Design and description
The Monmouths were intended to protect British merchant shipping from fast cruisers like the French Guichen, Châteaurenault or the Dupleix class. The ships were designed to displace 9,800 long tons (10,000 t ). They had an overall length of 463 feet 6 inches (141.3 m), a beam of 66 feet (20.1 m) and a deep draught of 25 feet (7.6 m). They were powered by two 4-cylinder triple-expansion steam engines, each driving one shaft using steam provided by 31 Belleville boilers. The engines produced a total of 22,000 indicated horsepower (16,000 kW ) which was designed to give the ships a maximum speed of 23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph). Essex, however, was one of three of the Monmouths that failed to meet her designed speed. [1] She carried a maximum of 1,600 long tons (1,600 t) of coal and her complement consisted of 678 officers and ratings. [2]
The Monmouth-class ships' main armament consisted of fourteen breech-loading (BL) 6-inch (152 mm) Mk VII guns. [3] Four of these guns were mounted in two twin-gun turrets, one each fore and aft of the superstructure, and the others were positioned in casemates amidships. Six of these were mounted on the main deck and were only usable in calm weather. [4] Ten quick-firing (QF) 12-pounder (3-inch (76 mm)) 12-cwt guns [Note 1] were fitted for defence against torpedo boats. [2] Essex also carried three 3-pounder 1.9 in (47 mm) Hotchkiss guns and two submerged 18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes. [1]
Beginning in 1915, the main deck six-inch guns of the Monmouth-class ships were moved to the upper deck and given gun shields. Their casemates were plated over to improve seakeeping. The twelve-pounder guns displaced by the transfer were repositioned elsewhere. At some point in the war, a pair of three-pounder anti-aircraft guns were installed on the upper deck. [5]
The ship's waterline armour belt was four inches (102 mm) thick amidships and two-inch (51 mm) forward. The armour of the gun turrets, their barbettes and the casemates was four inches thick. The protective deck armour ranged in thickness from 0.75–2 inches (19–51 mm) and the conning tower was protected by ten inches (254 mm) of armour. [6]
Construction and service
Essex, named to commemorate the English county, [7] was laid down at Pembroke Royal Dockyard, Wales, on 2 January 1900 [8] and launched on 29 August 1901, when she was christened by Mrs. Charles Barlow, wife of the Captain-Superintendent of the dockyard. [9] There was no dry dock at Pembroke large enough to accommodated Essex, and she was therefore sent to Devonport Dockyard in late 1902 for further for fitting-out. Her torpedo tubes were manufactured at Devonport and thus not installed until she arrived there. [10] The ship was completed on 22 March 1904 [1] and was initially assigned to the 2nd Cruiser Squadron of the Channel Fleet. Essex was placed in reserve in March 1906 and suffered a six-inch gun explosion in July while training. She was recommissioned in September 1909 and assigned to the 4th Cruiser Squadron on the North America and West Indies Station. She was transferred to the Home Fleet Training Squadron in 1912 and refitted the following year. Essex rejoined the 4th Cruiser Squadron in January 1914 [11] with Commander Hugh Tweedie in command. [12]
After visiting Madeira and Jamaica, the ship arrived in Veracruz, Mexico, on 9 February to relieve her sister ship, Suffolk, and protect British interests during the ongoing Mexican Revolution. Two weeks later, she visited Galveston, Texas, before heading for Tampico, Mexico, where she arrived on 11 March. Essex only spent a few days there before returning to Veracruz on 13 March. She was in Tampico when Mexican soldiers briefly detained American sailors buying petrol for their ship on 9 April (the Tampico Affair) and returned to Veracruz ten days later, two days before the Americans began landing there on 21 April. [13] They were not satisfied by the Mexican apologies and U.S. President Woodrow Wilson ordered the city occupied in retribution and to forestall a major arms delivery to Victoriano Huerta's forces. [14] The Mexicans resisted and stray bullets hit Essex the next day, wounding one man who was shot in both feet. Tweedie, escorted by two ratings, was sent to take dispatches for the British Minister in Mexico City on the 26th and returned two days later. [13] [15] Rear-Admiral Christopher Craddock inspected the ship and her crew on 5–6 May. Essex sailed for Tampico on 10 May before leaving Mexican waters on the 14th. A month later, the ship was in Quebec City when she was visited by the Canadian Minister of Marine and Fisheries on 16 June. The following month, Essex ferried the Governor General of Canada, Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, to Newfoundland and Labrador before returning to Quebec City on 20 July. [13]
World War I
