Hogue was designed to displace12,000 long tons (12,000t). The ship had an overall length of 472 feet (143.9m), a beam of 69feet 6inches (21.2m) and a deep draught of 26feet 9inches (8.2m).[1] She was powered by two 4-cylinder triple-expansion steam engines, each driving one shaft, which produced a total of 21,000 indicated horsepower (15,660kW) using steam provided by 30 Belleville boilers. The engines were designed to give a maximum speed of 21 knots (39km/h; 24mph), although Hogue reached 22.06 knots (40.86km/h; 25.39mph) with 21,432 indicated horsepower (15,982kW) on her sea trials.[2] She carried a maximum of 1,600 long tons (1,600t) of coal and her complement ranged from 725[3] to 760 officers and ratings.[4]
The ship's waterlinearmour belt had a maximum thickness of 6 inches (152mm) and was closed off by 5-inch (127mm) transverse bulkheads. The armour of the gun turrets and their barbettes was 6 inches thick while the casemate armour was 5 inches thick. The protective deck armour ranged in thickness from 1–3 inches (25–76mm) and the conning tower was protected by 12 inches (305mm) of armour.[4]
Construction and service
Launching of Hogue, 1900
Hogue, named after the 1692 Battle of La Hogue, was laid down on 14 July 1898 by Vickers, Sons & Maxim at their Barrow-in-Furnessshipyard and launched on 13 August 1900.[9] She arrived at Plymouth to begin fitting out in September 1901,[10] and commenced her sea trials in early December.[11]Hogue was completed in late Autumn the following year, and commissioned at Devonport on 19 November 1902.[12] She was assigned to the Channel Squadron, and joined the other vessels of the squadron off Portland in early February 1903.[13] On 11 March 1904 she collided with the merchant ship SSMeurthe off Europa Point. Later that year she was transferred to the China Station after a refit.[9]
Two years later Hogue became the boys' training ship for the 4th Cruiser Squadron on the North America and West Indies Station. She was reduced to reserve at Devonport in 1908 and then assigned to the reserve Third Fleet at the Nore the next year. On 26 November 1909 a coal bunker explosion killed two crewmen. The ship received a lengthy refit at Chatham Dockyard in 1912–13 and was assigned to the 7th Cruiser Squadron shortly after the outbreak of World War I in August 1914.[14]
On the morning of 22 September, Hogue and her sisters, Aboukir and Cressy, were on patrol without any escorting destroyers as they had been forced to seek shelter from bad weather. The three sisters were in line abreast, about 2,000 yards (1,800m) apart, at a speed of 10 knots (19km/h; 12mph). They were not expecting submarine attack, but they had lookouts posted and had one gun manned on each side to attack any submarines sighted. The weather had moderated earlier that morning and Tyrwhitt was en route to reinforce the cruisers with eight destroyers.[17]
U-9, commanded by KapitänleutnantOtto Weddigen, had been ordered to attack British transports at Ostend, but had been forced to dive and take shelter from the storm. On surfacing, she spotted the British ships and moved to attack. She fired one torpedo at 06:20 at Aboukir that struck her on the starboard side; the ship's captain thought he had struck a mine and ordered the other two ships to close to transfer his wounded men. Aboukir quickly began listing and capsized around 06:55. As Hogue approached her sinking sister, CaptainWilmot Nicholson realized that it had been a submarine attack and signalled Cressy to look for a periscope although his ship continued to close on Aboukir as her crew threw overboard anything that would float to aid the survivors in the water. Having stopped and lowered all her boats, Hogue was struck by two torpedoes around 06:55. The sudden weight loss of the two torpedoes caused U-9 to broach the surface and Hogue's gunners opened fire without effect before the submarine could submerge again. The cruiser capsized about ten minutes after being torpedoed as all of her watertight doors had been open and sank at 07:15.[18]
Victories of U-9 on a postcard
Cressy attempted to ram the submarine, but did not hit anything and resumed her rescue efforts until she too was torpedoed at 07:20. She too took on a heavy list and then capsized before sinking at 07:55. Several Dutch ships began rescuing survivors at 08:30 and were joined by British fishing trawlers before Tyrwhitt and his ships arrived at 10:45. The combined total from all three ships was 837 men rescued and 62 officers and 1,397 ratings lost.[19]Hogue lost 377 men.[20]
In 1954 the British government sold the salvage rights to all three ships to a German company and they were subsequently sold again to a Dutch salvage company which began salvaging the wrecks' metal in 2011.[21][22]
Notes
↑ "Cwt" is the abbreviation for hundredweight, 12 cwt referring to the weight of the gun.
Corbett, Julian (1997). Naval Operations to the Battle of the Falklands. History of the Great War: Based on Official Documents. Vol.I (2nd, reprint of the 1938ed.). London and Nashville, Tennessee: Imperial War Museum and Battery Press. ISBN0-89839-256-X.
Firme, Tim; Johnson, Harold & MacDonald, Kevin C. (2005). "Question 27/04: British WW I Armored Cruiser Wrecks". Warship International. XLII (3): 242. ISSN0043-0374.
Friedman, Norman (2012). British Cruisers of the Victorian Era. Barnsley, South Yorkshire, UK: Seaforth. ISBN978-1-59114-068-9.
Friedman, Norman (2011). Naval Weapons of World War One. Barnsley, South Yorkshire, UK: Seaforth. ISBN978-1-84832-100-7.
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