King Edward VII Class Battleship (1903)

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Armament

During the war, along with those of other older ships, the ten 6-inch guns casemated on the first deck proved of little use in practical sea states. It was first proposed to remove all of them, but this would have left the ships too weak against torpedo craft or in low visibility. Eventually, it was decided to remove the ten casemate guns, plate their ports over with 2 inch armour and move 4 of them to the upper deck (where two were already located).[1]

Main Battery

This section is sourced in The Sight Manual, 1916.[2]

The four 12-in guns were Mark IX mounted in B VII S turrets. The mountings could be elevated 13.5 degrees and depressed 5 degrees.

The gun sights were gear-worked sights with telescopes (periscopes would not debut until St. Vincent) and limited to 13.5 degrees elevation, which was 15,000 yards for full charge.

Somewhat unusually, the side and centre position sights differed in many particulars.

The side sights had a range gearing constant of 40 and a deflection gearing constant of 72.3, with 1 knot equalling 2.64 arc minutes, calculated as 2525 fps at 5000 yards. The side positions had range drums provided for full charge at 2525 fps, reduced charge at 2100 fps, as well as for 6-pdr sub-calibre guns and .303-in aiming rifles. Muzzle velocity was corrected by adjustable pointer between +/- 100 fps. Drift was corrected in the side sights by inclining the pivot 1 degree.

The centre position sights had a range gearing constant of 43.3 and deflection gearing constant of 72.6 with 1 knot equalling 2.63 arc minutes, calculated as 2600 fps at 5000 yards. The centre sights lacked MV correction devices and instead had more range drums provided: five drums proceeded from 2475 to 2575 fps by 25 fps, and another five drums range from 2050 to 2150 fps. 6-pdr sub-calibre and .030-in aiming rifle drums were also provided. Drift was corrected in the centre sights by inclining the pivot 1.833 degrees.

No explicit mention is made of a temperature corrector, but there was a C corrector able to at least modify the ballistic coefficient by +/- 10%.

The side position sighting lines were 40.3 inches above and 41.35 inches abreast the bore, and 42.3 inches above and 20.7 abreast in the centre position.

Secondary Battery

The twelve 6-in guns (on Dominion, Commonwealth, Hindustan and Zealandia, at least) were Mark VII, on P III, P III*, P III S and/or P IV mountings. Ten were casemate guns on the main deck, and two were on the upper deck between the 9.2-in gun turrets.

The gear-worked sights were similar to those in Albemarle and Cornwall, but sturdier. Range gearing constant was 51.41 and deflection gearing constant 82.62, with one knot of deflection being 2.77 arc minutes. Range dials were provided for 2730 fps, 1970 fps, 3-pdr sub-caliber, 1-in aiming rifle and .303-in aiming rifle. MV correction by adjustable pointer for +/- 50 fps. Deflection dial graduated for 2730 fps at 3000 yards. Drift correction was achieved by inclining the sight 1.5 degrees.The sights were 14.45 inches above the bore and 13.1 inches to the side for both sighting positions.[3]

Torpedoes

Fire Control

The general system of wiring between the TSs in ships prior to Lord Nelson class is illustrated in Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914.[4]

Rangefinders

Evershed Bearing Indicators

Evershed Installation
Showing 'X' as a transmitting position.[5]

Installed by late 1914, these ships had transmitting positions in the fore control top and in the forward 12-in turret. The control top had transmitting telescopes to port and starboard with a COS to select the one to use. Both 12-in and all 4 9.2-in turrets were receiving positions, each with an open-face indicator and a turret trainer's indicator.[6]

Gunnery Control

The ships' guns were organized in 5 groups:[7]

  1. Two 12-in turrets
  2. Two Starboard 9.2-in turrets
  3. Two Port 9.2-in turrets
  4. Starboard 6-in guns
  5. Port 6-in guns

Local Control in Turrets

There was no provision in these ships for local turret control wherein the receivers in the turret could be driven by transmitters in the officer's position at the back of the turret.[8]