When Craddock received the preliminary war warning on 27 July, he ordered Essex to join her sister Lancaster in Bermuda, which she reached three days later. The ship was ordered to patrol the area north and northwest to protect British shipping and destroy any German commerce raiders. As the Germans appeared to be concentrating their efforts in the Caribbean, Craddock ordered Essex south to reinforce his forces there in early September. On 7 September, she captured the tender, SS Bethania, for the armed merchant cruiser SS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, en route from Halifax to Jamaica. [16] The ship continued to patrol the sealanes from the Caribbean Sea to Canadian waters until the end of February 1915, [13] when she escorted a troop convoy from Halifax to Queenstown, Ireland. [17] Essex then sailed to Barrow-in-Furness where she began a refit that lasted until 29 April. [13] Now assigned to the 7th Cruiser Squadron of the Grand Fleet, [18] she spent the next several weeks in Avonmouth or Scapa Flow [13] before being transferred to Cruiser Force I [19] and began patrolling the area between the Azores, Madeira, Cape Verde and Gibraltar on 8 June. Rear-Admiral Archibald Moore, commander of the 9th Cruiser Squadron, hoisted his flag aboard the ship on 4 September and pulled it down on the 29th. Essex began a brief refit at Gibraltar on 1 October that lasted until the 26th and then resumed patrolling the Central Atlantic. She captured a German merchantman, SS Telde, on 3 May 1916 in the Canary Islands. The ship resumed patrolling until her arrival in Devonport on 17 August; Essex was paid off days later. [13]
Later in the year, she was recommissioned and served as a destroyer depot ship at Devonport. [20] By April 1918, Essex was an accommodation ship there. [21] As of 1 December, she was serving as a training ship, [22] but she reverted to her previous role as an accommodation ship by 1 May 1919. [23] Essex was paid off again by October 1919 [24] and was later sold for scrap on 8 November 1921 and broken up in Germany. [7]
HMS Carnarvon was one of six Devonshire-class armoured cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. She was assigned to the 3rd Cruiser Squadron of the Mediterranean 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 became flagship of the 5th Cruiser Squadron of the reserve Second Fleet in 1912.
HMS Cornwall 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 on completion in 1903. The ship was refitted in 1907 in preparation for service as a training ship for cadets with the 4th Cruiser Squadron on the North America and West Indies Station beginning in 1908.
HMS Monmouth was the name ship of her class of 10 armoured cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. The ships were also known as the County Cruisers.
The Boadicea-class cruiser was a pair of scout cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. They were the first class of this type to be fitted with steam turbine machinery. Upon completion in 1909–10, the sister ships served as flotilla leaders for destroyer flotillas of the First Fleet until 1913 when they were assigned to battleship squadrons. When the First World War began in August 1914, they remained with their squadrons as the First Fleet was incorporated into the Grand Fleet, although they changed squadrons over the course of the war. Both ships were present during the Battle of Jutland in mid-1916, but neither fired a shot. They were converted into minelayers the following year and both ships laid minefields in early 1918 in addition to other missions. The sisters were reduced to reserve in 1919 and sold for scrap in 1921 and 1926.
HMS Suffolk was one of 10 Monmouth-class armoured cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. Upon completion she was assigned to the 3rd Cruiser Squadron of the Mediterranean Fleet and was then assigned to the 5th Cruiser Squadron in the Mediterranean in 1909 after a lengthy refit. She returned home for another refit in 1912 and became the flagship of the 4th Cruiser Squadron on the North America and West Indies Station in 1913.
HMS King Alfred was one of four Drake-class armoured cruisers built for the Royal Navy around 1900. She served as flagship of the China Station from 1906 until relieved in 1910. Upon her return home that year, she was placed in reserve before being recommissioned in mid-1914. She was assigned to the 6th Cruiser Squadron of the Grand Fleet at the beginning of World War I. She was transferred to the 9th Cruiser Squadron in 1915 and assigned to convoy protection duties by the end of the year. King Alfred participated in the unsuccessful searches for the German commerce raider SMS Möwe in 1916–17 before beginning to escort convoys later that year. The ship was torpedoed by a German submarine in 1918, but returned to service. She was sold for scrap in 1920.
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 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 Cumberland 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. After a refit in 1907–1908 she became a training ship in the Home Fleet. She was sent to West Africa after the beginning of World War I in August 1914 and captured 10 German merchant ships in September. Cumberland spent the rest of the war on convoy escort duties and patrolling for German commerce raiders. She was sold for scrap in 1921 and broken up two years later.
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 Lancaster was one of 10 Monmouth-class armoured cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. Upon completion she was assigned to the 3rd Cruiser Squadron of the Mediterranean Fleet. She remained there until 1912 when she returned home to be placed in reserve. The ship was recommissioned in 1913 for service with the 4th Cruiser Squadron on the North America and West Indies Station. She remained there until she was assigned to the Grand Fleet in 1915. She was transferred to the Pacific in 1916 and she became flagship of the Eastern Squadron in 1918. The ship was sold for scrap in 1920.
