HMS Roberts (1915)

Last updated

HMS Roberts
HMS Roberts NARA-45513189.jpg
HMS Roberts c.1918
History
Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svgUnited Kingdom
Namesake Lord Roberts
OperatorNaval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg  Royal Navy
Ordered21 November 1914
Builder Swan Hunter, Wallsend
Laid down17 December 1914
Launched15 April 1915
Commissioned21 May 1915
Out of service26 May 1919
Honours and
awards		 Dardanelles 1915
FateSold September 1936
General characteristics
Class and type Abercrombie-class monitor
Displacement6,150 long tons (6,250 t)
Length
  • 334.5 ft (102.0 m) oa
  • 320 ft (98 m) pp
Beam90 ft (27 m)
Draught10.2 ft (3.1 m)
Propulsion2 shaft triple expansion reciprocating steam
Speed6 knots (11 km/h; 6.9 mph)
Range1,340 nmi (2,480 km; 1,540 mi) at 6 knots
Complement198
Armament
Armour
  • Belt 4 in (100 mm)
  • Bulkheads 4 in
  • Barbette 8 in (200 mm)
  • Turret 10 in (250 mm)
  • Deck 2 in (51 mm) - 1 in (25 mm)
Aviation facilitiesFitted to carry a seaplane

HMS Roberts was an Abercrombie-class monitor of the Royal Navy that served in the First World War.

Contents

Background

On 3 November 1914, Charles M. Schwab of Bethlehem Steel offered Winston Churchill, then First Lord of the Admiralty, the use of four 14 in (356 mm)/45cal BL MK II twin gun turrets, originally destined for the Greek ship Salamis. These turrets could not be delivered to the German builders, due to the British naval blockade. The Royal Navy immediately created a class of monitors, designed for shore bombardment, to use the turrets.

Roberts was laid down at the Swan Hunter, Ltd shipyard at Wallsend on 17 December 1914. The ship was named Stonewall Jackson in honour of the CSA General Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson, however as the United States was still neutral, the ship was hurriedly renamed HMS M4 on 31 May 1915. She was then named HMS Earl Roberts on 19 June 1915 and again renamed HMS Roberts on 22 June 1915

Service history

Roberts sailed for the Dardanelles in June 1915. She remained in the Eastern Mediterranean until returning to England in February 1916. She served as a guard ship at Yarmouth until the end of the War. She decommissioned in May 1919, and was initially sold for breaking up in May 1921, but was retained by the Admiralty for trials.

Around 1925 she was considered for conversion to a mobile airship base with a mooring mast and fueling capabilities, but nothing came of this proposal. [1] In the 1930s, she was used for testing underwater protection for new construction warships. She was finally sold in September 1936 to the Ward shipyard at Preston for breaking up.

In command

Citations

  1. ↑ Buxton, Ian (2008). Big Gun Monitors: Design, Construction and Operations, 1914 - 1945 (2 ed.). Seaforth Publishing, Pen and Sword Books Ltd, Sth Yorkshire S70 2AS, Great Britain. p. 43. ISBN   978-1-59114-045-0.

Related Research Articles

HMS <i>Raglan</i>

HMS Raglan was a First World War Royal Navy Abercrombie-class monitor, which was sunk during the Battle of Imbros in January 1918.

HMS <i>Abercrombie</i> (1915) Abercrombie-class warship

HMS Abercrombie was a First World War Royal Navy Abercrombie-class monitor.

HMS <i>Marshal Soult</i>

HMS Marshal Soult was a Royal Navy Marshal Ney-class monitor constructed in the opening years of the First World War. Laid down as M14, she was named after the French general of the Napoleonic Wars Marshal Nicolas Jean de Dieu Soult. She served in both World Wars and was decommissioned in 1946.

HMS <i>Havelock</i> (1915) British Abercrombie-class monitor

HMS Havelock was an Abercrombie-class monitor of the Royal Navy that saw service in the First World War.

HMS <i>M30</i> M29-class monitor

HMS M30 was a Royal Navy M29-class monitor of the First World War.

HMS M32 was an M29-class monitor of the Royal Navy.

HMS M27 was a First World War Royal Navy M15-class monitor. She was also served in the British intervention in Russia in 1919, and was scuttled in the Dvina River on 16 September 1919.

HMS <i>Welland</i> Destroyer of the Royal Navy

HMS Welland was a Yarrow-built River-class destroyer ordered by the Royal Navy under the 1902 – 1903 Naval Estimates. Named after the River Welland that drains into the Wash on the English east coast, she was the first ship to carry this name in the Royal Navy.

HMS M25 was a First World War Royal Navy M15-class monitor. She was also served in the British intervention in Russia in 1919, and was scuttled in the Dvina River on 16 September 1919.

HMS Colne was a Thornycroft Type River class destroyer ordered by the Royal Navy under the 1903–1904 Naval Estimates. Named after the River Colne in eastern England, north east of London, she was the first ship to carry this name in the Royal Navy.

HMS <i>Arun</i> (1903) Destroyer of the Royal Navy

HMS Arun was a Laird Type River-class destroyer ordered by the Royal Navy under the 1902–1903 Naval Estimates. Named after the River Arun in southern England she was the first ship to carry this name in the Royal Navy.

HMS Moy was a Laird Type River-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. Named after the River Moy in Ireland, she was the first ship to carry this name in the Royal Navy.

HMS Ness was a White Type River-class destroyer ordered by the Royal Navy under the 1903 – 1904 Naval Estimates. Named after the River Ness in northern Scotland, flowing through Inverness, she was the first ship to carry this name in the Royal Navy.

HMS <i>Ribble</i> (1904) Destroyer of the Royal Navy

HMS Ribble was a Yarrow-type River-class destroyer ordered by the Royal Navy under the 1901 – 1902 Naval Estimates. Named after the River Ribble in northern England, she was the first ship to carry this name in the Royal Navy.

HMS <i>Usk</i> (1903) Destroyer of the Royal Navy

HMS Usk was a Yarrow type River Class destroyer ordered by the Royal Navy under the 1901 – 1902 Naval Estimates. Named after the River Usk in Wales flowing through Newport, she was the first ship to carry this name in the Royal Navy.

HMS <i>Erne</i> (1903) Destroyer of the Royal Navy

HMS Erne was a Palmer Type River Class Destroyer ordered by the Royal Navy under the 1901 – 1902 Naval Estimates. Named after the River Erne in Ireland, she was the third ship to carry this name since it was introduced in 1813 for a 20-gun brig sold in 1819.

HMS Cherwell was a Palmer Type River-class destroyer ordered by the Royal Navy under the 1902 – 1903 Naval Estimates. Named after the River Cherwell in south central England near Oxford, she was the first ship to carry this name in the Royal Navy.

HMS <i>Chelmer</i> (1904) Destroyer of the Royal Navy

HMS Chelmer was a Thornycroft Type River Class destroyer ordered by the Royal Navy under the 1903–1904 Naval Estimates. Named after the River Chelmer in eastern England, north-east of London, she was the first ship to carry this name in the Royal Navy.

HMS Jed was a Thornycroft type River-class destroyer ordered by the Royal Navy under the 1903 – 1904 Naval Estimates. Named after the River Jed in southern Scotland, she was the second ship to carry this name since it was introduced in 1814 for a 26-gun sixth rate ship sold in 1833.

HMS Dee was a Palmer Type River Class Destroyer ordered by the Royal Navy under the 1901–1902 Naval Estimates. Named after the River Dee near Liverpool, England, she was the fourth ship to carry this name since it was introduced in 1814 for a 20-gun 6th rate sold in 1819.

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.