HMS Andromeda (1897)

Last updated

HMS Andromeda (1897).jpg
Andromeda at anchor at Weihaiwei, China, 1904.
History
Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svgUnited Kingdom
NameAndromeda
Namesake Andromeda
Builder Pembroke Dockyard
Laid down2 December 1895
Launched30 April 1897
Completed5 September 1899
Renamed
  • Powerful II, 23 September 1913
  • Impregnable II November 1919
  • Defiance 20 January 1931
ReclassifiedAs a training ship, 23 September 1913
FateSold for scrap, 1956
General characteristics
Class and type Diadem-class protected cruiser
Displacement11,000 long tons (11,177 t)
Length435 ft (132.6 m) (p/p)
Beam69 ft (21.0 m)
Draught25 ft 6 in (7.8 m)
Installed power
Propulsion
Speed20.5  kn (38.0 km/h; 23.6 mph)
Complement677
Armament
Armour

HMS Andromeda was one of eight Diadem-class protected cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the 1890s. Upon completion in 1899, the ship was assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet where she helped to escort a royal yacht during its cruise through the Mediterranean Sea. After a refit, she was assigned to the China Station in 1904 and returned home three years later to be reduced to reserve. Andromeda was converted into a training ship in 1913 and remained in that role under various names until 1956. That year she was sold for scrap and broken up in Belgium, the last Pembroke-built ship still afloat. [1]

Contents

Design and description

The Diadem class was designed to protect British merchant shipping from fast cruisers like the Russian Rurik [2] and were smaller versions of the Powerful class. The ships had a length between perpendiculars of 435 feet (132.6 m), a beam of 69 feet (21.0 m) and a draught of 25 feet 6 inches (7.8 m). They displaced 11,000 long tons (11,000 t). The first batch of Diadems were powered by a pair of four-cylinder triple-expansion steam engines, each driving one shaft, which were designed to produce a total of 16,500 indicated horsepower (12,300 kW) and a maximum speed of 20.5 knots (38.0 km/h; 23.6 mph) using steam provided by 30 Belleville boilers. They carried a maximum of 1,900 long tons (1,930 t) of coal [3] and their hulls were sheathed with copper to reduce biofouling. Their complement numbered 677 officers and ratings. [4]

The main armament of the Diadem-class ships consisted of 16 quick-firing (QF) QF 6-inch (152 mm) guns. Four of these were on the forecastle and in the stern, all protected by gun shields. The remaining dozen guns were in armoured casemates on each broadside. [5] The ships carried 200 rounds per gun. [6] Protection against torpedo boats was provided by a dozen QF 12-pounder 3 in (76 mm), 12-cwt guns, [5] for which 300 rounds per gun was provided, [7] and 3 QF 3-pounder 1.9 in (47 mm) Hotchkiss guns. [5] In addition, the ships carried a pair of Ordnance QF 12-pounder 8-cwt landing guns for use ashore. The ships were also armed with a pair of submerged 18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes. [8]

The sloped armoured deck ranged in thickness from 2.5 to 4 inches (64 to 102 mm) on the flat and slopes, respectively. [5] The casemates were protected by 6 inches of Harvey armour [7] while the gun shields had 2 to 4.5 inches (51 to 114 mm) of armour. [5] The conning towers were protected by 12-inch (305 mm) walls and their roofs were 2 inches thick. [7] The tubes protecting the ammunition hoists were also 2 inches thick. [5]

Construction and career

Andromeda was the fifth ship of her name to serve in the Royal Navy [9] and was laid down on 2 December 1895 by Pembroke Dockyard. [5] The ship was launched on 30 April 1897 by Lady Scourfield, wife of Sir Owen Scourfield Bt. She was fitted out at Pembroke Dock until 5 September 1898 and sailed later that month to Portsmouth Dockyard for completion. [10]

Upon completion on 5 September 1899, she was assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet. In March 1900 she did a month's cruise of Italian and Spanish ports. [11] In March 1901 the ship was one of two cruisers tasked to escort the ocean liner HMS Ophir, commissioned as a royal yacht for the World tour of the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York (later King George V and Queen Mary), from Gibraltar to Malta, and then to Port Said. [12] Captain Christopher Cradock was appointed in command on 24 March 1902, [13] and from 11 June that year Andromeda served as flagship of the Cruiser Division of the Mediterranean Fleet. [14] In May 1902 she visited Palermo to attend festivities in connection with the opening of an Agricultural Exhibition by King Victor Emmanuel, [15] and the following month the ship was in Gibraltar for a coronation fête. [16] Andromeda and other ships of the division visited Argostoli in early October 1902. [17] She returned home later that year and paid off at Portsmouth on 10 February 1903, [18] then transferred to the dockyard for a lengthy refit.

