H.M.S. Bellerophon (1907)
| HMS Bellerophon | |
| Career | Details |
|---|---|
| Ordered: | |
| Laid down: | December 06, 1906, HM Dockyard, Portsmouth |
| Launched: | July 27, 1907 |
| Commissioned: | February 20, 1909 |
| Decommissioned: | |
| Fate: | November 8, 1921 Sold for scrap |
| Struck: | 1923 |
| General Characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 18,800 tons (17,055 tonnes) |
| Length: | 526 feet (160.3 metres) |
| Beam: | 82 feet 6 in (25.2 metres) |
| Draught: | 31 feet 5 in (9.6 metres) |
| Propulsion: | 4 Parsons single reduction steam turbines, 4 shafts, 23,000 shp (17 MW) |
| Speed: | 21 knots |
| Range: | 5,720 nautical miles (10,593 km) at 10 knots (18.5 km/h) |
| Complement: | 733 |
| Armament: |
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HMS Bellerophon was a dreadnought of the Royal Navy. She was the lead ship of the Bellerophon class, and the second Royal Navy vessel to bear the name of the mythic Greek hero. Built at the Royal Dockyard in Portsmouth and completed in 1909, Bellerophon first joined the 1st Battle Squadron and then upon the outbreak of war joined the 4th Battle Squadron where she remained until 1919. She was present at the Battle of Jutland where she fired 62 12 in rounds and received no damage. With the end of the war she was placed in the Reserve Fleet and sold for scrap in 1921 before being taken to the breakers two years later.
Design
While revolutionary, HMS Dreadnought had been revealed to have certain shortcomings. Her secondary armament was judged to be insufficient to combat the increased size of torpedo boats, regarded at the time as the principal threat to major surface warships. Hence her secondary armament was strengthened, her anti-torpedo protection was improved in the shape of continuous anti-torpedo bulkheads running from the front of the fore magazine to the rear of the aft magazine.
Externally she looked similar, having the same main armament layout of 5 twin 12 inch mounts, secondary armament mounted in casemates on the superstructure and upon the deck and lighter guns atop the turrets. A torpedo-control tower aft completed the profile. The Bellerophon was different in having two tripod masts with two control tops to facilitate sea keeping in peacetime, a practice which proved unworkable and was not repeated after the St. Vincent class.
Due to the scaling down of coal bunkerage, she had a modest range of 5,720 miles at 10 knots. Her four Parsons single reduction steam turbines were constructed by the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company.
Career
Laid down the month HMS Dreadnought was commissioned, Bellerophon was the name ship of the Bellerophon class and was the first to be completed. The cost of building was £1,763,491, making the most expensive of her class. She was laid down on December 06, 1906, launched on July 27, 1907 and commissioned into the fleet in February 20, 1909. On trials she made 21.25 knots, a speed lower than that of her sisters due to inferior shp; 25,061 shp as opposed to HMS Superb's 27,407 shp and HMS Temeraire's 26,966 shp.
Upon completion she joined the 1st Battle Squadron of the Home Fleet. On May 26, 1911 she was in collision with the battlecruiser HMS Inflexible. Bellerophon received damage whilst Inflexible took bow damage which put her in the dockyard until November. On August 1, [[1914, after the Fleet Mobilisation and the formation of the Grand Fleet she joined the 4th Battle Squadron.
On the journey to the fleet anchorage at Scapa Flow, Bellerophon collided with the vessel SS St Clair on August 27 off the Orkney Islands and sustained no major damage. In May 1915 She headed to the Royal Dockyard, Devonport for a refit.
At the Battle of Jutland the vessel was under the command of Captain Edward F. Bruen in the Second Division (commanded by Rear Admiral Alexander Duff) of the 4th Battle Squadron under Vice Admiral Doveton Sturdee. The 4th Battle Squadron deployed behind the 2nd battle squadron in line ahead in the main part of the battle, and Bellerophon fired sixt two 12 inch rounds without receiving one hit.
After the battle she sweeped with the other vessels of the Grand Fleet regularly. Between June and September, 1917 she served as the flagship of the 2ic of the 4th Battle Squadron, carrying the flag of Rear Admiral Roger Keyes and then Rear Admiral Douglas Nicholson. Unlike her sister ships she was not deployed to the Eastern Mediterranean Squadron in October, 1918.
Placed in reserve in 1919, she and her sister ship Superb were used as Gunnery School (Turret Drill). She was sold to the breakers in November 1921 and broken up in 1923.
