H.M.S. Abercrombie (1915)
| H.M.S. Abercrombie (1915) | |
|---|---|
| Pendant Number: | M.01 (1914) M.00 (Jan 1918)[1] |
| Builder: | Harland & Wolff, Belfast[2] |
| Ordered: | 21 Nov, 1914 |
| Laid down: | 12 Dec, 1914[3] |
| Launched: | 15 Apr, 1915[4] |
| Commissioned: | 12 May, 1915 |
| Sold: | 25 Jun, 1927[5] |
| Fate: | Scrapped |
H.M.S. Abercrombie was an Abercrombie Class monitor of the Royal Navy constructed during the Great War.
Formerly the M 1, formerly the Farragut, formerly the Admiral Farragut; the ship's main armament was composed of 14-in guns and mounting purchased and constructed in the U.S. for the Greek ship Salamis (ex-Vasilefs Georgios) which at the outbreak of war had been building in Germany. The plethora of names indicated the heritage of her guns, and as such she was actually launched as Admiral Farragut, but due to U.S. Neutrality laws it was deemed imprudent to recognise the source of the guns. Therefore on 31 May the Admiralty passed a directive (which affected the other members of her class) that Admiral Farragut would become M 1. On 19 June, King George V sanctioned the use of the name Abercrombie for the monitor, after Major-General Ralph Abercromby of the Napoleonic Wars.
There was a second, similar monitor built during World War II.
Construction
The ship was laid down in December, 1914 as hull 472 at the Queen's Island yard of Harland & Wolff and was launched in April of the following year. She was built in berth no. 2 along with H.M.S. Havelock - the same slipway upon which the White Star Liners Olympic and Britannic had been constructed. By June she was ready for active duty. She was the first of 40 monitors to be built for the Royal Navy over the next 30 years, commissioning on 12 May, 1915 under the command of Captain H. M. Doughty.[6]
Service
After completion she took part in the Gallipoli campaign performing ground bombardment duties. On 16 May, 1917 Captain Robert A. Rice was appointed in command.[7]
In September, 1917 she carried a Sopwith Schneider floatplane and then saw service in the Eastern Mediterranean. In May, 1918 she was refitted and had her two 14-in American-made guns replaced with Woolwich-constructed weapons.
| H.M.S. Abercrombie (Ch.) | ||
|---|---|---|
| As of December, 1918.[8] | ||
| Rank | Name | Appointed |
| Captain | Robert Alexander Rice (Acting) | 16 May, 1917 |
| Lieutenant | John Willington Clarence Orby Shelton | 1 May, 1917 |
| Lieutenant | (G) Percy Victor Natali | 20 July, 1918 |
| Lieutenant, R.N.R. | (N) Percy Benjamin Park | 25 March, 1918 |
| Lieutenant, R.N.R. | Edward James Carew Flint | 17 May, 1918 |
| Temporary Engineer Lieutenant | John Buchanan, D.S.M. | 7 September, 1918 |
| Temporary Surgeon Lieutenant | Charles Hart Gimlette | 14 January, 1917 |
| Mate | John Henry Pipe (Acting) | 3 May, 1918 |
| Paymaster Sub-Lieutenant, R.N.R. | Sydney H. Sargent | 21 January, 1918 |
| Gunner | (T) Frederick Dart | 2 July, 1917 |
| Lieutenant, R.N.R. | George W. Jackson | 1 August, 1918 |
| Lieutenant, R.N.R. | George Grimshaw Rose, D.S.C. | 1 August, 1918 |
| Gunner | Oscar Nelson Augustus Smith | 26 April, 1918 |
| Warrant Shipwright | James Robert Brightmore (Acting) | 24 April, 1918 |
| Paymaster Midshipman | Bernard Oliver Selwyn Savage (Clerk to S.N.O.) |
5 September, 1918 |
Captains
Dates of appointment are provided when known.
- Captain Henry M. Doughty, 12 May, 1915[9] – 23 November, 1915[10]
- Captain Alldin U. Moore, 23 November, 1915[11] – 15 May, 1917
- Captain Robert A. Rice, 16 May, 1917[12] – 9 May, 1919
See Also
Footnotes
- ↑ Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 102.
- ↑ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. p. 43.
- ↑ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. p. 43.
- ↑ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. p. 43.
- ↑ Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 102.
- ↑ The Navy List. (October, 1915). p. 391.
- ↑ The Navy List. (December, 1918). p. 721.
- ↑ The Navy List. (December, 1918). p. 721.
- ↑ The Navy List. (October, 1915). p. 391.
- ↑ Doughty Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 50.
- ↑ The Navy List. (December, 1916). p. 391.
- ↑ The Navy List. (June, 1919). p. 721.
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).
- Moss, Michael; Hume, John R. (1986). Shipbuilders to the World: 125 Years of Harland & Wolff, Belfast 1861-1986. Belfast: The Blackstaff Press.
| Abercrombie Class Monitor | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Abercrombie | Havelock | Raglan | Roberts | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| <– | Gorgon Class | Monitors (UK) | "M" Class | –> | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