Andromeda was assigned to the China Station in 1904 and returned home three years later. The ship was reduced to reserve at Chatham Dockyard upon her return, but transferred to Devonport Dockyard shortly afterwards. In 1907 Lieutenant Quentin Crauford was authorised by the Admiralty to create an experimental radio station to broadcast to the fleet in Chatham – and this was the first wireless broadcast of music and speech for the purpose of entertainment in Britain. [19] [20] [21] Andromeda was assigned to the 9th Cruiser Squadron of the new reserve Third Fleet in 1912. The following year the ship was converted to a boys' training ship [22] and renamed Powerful II on 23 September 1913. [9] She was later renamed Impregnable II in November 1919 and finally, HMS Defiance on 20 January 1931, [9] when she became part of the torpedo school. [22] The ship was sold for scrap in 1956 and arrived at Burgt, Belgium, on 14 August to begin demolition. [23]

Notes

  1. ↑ "Cwt" is the abbreviation for hundredweight, 20 cwt referring to the weight of the gun.

Citations

  1. ↑ Phillips 2014, p. 259.
  2. ↑ McBride 1987, p. 211.
  3. ↑ Chesneau & Kolesnik 1979, p. 68.
  4. ↑ Phillips 2014, pp. 214–15.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Chesneau & Kolesnik 1979, p. 5.
  6. ↑ Phillips 2014, p. 215.
  7. 1 2 3 Phillips 2014, p. 15.
  8. ↑ Phillips 2014, pp. 213–14.
  9. 1 2 3 Colledge & Warlow 2006, p. 15.
  10. ↑ Phillips 2014, pp. 258–59.
  11. ↑ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36089. London. 14 March 1900. p. 7.
  12. ↑ "The Duke of Cornwall´s visit to the colonies". The Times. No. 36401. 13 March 1901. p. 5.
  13. ↑ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36724. 25 March 1902. p. 9.
  14. ↑ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times . No. 36792. 12 June 1902. p. 13.
  15. ↑ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36778. 27 May 1902. p. 10.
  16. ↑ "The Coronation - celebrations in the colonies". The Times. No. 36801. 23 June 1902. p. 10.
  17. ↑ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36896. London. 11 October 1902. p. 11.
  18. ↑ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36980. London. 17 January 1903. p. 9.
  19. ↑ Webb, Simon (2018), The Analogue Revolution: Communication Technology, 1901–1914, Pen & Sword Books.
  20. ↑ Tucker, S. D. (2015), Great British Eccentrics, Amberley Publishing
  21. ↑ Bathgate, Gordon. (2020) Radio broadcasting a history of the airwaves., Pen and Sword History (see page 18)
  22. 1 2 Friedman 2012, p. 233.
  23. ↑ Phillips 2014, p. 9.

Related Research Articles

HMS <i>Australia</i> (1886) Cruiser of the Royal Navy

HMS Australia was one of seven Orlando-class armoured cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the mid-1880s. She was assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet in 1889 and remained there until 1893 when she returned home. The ship was assigned to the Coast Guard Squadron for the next decade before she was placed in reserve in 1903. Australia was sold for scrap in 1905.

HMS <i>Bacchante</i> (1901) Cruiser of the Royal Navy

HMS Bacchante was a Cressy-class armoured cruiser built for the Royal Navy around 1900. Upon completion she was assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet as flagship of the fleet's cruiser squadron. She was reduced to reserve upon her return home in 1905 before returning to the Mediterranean in 1906. Six years later she returned home and was again placed in reserve. Recommissioned at the start of World War I, Bacchante became flagship of the 7th Cruiser Squadron. She was present at the Battle of Heligoland Bight a few weeks after the war began, but saw no combat.

HMS <i>Dreadnought</i> (1875) 1875 ironclad turret ship of the Royal Navy

HMS Dreadnought was an ironclad turret ship built for the Royal Navy during the 1870s. Construction was halted less than a year after it began and she was redesigned to improve her stability and buoyancy. Upon completion in 1879, the ship was placed in reserve until she was commissioned in 1884 for service with the Mediterranean Fleet. Upon her return 10 years later, she became a coast guard ship in Ireland for two years. The ship then became a depot ship in 1897 before she was reclassified as a second-class battleship in 1900. Dreadnought participated in the annual fleet manoeuvres for the next two years before she became a training ship in 1902. The ship was taken out of service three years later and sold for scrap in 1908.