Directors

Directors were ordered only for Commonwealth and Zealandia on 23 July, 1917 for use in bombardment. Commonwealth was fitted with her director in May 1918, but Zealandia's installation was suspended by the cessation of work on ships at war's end.[9]

These ships never received directors for their secondary batteries.[10]

Torpedo Control

Transmitting Stations

These ships had fore and aft TSes.[11]

A C.O.S. allowed control options of

  1. Fore
  2. After
  3. Separate

Each group had transmitters (of various kind, see below) with a pair of receivers, one wired directly to the transmitter as a tell-tale, and the other fed off the wires going to the distant guns (i.e., the aft guns for the fore TS and vice-versa) as a repeat. "These repeat receivers are necessary to keep the idle transmitters in step; when changing back from separate control they are required to enable both halves of the group to be set alike before being paralleled on to one transmitter."[12]

Dreyer Table

These ships never received Dreyer tables.[13]

Fire Control Instruments

The ships in this class varied in their instruments.

In 1905, Commonwealth, Hindustan, King Edward VII and Zealandia were slated to be equipped with Barr and Stroud Mark I range and order instruments (the range instruments probably changed to Mark II before installation), and Vickers deflection instruments. However, by 1909, these 4 were apparently equipped entirely with Barr and Stroud Mark II equipment.[14] I think it most likely that plans had changed before the ships received the earlier assortment of instruments.

The Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1909 lists the Barr and Stroud Mark II equipment on this class (presumably, only Commonwealth, Hindustan, King Edward VII and Zealandia) as:[15]

  • Combined Range, Order, Deflection: 10 transmitters, 46 receivers
  • Group Switches: 5
  • Rate: 4 transmitters, 12 receivers
  • Bearing: 2 transmitters, 2 receivers (King Edward VII only)

Additionally, this class had the following Graham fire control equipment:[16]

  • Turret fire gongs: 14 with 6 keys
  • Fire Gongs: 10 with 4 keys
  • Captain's Cease Fire Bells: 20 with 1 key

By 1909, Africa, Britannia, Dominion and Hibernia were equipped with instruments from Vickers, Son and Maxim paired with Barr and Stroud rate instruments. The Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1909 lists their equipment as:[17]

  • Vickers range transmitters: 10
  • Vickers deflection transmitters: 10
  • Vickers combined range and deflection receivers: 36 (28 in Dominion)
  • C.O.S.: 5
  • Check fire switches: 10 (6 in Dominion)
  • Barr and Stroud rate transmitters: 4 transmitters
  • Barr and Stroud rate receivers: 12 receivers
  • Siemens turret fire gongs: 14 with 6 keys
  • Vickers fire gongs: 10 with 4 keys (12 and 4 and Siemens in Dominion)
  • Captain's Cease Fire Bells: 20 with 1 key (supplier not stated)

None of the ships had Target Visible or Gun Ready signals.[18]

In 1911, it was decided that Africa, Dominion, Hibernia and Britannia should have Siemens Pattern 120 turret fire gongs adapted so they could be rung mechanically.[19]

See Also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Technical History and Index Vol. 4, Part 36, p. 9.
  2. ↑ The Sight Manual, 1916, pp. 4, 44, 105, 108-109. Plate 17.
  3. ↑ The Sight Manual, 1916, pp. 72.
  4. ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914, p. 50 & Plates 50 and 54(I).
  5. ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914, Plate 45.
  6. ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914, Plate 45. Oddly, not mentioned on pp. 39-40.
  7. ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914, p. 8.
  8. ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914, p. 50.
  9. ↑ The Technical History and Index: Fire Control in HM Ships, 1919, p. 15.
  10. ↑ Director Firing Handbook, 1917, pp. 142-3.
  11. ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914, p. 50 & Plates 50 and 54(I).
  12. ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914, pp. 50-1.
  13. ↑ Handbook of Capt. F.C. Dreyer's Fire Control Tables, p. 3.
  14. ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1909, p. 56.
  15. ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1909, p. 58.
  16. ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1909, p. 58.
  17. ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1909, p. 60.
  18. ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914, p. 11.
  19. ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1911, p. 95.

Bibliography

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Template:King Edward VII Class (1903)

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