- Swiftsure class battleship (1903)
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Swiftsure-class battleship HMS Triumph as completed in January 1904Class overview Builders: Armstrong-Whitworth, Vickers Preceded by: King Edward VII class Succeeded by: Lord Nelson class Built: 1902–1904 In commission: 1904–1917 Completed: 2 Lost: 1 Retired: 1 General characteristics Type: Pre-dreadnought battleship Displacement: Swiftsure: 11,800 tons (load)[1]
Triumph: 11,985 tons (load)[1]Length: 479 ft 9 in (146.23 m) overall[1] Beam: 71 ft 0 in (21.64 m)[1] Draught: 25 ft 4 in (7.72 m)[1] Installed power: 12,500 ihp Propulsion: 12 large-tube Yarrows boilers
3-cylinder triple-expansion steam engines
2 shafts[1]Speed: 19 knots (35 km/h) Range: 6,210 nautical miles (11,501 km) at 10 knots (18.5 km/h) Complement: 800 Armament: Swiftsure:
- 4 × BL 10-inch (254.0 mm) /45 Mark VI guns (2×2)
- 14 × BL 7.5-inch (190.5 mm) /50 Mk III guns
Triumph:
- 4 × BL 10-inch (254.0 mm) /45 Mark VII guns (2×2)
- 14 × BL 7.5-inch (190.5 mm) /50 Mk IV guns
Both ships:
- 14 × 14-pounder QF guns
- 2 × 12-pounder QF guns
- 4 × 6-pounder QF guns
- 2 × 18 inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes (submerged)[1]
Armour: Notes: (1) Coal: 840 tons normal; 2,048 tons maximum
(2) Both ships purchased from Chile on 3 December 1903 for £2,432,000[3]The Swiftsure class was a class of two British pre-dreadnought battleships. Originally ordered by Chile, they were purchased by the United Kingdom prior to completion.
Contents
Technical characteristics
Background
In late 1901, Chile and Argentina were on the brink of war, and Chile was concerned about its navy's ability to counter the armoured cruisers Rivadavia and Moreno, which Argentina had ordered in Italy earlier that year. Sir Edward Reed was in Chile for health reasons at the time, and met with Chilean Navy officials to discuss the idea of purchasing or building two battleships with high speed and a powerful armament on a low displacement. Purchase did not prove a practical option, so the Chileans asked Reed to design the ships for construction in the United Kingdom. Chile ordered the ships, to be named Constitución and Libertad, on 26 February 1902, Constitución from Armstrong-Whitworth at Elswick and Libertad from Vickers at Barrow-in-Furness.
The crisis with Argentina subsided, Argentina opted to put Rivadavia and Moreno up for sale and never took delivery of them,[4] and Chilean financial problems arose, so Chile put Constitución and Libertad up for sale in early 1903; concerned that Russia might buy them, the United Kingdom stepped in and purchased the still-incomplete ships from Chile on 3 December 1903 for £2,432,000.
Their purchase by the Admiralty was organised by the London firm of Antony Gibbs and Sons, a partnership run by the Alban Gibbs and his younger bother Vicary Gibbs.[5] Both were Members of Parliament (MPs), and their role in the transaction meant that they were disqualified from the House of Commons, under an old law which debarred MPs from accepting contracts from the Crown. This triggered two by-elections, in which Alban was re-elected unopposed,[6] but Vicary lost his seat.[7]
Right elevation and deck plan as depicted in Brassey's Naval Annual 1915 Although they were designed to Chilean rather than British requirements and required some modifications during construction after their purchase, no major changes were needed. Both were completed in June 1904 and entered service with the Royal Navy, Constitución as Swiftsure and Libertad as HMS Triumph.[8]
The ships were second-class battleships, lightly constructed, armed, and armoured by British standards; Swiftsure, in fact, suffered from structural weakness while in service and required hull strengthening, although Triumph did not have such problems. Chile had required the ships to fit into its graving dock at Talcahuano, so they had to be longer and narrower for their displacement than ships built to British standards. They had a noticeably foreign appearance, with taller, narrower funnels than on other British battleships and a pair of heavy cranes amidships. Details in mast and anchor arrangements as well as the arrangement of magazines and shell-handling rooms also were different from British standards.[3]
Armament
Neither ships' armament was of a standard Royal Navy type—they had all been specified to meet the requirements of the Chilean Navy.
They were the first British battleships since the Centurion-class ships Centurion and Barfleur to mount a main battery of 10 inch (254 mm) guns and the last to do so. The ships mounted slightly different types of 10 inch guns, with Swiftsure carrying guns made by her builder Armstrongs which received the designation Mark VI, and Triumph carried guns made by her builder Vickers which received the designation Mark VII. The ships followed the standard British practice of the time of mounting the main battery in two double turrets, one forward and one aft. The Royal Navy believed that the 10 inch guns were too light to be effective against modern battleships—they could penetrate the armour of the latest German and Russian battleships, but not that of the better-armoured French battleships—but that they could be useful against foreign cruisers, although the ships were not fast enough to catch cruisers.
They had a powerful secondary battery, being the only British battleships to mount 7.5 inch (190.5 mm) guns; these were of a different type than the 7.5 inch guns mounted on later British cruisers. The ships were armed with slightly different models, with Swiftsure's guns made by her builders Armstrong designated Mark III, and Triumph's guns made by her builder Vickers designated Mark IV. Ten of the 7.5 inch guns were mounted in a central battery on the main deck, where they were criticized for taking up too much deck space; the other four were in casemates abreast the fore- and mainmasts on the upper deck.
