure, where they along with the others there were enclosed in unarmoured casemates. Two 4" guns were placed on the shelter deck between the fore funnels, and two 4" guns placed either side of the [[conning tower]] on the conning tower platform.
  
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The Naval Estimates continued to decline over the next three years, reaching a low of 31 million pounds, as Fisher paid off obsolete small cruisers and closed or downgraded overseas bases. These ships and bases were to be replaced by the new ships - able to sail quickly from one point to the next, hunt down their opposition and move on.
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==First World War==
  
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The new battlecruisers, as they were eventually named, retained the protection scheme of the last armoured cruisers, but added the all big gun armament and turbine propulsion of the ''Dreadnought''-design. The result was a large, fast and powerful ship that rendered every existing armoured cruiser obsolete and soon saw that type disappear from the building programmes of every navy. Very quickly though, the ''Invincible''-design was overtaken by new battlecruiser designs and was itself rendered obsolete, particularly with regard to protection.
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At the beginning of the [[First World War]], she took part in the action at the [[Battle of Heligoland Bight]] on [[28 August]] [[1914]], before being sent along with her sister [[HMS Inflexible (1908)|''Inflexible'']] to the [[South Atlantic]] where she fought in the first [[Battle of the Falkland Islands]] on [[8 December]] [[1914]]. In this battle, she fired off five hundred and thirteen 12" shells at the enemy.
  
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The [[Battle of the Falkland Islands]] completely vindicated her design thinking, yet very soon after, at the [[Battle of Jutland]], the obsolescence of this initial class was demonstrated by its vulnerability to large calibre fire of other ships, built of course in answer to her own design!
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At the [[Battle of Jutland]] on [[31 May]] [[1916]], she was the flagship of the 3rd Battlecruiser Squadron. She was hit in her '''Q''' turret by a salvo from [[SMS Lützow|''Lützow'']], which blew the roof off the turret over the site.  It was either this shell hit which caused a flash down the magazine or a second shell in the same salvo that penetrated the armor and exploded in the magazine, causing a massive explosion.  The ship broke in two and sank with the loss of all but six of her crew of 1,021.  Admiral [[Horace Lambert Alexander Hood|Hood]] was among the dead.  She was officially paid of by the Royal Navy on [[3 June]], [[1916]].
  
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It was often said of the armoured cruisers -- particularly after the [[Canopus class battleship|''Canopus''-class]] battleships used the properties of face hardened [[Krupp armour]] in 6 in (152 mm) thickness, identical to contemporary armoured cruiser protection -- that armoured cruisers would be a valuable addition to the battleline in some circumstances.  With their powerful armament, use of battlecruisers in the line of battle was often postulated. However, at no time during First World War were British battlecruisers used in the battle line, although they suffered heavy losses while being deployed in the scouting forces of the main fleet.
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After the war, the wreckage was located by a minesweeper at 57-02-40 North Latitude, 06-07-15 East Longitude, 180 feet down.
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See [[HMS Invincible|HMS ''Invincible'']] for other ships of the same name.
 
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==  References ==
 
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* V. E. Tarrant, ''Battlecruiser Invincible:  The History of the First Battlecruiser, 1909-1916'' (Arms and Armour Press, London, 1986)  ISBN 0-87021-147-1
 
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* Robert Gardiner, ed., ''Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906 - 1921'' (Conway Maritime Press, London, 1985)
 
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'''HMS Invincible''' was a battlecruiser of the [[Royal Navy]] and the lead ship of the
 
  
 
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[[Category:Ship|Invincible (1907), HMS]]
 
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[[Category:Invincible Class (1907)|Invincible (1907), HMS]]

Revision as of 00:45, 5 June 2007

HMS Invincible
Career Details
Pennant: 85 (1914)
Ordered: 1906 Naval Program
Laid down: 2 April, 1906
Launched: 13 April, 1907
Commissioned: 20 March, 1909
Fate: Sunk at the Battle of Jutland, 31 May 1916
General Characteristics
Displacement: 17,526 tons
Length: 567 ft (172.8 m)
Beam: 78 ft 6 in (23.9 m)
Draught: 25 ft (7.6 m) normal; 29 ft 7 in (9 m) deep
Armament: Eight 12 inch (305 mm) 45 caliber (4x2)
Sixteen 4 inch (102 mm) (16x1)
Seven Maxim machine guns (7x1)
Five 18 inch (45.7 mm) torpedo tubes (4 broadside, 1 stern)
One 3 inch anti aircraft gun added 1914
Propulsion: Parsons geared steam turbines producing 41,000 shp; 4 shafts
Speed: 25.5 knots
Range: 2,270 nautical miles at 23 knots
3,050 nautical miles at 23 knots using fuel oil
Complement: 722 (as designed)
1,032 (as a flagship, May, 1916)

HMS Invincible was a battlecruiser of the Royal Navy, the lead ship of her class of three, and the first battlecruiser to be built by any country in the world. After an initial period of near-constant modification she became an active unit of the Battlecruiser Force. She participated in the Battle of Heligoland Bight, the Battle of the Falkland Islands and the Battle of Jutland, where she was sunk in action on 31 May, 1916.