HMS <i>Hermes</i> (1898) Cruiser of the Royal Navy

HMS Hermes was a Highflyer-class protected cruiser built for the Royal Navy in the 1890s. She spent much of her early career as flagship for various foreign stations before returning home in 1913 to be assigned to the reserve Third Fleet. The ship was modified later that year as the first experimental seaplane carrier in the Royal Navy. In that year's annual fleet manoeuvers, she was used to evaluate how aircraft could cooperate with the fleet and if aircraft could be operated successfully at sea for an extended time. The trials were a success and Hermes was paid off in December at their conclusion. She was recommissioned at the beginning of World War I in August 1914 for service as an aircraft ferry and depot ship for the Royal Naval Air Service. She was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine in the Straits of Dover that October, with the loss of 21 lives.

HMS <i>Aboukir</i> (1900) British Cressy-class armored cruiser

HMS Aboukir was a Cressy-class armoured cruiser built for the Royal Navy around 1900. Upon completion she was assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet and spent most of her career there. Upon returning home in 1912, she was placed in reserve. Recommissioned at the start of the First World War, she played a minor role in the Battle of Heligoland Bight a few weeks after the beginning of the war. Aboukir was sunk by the German submarine U-9, together with two of her sister ships, on 22 September 1914; 527 men of her complement died.

HMS <i>Nile</i> (1888) British Trafalgar-class battleship

HMS Nile was one of two Trafalgar-class ironclad battleships built for the Royal Navy during the 1880s. Late deliveries of her main guns delayed her commissioning until 1891 and she spent most of the decade with the Mediterranean Fleet. Nile returned home in 1898 and became the coast guard ship at Devonport for five years before she was placed in reserve in 1903. The ship was sold for scrap in 1912 and broken up at Swansea, Wales.

HMS <i>Repulse</i> (1892) Royal Sovereign-class battleship

HMS Repulse was one of seven Royal Sovereign-class pre-dreadnought battleships built for the Royal Navy in the 1890s. Assigned to the Channel Fleet, where she often served as a flagship, after commissioning in 1894, the ship participated in a series of annual manoeuvres, and the Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee Fleet Review during the rest of the decade. Repulse was transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet in 1902 and remained there until December 1903, when she returned home for an extensive refit. After its completion in 1905, Repulse was assigned to the Reserve Fleet until she was sold for scrap in 1911.

HMS <i>Sutlej</i> (1899) Cruiser of the Royal Navy

HMS Sutlej was a Cressy-class armoured cruiser built for the Royal Navy around 1900. Upon completion she was assigned to the China Station. In 1906 she became a training ship for the North America and West Indies Station before returning home and being assigned as the flagship of the reserve Third Fleet in 1909. Relieved as flagship in 1910, she remained in reserve until the beginning of World War I in August 1914.

HMS <i>Drake</i> (1901) British lead ship of Drake-class

HMS Drake was the lead ship of her class of armoured cruisers built for the Royal Navy around 1900. She was assigned to several different cruiser squadrons in home waters upon completion, sometimes as flagship, until 1911 when she became the flagship of the Australia Station. Upon her return home, she was assigned to the 6th Cruiser Squadron of the 2nd Fleet and became the squadron's flagship when the fleet was incorporated into the Grand Fleet upon the outbreak of the First World War.

HMS <i>Leviathan</i> (1901) Cruiser of the Royal Navy

HMS Leviathan was one of four Drake-class armoured cruisers built for the Royal Navy around 1900. She was assigned to the China Station upon completion and then served in the Mediterranean Fleet in 1905–06. She was assigned to the 7th Cruiser Squadron in 1907 before she was briefly reduced to reserve. Leviathan was recommissioned in 1909 for service with the 4th Cruiser Squadron before she was placed in reserve in 1913.

HMS <i>Essex</i> (1901) 1901 British Monmouth-class armoured cruiser

HMS Essex was one of 10 Monmouth-class armoured cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. Upon completion in 1904 she was assigned to the 2nd Cruiser Squadron of the Channel Fleet. The ship was placed in reserve in March 1906 and recommissioned in 1909 for service with the 4th Cruiser Squadron on the North America and West Indies Station. In 1912, Essex returned home and was assigned to the Training Squadron of the Home Fleet. After a refit the following year, she rejoined the 4th Cruiser Squadron in early 1914.

HMS <i>Berwick</i> (1902) Cruiser of the Royal Navy

HMS Berwick was one of 10 Monmouth-class armoured cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. She was assigned to the 2nd Cruiser Squadron of the Channel Fleet upon completion in 1903 and was transferred to the Home Fleet in 1906. She accidentally rammed and sank a British destroyer in 1908. Berwick was refitted in 1908–09 before she was transferred to the 4th Cruiser Squadron on the North America and West Indies Station later that year.