The ships mounted tertiary armament, for defence against torpedo boats, of 3 inch guns firing 14-pound shells ("14-pounders"). This was in theory a heavier battery than the 12-pounders of most British battleships, although in practice the 14-pounders proved no more effective than the 12-pounders.[9] These were the only such guns in the Royal Navy, and they were issued with the same 12.5-pound shell as its standard 3 inch gun, the QF 12 pounder 12 cwt.
Armour
The armour of the Swiftsures compared favourably with that of the Duncan-class battleships, but would not have stood up well against the main battery rounds of foreign first-class battleships. About the same percentage of their displacement was devoted to armour as in the Duncans, with much of its rearrangement from that of the Duncans having to do with most of the secondary guns being mounted in a central battery, rather than casemated as in the Duncans.[10]
Seakeeping
The Swiftsures had balanced rudders and an improved hull form, making them quite manoeuvrable.[1] They received the latest in British boiler technology when built, and this made them the fastest British pre-dreadnoughts ever built, with Triumph making nearly 20.17 knots (37.4 km/h) and Swiftsure achieving 20.87 knots (38.65 km/h)on trials, although these were short sprints under ideal conditions. Operationally they averaged a top speed of 19 knots (35 km/h), slightly faster than the battleships of the Duncan class, and this still was enough to qualify them as the fastest pre-deadnoughts.[11]
The Swiftsures were the last British battleships to enter service with bow crests. They also were the last to enter service equipped with ventilation cowls.[12]
Summary
Purchased solely to deny their acquisition by other navies, Swiftsure and Triumph met no outstanding Royal Navy requirement when purchased, did not match British standards in many ways, required the manufacturing of their own, special 10 inch (254 mm) ammunition, and were problematic for the British to employ, being too weakly armed and protected to face modern enemy battleships and too slow to catch enemy cruisers. Like all pre-dreadoughts, they were made obsolete by the completion of the revolutionary new battleship HMS Dreadnought at the end of 1906 and the many dreadnought battleships commissioned in succeeding years. They nonetheless had useful and eventful careers, playing an active role in British operations on foreign stations during the first half of the First World War.
Operational history
Both ships spent their early years in home waters before seeing service in the Mediterranean. They then served on foreign stations, Triumph participating in the hunt for the Pacific Squadron of Maximilian Graf von Spee and in Allied action against German forces in China, and both ships seeing action in the Dardanelles Campaign, where Triumph was lost. Swiftsure then served on the Atlantic Patrol before being decommissioned and scrapped.[12]
Ships in class
HMS Swiftsure
HMS Swiftsure was laid down as the Chilean Constitución in 1902 and purchased from Chile on 3 December 1903, being renamed Swiftsure on 7 December 1903. She served in the Home Fleet (1904), in the Channel Fleet (1905–1908), in the Mediterranean Fleet (1909–1912), in the Home Fleet again (1912–1913), and on the East Indies Station (1913–1915), where her First World War service began. She served on the Suez Canal Patrol (1914–1915) and saw action in the Dardanelles Campaign (1915–1916). She served in the Atlantic (1916–1917), then went into reserve, and was sold for scrapping in 1920.[12]
HMS Triumph
HMS Triumph was laid down as the Chilean Libertad and purchased from Chile on 3 December 1903, being renamed Triumph on 7 December 1903. She served in the Home Fleet (1904), in the Channel Fleet (1905–1909), in the Mediterranean Fleet (1909–1912), in the Home Fleet again (1912–1913), and the China Station (1913–1914), where her First World War service began. She participated in the hunt for the German Navy Pacific Squadron of Maximilian Graf von Spee and in the campaign against the German colony at Tsingtao, China (1914), then in the Dardanelles Campaign (1915). She was torpedoed and sunk off Gaba Tepe by the German submarine U-21 while bombarding the Dardanelles on 25 May 1915.[12]
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g h Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1860–1905, p. 39
- ^ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1860–1905, p. 37
- ^ a b Burt, pp. 262, 264
- ^ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1806–1905, p. 403.
- ^ Parliamentary Debates, House of Commons, 2 February, 1904, columns 74–75.
- ^ Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1977]. British parliamentary election results 1832–1885 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 11. ISBN 0-900178-26-4.
- ^ Craig, page 297
- ^ Burt, pp. 259, 261–262
- ^ Burt, pp. 264, 267–268
- ^ Burt, p. 269.
- ^ Burt, p. 271–272
- ^ a b c d Burt, p. 274–276
References
- Burt, R. A. British Battleships 1889–1904. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1988. ISBN 0-87021-061-0.
- Chesneau, Roger, and Eugene M. Kolesnik, eds. Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships, 1860–1905. New York: Mayflower Books, Inc., 1979. ISBN 0-8317-0302-4.
- Gibbons, Tony. The Complete Encyclopedia of Battleships and Battlecruisers: A Technical Directory of All the World's Capital Ships From 1860 to the Present Day. London: Salamander Books Ltd., 1983.
External Links
Preceded by: King Edward VII class · Followed by: Lord Nelson class
List of pre-Dreadnought battleships of the Royal NavyCategories:- Battleship classes
- Swiftsure class battleships (1903)
- World War I battleships of the United Kingdom
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