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 Carysfort was a C-class light cruiser built for the Royal Navy during World War I. She was one of six ships of the Caroline sub-class and was completed in 1915. Assigned to the Grand Fleet, the Harwich Force, and the Dover Patrol during the war, the ship served as a flagship for part of the war. Her only known combat was a short battle against German torpedo boats in the English Channel, although she was very active patrolling the North Sea and unsuccessfully searching for German ships. Carysfort was assigned to the Home and Atlantic Fleets after the war and was sent to the Mediterranean Fleet during the Chanak Crisis of 1922–23 to support British interests in Turkey. In 1922, she patrolled off the Irish coast during the Irish Civil War. The ship was placed in reserve after returning home in 1923 and, aside from ferrying troops overseas, remained in reserve until she was sold for scrap in 1931.
HMS Cordelia was a C-class light cruiser built for the Royal Navy during World War I. She was one of six ships of the Caroline sub-class and was completed at the beginning of 1915. The ship was assigned to the 1st and 4th Light Cruiser Squadrons (LCS) of the Grand Fleet for the entire war and played a minor role in the Battle of Jutland in mid-1916. Cordelia spent most of her time on uneventful patrols of the North Sea. She served as a training ship for most of 1919 before she was recommissioned for service with the Atlantic Fleet in 1920. The ship was placed in reserve at the end of 1922 and was sold for scrap in mid-1923.
HMS Gloucester was a Town-class light cruiser built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. The ship was initially assigned to the Home Fleet upon commissioning in 1910 and was transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet in 1913. She was involved in the hunt for the German ships Goeben and Breslau after World War I began in August 1914. Gloucester was detailed several times during the war to search for German commerce raiders, but her only success was the capture of one supply ship in early 1915. She played a minor role in the Battle of Jutland in mid-1916 and then spent most of the rest of the war in the Adriatic Sea. The ship was placed in reserve in 1919 and was sold for scrap in 1921.
HMS Blanche was the second of two Blonde-class scout cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. She led the 1st Destroyer Flotilla from completion until 1912 and was then briefly transferred to the 4th Destroyer Flotilla before the ship was assigned to the 3rd Battle Squadron in 1913. During World War I, Blanche was assigned to several different battleship squadrons of the Grand Fleet. She was present at, but did not fight in, the Battle of Jutland in mid-1916. The ship was converted into a minelayer in early 1917 and made 16 sorties to lay mines during the war. Blanche was paid off in 1919 and sold for scrap in 1921.
HMS Blonde was the lead ship of her class of scout cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. She led the Seventh Destroyer Flotilla in the Mediterranean Fleet from completion until 1912. The ship was temporarily assigned to the First Destroyer Flotilla before she joined the Fourth Battle Squadron in 1913. During the First World War, Blonde was assigned to various battleship squadrons of the Grand Fleet. The ship was converted into a minelayer in 1917, but never actually laid any mines. She was reduced to reserve in 1919 and sold for scrap in 1920.
The Blonde-class cruisers were a pair of scout cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. Upon completion in 1910–11, they served as flotilla leaders for destroyer flotillas of the First Fleet until 1913 when they were assigned to battleship squadrons. When the First World War began in August 1914, they remained with their squadrons as the First Fleet was incorporated into the Grand Fleet, although they changed squadrons over the course of the war. Blonde did not participate in the Battle of Jutland in mid-1916, unlike her sister ship, Blanche, which did, but never fired a shot. They were converted into minelayers the following year, but only Blanche actually laid mines. The sisters were reduced to reserve in 1919 and sold for scrap in 1920–1921.
HMS Bellona was one of two Boadicea-class scout cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. The ship served as the flotilla leader for the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla from her completion in 1910 until 1913 when she was transferred to the 1st Battle Squadron. Bellona spent the bulk of World War I with that squadron. She was present at, but did not fight in, the Battle of Jutland in mid-1916. The ship was converted into a minelayer in mid-1917 and made four sorties to lay her mines before the end of the war. Bellona was reduced to reserve in 1919 and sold to be broken up for scrap in 1921.
HMS Boadicea was the lead ship of her class of scout cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. She led the 1st Destroyer Flotilla from completion until the ship was transferred to the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla in mid-1912. A year later Boadicea was reassigned to the 2nd Battle Squadron and she spent the bulk of World War I with that squadron. The ship was present at, but did not fight in, the Battle of Jutland in mid-1916. Boadicea was converted into a minelayer at the end of 1917 and made three sorties to lay her mines before the end of the war. She was placed in reserve after the war and taken out of service in 1920. The ship was used for harbour service at Dartmouth until she was sold for scrap in 1926.
United Kingdom