Construction

HMS Invincible was built at Sir W. G. Armstrong, Whitworth & Co., Ltd on Tyneside. She was laid down on 2 April 1906, and launched at 3 p.m. on 13 April 1907 by Lady Allendale.

She was constructed with a new form of turret operation, namely electically powered mountings for the 12" guns - a first in British naval construction. She was fitted with two turrets each built by Vickers Ltd. and the Elswick Ordnance Company. Her turbines were constructed by Humphreys of Tennant and was fitted with thirty-one Yarrow boilers.

On 28 December, while still fitting out, she was hit by the collier Oden, which resulted in the buckling of beams and frames in the hull and 5 bottom plates were stove in. On 8 September, 1908 Captain M.E.F. Kerr was appointed to command. She was officially completed on 16 March 1909, her completion having been delayed by the Oden incident and the installation of electric turrets. On 18 March, she sailed from the Tyne to Portsmouth, where she would be commissioned. On the way, she collided with the brigantine Mary Ann, and stood by until the lifeboat John Birch arrived from Yarmouth to take the brigantine in tow. She was commissioned into the fleet on 20 March 1909 and joined the 1st Cruiser Squadron (1st C.S.) of the 1st Division, Home Fleet.

Early career

She participated in fleet manoeuvres in April and June of 1909, the Spithead Review on 12 June 1909, and the Fleet Review off Southend on 2 July. Periodically she had to be taken in hand at Portsmouth for repairs, alterations and additions until 27 March, 1911 when she was reduced to a nuclues crew in preparation for refit. On 28 March Captain Kerr was replaced by Captain R.P.F. Purefoy and the ship went into refit at Portsmouth until 2 June, when she recommissioned at Portsmouth for further service in the 1st C.S.. On 1 May, 1912 Captain M. Culme-Seymour replaced Captain Purefoy. On 1 January, 1913 the 1st C.S. became the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron (1st B.C.S.). On 17 March, 1913 she collided with the submarine C-34 in Stokes Bay (in the Solent), suffering no damage in the process.

In August, 1913 Invincible joined the 2nd Battlecruiser Squadron (2nd B.C.S.) in the Mediterranean Fleet after annual manoeuvres. At the same time Captain H.B. Pelly was appointed to command. From 30 October to 5 November, 1913 she was under refit at Malta. In December she returned to Britain to undertake a major refit which began in March, 1914. She was reduced to a nucleus crew while major work was done, Captian Pelly remaining in charge until completion of work in July.

1914 refit

During the refit Invincible's 12" electrically-operated turrets were changed to operate on hydraulic power. The 4" guns atop A and Y turrets were removed to the forward superstructure, where they along with the others there were enclosed in unarmoured casemates. Two 4" guns were placed on the shelter deck between the fore funnels, and two 4" guns placed either side of the conning tower on the conning tower platform.

First World War

At the beginning of the First World War, she took part in the action at the Battle of Heligoland Bight on 28 August 1914, before being sent along with her sister Inflexible to the South Atlantic where she fought in the first Battle of the Falkland Islands on 8 December 1914. In this battle, she fired off five hundred and thirteen 12" shells at the enemy.

At the Battle of Jutland on 31 May 1916, she was the flagship of the 3rd Battlecruiser Squadron. She was hit in her Q turret by a salvo from Lützow, which blew the roof off the turret over the site. It was either this shell hit which caused a flash down the magazine or a second shell in the same salvo that penetrated the armor and exploded in the magazine, causing a massive explosion. The ship broke in two and sank with the loss of all but six of her crew of 1,021. Admiral Hood was among the dead. She was officially paid of by the Royal Navy on 3 June, 1916.

After the war, the wreckage was located by a minesweeper at 57-02-40 North Latitude, 06-07-15 East Longitude, 180 feet down.

Template:HMS Invincible Class (1907)

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