HMS <i>Donegal</i> (1902) Cruiser of the Royal Navy

HMS Donegal was one of 10 Monmouth-class armoured cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. She was initially assigned to the 1st Cruiser Squadron upon completion in 1903 and ran aground en route to the China Station in 1906. She was briefly placed in reserve after repairs before she was assigned to the Home Fleet in 1907. She joined the 4th Cruiser Squadron on the North America and West Indies Station in 1909 before returning home for an assignment with the Training Squadron in 1912. Donegal was reduced to reserve before World War I began in August 1914 as part of the Third Fleet

HMS <i>Devonshire</i> (1904) Cruiser of the Royal Navy

HMS Devonshire was the lead ship of her class of six armoured cruiser built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. She was assigned to the 1st Cruiser Squadron of the Channel Fleet upon completion in 1905 and was transferred to the 2nd Cruiser Squadron of the Atlantic Fleet in 1907. She was assigned to the reserve Third Fleet in 1909 and then to the 3rd Cruiser Squadron of the reserve Second Fleet in 1913.

HMS <i>Niobe</i> (1897) Cruiser of the British (later Canadian) navy

HMS Niobe was a ship of the Diadem class of protected cruisers in the Royal Navy. She served in the Boer War and was then given to Canada as the second ship of the newly created Naval Service of Canada as HMCS Niobe. The Naval Service of Canada became the Royal Canadian Navy in August 1911. The ship was nearly lost when she went aground off Cape Sable Island, Nova Scotia overnight 30–31 July 1911. Repairs were completed at the end of 1912 and the ship returned to service in late 1914. During the First World War, Niobe patrolled the approaches to the St. Lawrence River and then joined the Royal Navy's 4th Cruiser Squadron to patrol off New York City. The cruiser returned to Halifax, Nova Scotia on 17 July 1915 and never put to sea again. Niobe was paid off in September and served as a depot ship in Halifax. Damaged in the 1917 Halifax Explosion, she was sold for scrap and broken up in the 1920s.

HMS <i>Immortalité</i> (1887) Cruiser of the Royal Navy

HMS Immortalité was one of seven Orlando-class armoured cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the mid-1880s. She was sold for scrap on 11 January 1907.

HMS <i>Aurora</i> (1887) British Orlando-class armoured cruisers

HMS Aurora was one of seven Orlando-class armoured cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the mid-1880s. The ship spent a brief time in reserve before she was assigned to the Channel Squadron for two years in 1890. In 1893 Aurora became a coast guard ship in Ireland for two years before she was placed in reserve again. The ship recommissioned in 1899 for service on the China Station and some of her crew participated in the Battle of Tientsin in 1900 during the Boxer Rebellion. Aurora returned home two years later and was again reduced to reserve. She was taken out of service in 1905 and sold for scrap on 2 October 1907.

HMS <i>Thames</i> (1885) Mersey class cruiser

HMS Thames was a Mersey-class protected cruiser built for the Royal Navy (RN) in the 1880s. The ship was placed in reserve upon her completion in 1888 and was converted into a submarine depot ship in 1903. She was sold out of the navy in 1920 and was purchased by a South African businessman to serve as a training ship for naval cadets under the name SATS General Botha. The ship arrived in South Africa in 1921 and began training her first class of cadets in Simon's Town the following year. General Botha continued to train cadets for the first several years of World War II, but the RN took over the ship in 1942 for use as an accommodation ship under her original name. She was scuttled by gunfire in 1947 and is now a diveable wreck.

HMS <i>Empress of India</i> 1893 Royal Sovereign-class battleship

HMS Empress of India was one of seven Royal Sovereign-class pre-dreadnought battleships built for the Royal Navy during the 1890s. The ship was commissioned in 1893 and served as the flagship of the second-in-command of the Channel Fleet for two years. She was transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet in 1897, during which time Empress of India was assigned to the International Squadron blockading Crete during the uprising there. She returned home in 1901 and was briefly assigned as a coast guard ship in Ireland before she became the second flagship of the Home Fleet. The ship was reduced to reserve in 1905 and accidentally collided with the submarine HMS A10 the following year. Empress of India was taken out of service in early 1912 and accidentally struck a German sailing ship while under tow. She was sunk as a target ship in 1913.

HMS Gala was a Yarrow type River-class destroyer ordered by the Royal Navy under the 1903 – 1904 Naval Estimates. Named after the Gala Waters in the Scottish Borders area south of Edinburgh, she was the first Royal Navy ship to carry this name. She was launched on 7 January 1905 and was accidentally sunk in a collision with the cruiser Attentive on 28 April 1908.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.