Abercrombie Class Monitor (1915)

The Abercrombie class of monitors were the first modern variants of that type to be adopted for the Royal Navy.

Overview of 4 vessels
Citations for this data available on individual ship pages
Name	Builder	Laid Down	Launched	Completed	Fate
Abercrombie	Harland & Wolff, Belfast	12 Dec, 1914	15 Apr, 1915	12 May, 1915	Sold 25 Jun, 1927
Havelock	Harland & Wolff, Belfast	12 Dec, 1914	29 Apr, 1915	Jun, 1915	Sold 25 Jun, 1927
Raglan	Harland & Wolff, Govan	1 Dec, 1914	29 Apr, 1915	Jun, 1915	Sunk 20 Jan, 1918
Roberts	Swan Hunter	17 Dec, 1914	15 Apr, 1915	Jun, 1915	Sold 1936

Background

After the Balkan War of 1912, the Greek Navy decided that it needed a modern addition to its old, second-hand fleet of warships. Turkish rearmament persuaded the Greeks to expand, buying cruisers in Great Britain, and ordering a dreadnought from Germany. The secondary armament of 5.5 inch guns (later to be fitted on the battlecruiser H.M.S. Furious) was ordered from the British Coventry Syndicate, while the main armament of 14 inch guns was ordered from the Bethlehem Steel Corporation in the United States.

The dreadnought, Salamis, had been ordered from the German firm of Vulcan, Stettin. With the outbreak of war in August, 1914 and the British naval blockade of the Baltic which followed, delivery of the 8 guns and their mountings was thought to be impossible. Charles M. Schwab, the president of the Bethlehem Steel Corporation traveled to Britain to discuss the building in America of submarines for the Royal Navy. On his journey over at the end of October, he was aboard the White Star liner Olympic when that vessel attempted to take the sinking H.M.S. Audacious in tow.

In London at the beginning of November finalising his submarine offer with First Sea Lord John Arbuthnot Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher of Kilverstone (the 20 submarines which became the H class), Schwab was asked whether Bethlehem Steel had any other resources available. Schwab offered the four twin turrets from the Salamis, then nearing completion in the United States. Fisher readily accepted. On 6 November rough designs for a class of four 14 inch gun-equipped monitor were prepared. Two weeks later Harland & Wolff were contracted to build three out of the four with the keel of the first vessel, Raglan, laid down at their Govan yard on the first of December. Both Abercrombie and Havelock were laid down on the twelfth. Roberts was laid down at Swan Hunter the same month. All were contracted to complete in five months.

In recognition of the American-constructed armament, it was originally decided to name the four monitors after American Civil War military leaders. Because the sale of the guns to Britain violated U.S. neutrality laws, and the names blatantly drew attention to their source, it was decided before launch that they had to be changed. The Admiral Farragut, General Grant, Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson became M1, M2, M3 and M4 respectively. All four vessels were launched under these names. Shortly after, however, their names were then changed to Abercrombie, Havelock, Raglan and Roberts.

Armament

The armament changed only slightly.

As built:

• Two B.L. 14-in
• Two 12-pdr 18 cwt Q.F. guns
• Two 3-pdr Vickers H.A.
• Two 2-pdr pom-poms

In November 1918:

• Two B.L. 14-in
• Two 12-pdr 18 cwt Q.F. guns
• Two 3-in H.A.
• Two 2-pdr pom-poms
• One 6-in H.A. (Roberts only)

Fire Control

Directors

The ships were fitted with directors in May and June, 1915.

See Also

• Wikipedia

Bibliography

• Buxton, Ian L. (1978). Big Gun Monitors: The History of the Design, Construction and Operation of the Royal Navy's Monitors. Tynemouth: World Ship Society. (on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk).
• 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, 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.