H.M.S. Inflexible (1907)
| H.M.S. Inflexible | |
| Career | Details |
|---|---|
| Pendant Numbers: | 83 (1914) 75 (January, 1918) 47 (April, 1918)[1] |
| Built By: | John Brown's, Clydebank (Ship no. 374)[2] |
| Laid Down: | 5 February, 1906[3] |
| Launched: | 26 June, 1907[4] |
| Commissioned: | 20 October, 1908 |
| Sold: | 1 December, 1921 |
| Fate: | Scrapped |
Construction and Acceptance
When in December 1906 Indomitable's anchor and hawsepipe arrangements seemed problematic in mock-up, Lusitania was fitting out in Clydebank, and it was observed that she had a more elegant plan. It was mimicked for Inflexible and Indomitable.[5]
| Construction Costs, pounds Sterling[6] | |
|---|---|
| Hull and fittings | 785,512 |
| Propelling and Machinery | 467,976 |
| Hydraulics and Air Compressing | 311,696 |
| Gun mountings | 12,824 |
| Total | 1,578,373 |
The ship's heavy gun mountings were manufactured by Vicker's, whereas her sisters' were by Armstrong's. Inflexible's guns were criticised for "poor training control . The creep is not at all good; the turrets to do not start or stop with precision, the reversal of direction of training is erratic," and a pointed contrast made with the same fittings in the other ships. Moreover, the fire control arrangements were not ready by the time of the gun tests.[7]
Alterations
By November, 1909, Inflexible had her training engines' control machinery altered from the original combination of a two-position lever for direction and a hand-wheel operated "creep valve" to control the speed of traversal to a hand wheel which controlled both functions and made operation much less clumsy and permitted a training rate of 3 degrees per second, albeit requiring three full turns of the wheel to get there.[8]
In 1913, Inflexible was slated as part of the seventeen ship order to receive a director. It was fitted sometime between December, 1915 and the Battle of Jutland.[9]
Captains
Dates of appointment are provided when known.
- Captain Henry H. Torlesse, 1 June, 1908.[10]
- Captain Charles L. Napier, 14 December, 1909.[10]
- Captain Richard F. Phillimore, 21 November, 1911.[10]
- Captain Robert S. Phipps Hornby, 8 May, 1912.[10]
- Captain Arthur N. Loxley, 5 November, 1912.[10]
- Captain Richard F. Phillimore, 28 August, 1914.[11]
- Captain Edward H. F. Heaton-Ellis, 13 April, 1915.[12]
- Captain Bertram S. Thesiger, 21 August, 1917.[13]
- Captain James R. P. Hawksley, November, 1917.[14]
- Captain Ernest W. Denison, 15 March, 1919.[15]
- Captain Arthur Allan Morison Duff,
See Also
Footnotes
- ↑ Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships: 1914-1919. p. 35.
- ↑ Johnston. Clydebank Battlecruisers, Footers.
- ↑ Johnston, p. 15.
- ↑ Johnston, p. 16.
- ↑ Johnston. p. 16.
- ↑ Johnston. p. 16.
- ↑ Johnston. p. 16.
- ↑ Brooks. Dreadnought Gunnery and the Battle of Jutland, pp. 45-46.
- ↑ The Technical History and Index: Fire Control in HM Ships, pp. 9-11.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 Roberts. Battlecruisers. p. 122.
- ↑ The Navy List (December, 1914). p. 337.
- ↑ The Navy List (October, 1915). p. 395a.
- ↑ The Navy List (November, 1916). p. 394r.
- ↑ The Navy List (December, 1918). p. 820.
- ↑ The Navy List (August, 1919). p. 820.
Bibliography
- Dittmar, F.J.; Colledge, J.J. (1972). British Warships 1914–1919. London: Ian Allan.
- Template:BibUKFireControlInHMShips1919
- Template:BibParkesBritishBattleships
- Template:BibRobertsBattlecruisers
- Template:BibJohnstonClydebankBattlecruisers
- David K Brown. The Design of HMS Inflexible in Warship, Issue 5.
Template:Invincible Class (1907)
