HMS Cornwallis (1901)

HMS "Cornwallis" was a "Duncan"-class predreadnought battleship of the Royal Navy.

Technical Description

HMS "Cornwallis" was laid down by Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company at Blackwall on 19 July 1899 and launched on 13 July 1901. After delays due to labor troubles, she was completed in February 1904.

"Cornwallis" and her five sisters of the "Duncan"-class were ordered in response to large French and Russian building programs, ["Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1860-1905", p. 37] including an emphasis on fast battleships in the Russian program; [Gibbons, p. 159] they were designed as smaller, more lightly armored, and faster versions of the preceding "Formidable" class. ["Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1860-1905", p. 37] As it turned out, the Russian ships were not as heavily armed as initially feared, and the "Duncan"s proved to be quite superior in their balance of speed, firepower, and protection. [Gibbons, p. 159]

Armor layout was similar to that of "London", with reduced thickness in the barbettes and belt. ["Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1860-1905", p. 37]

"Cornwallis" and her sisters had machinery of 3,000 more indicated horsepower than the "Formidable"s and "London"s and were the first British battleships with 4-cylinder triple-expansion engines. They also had a modified hull form to improve speed. The ships had a reputation as good steamers, with a designed speed of convert|19|kn|km/h and an operational speed of convert|18|kn|km/h, ["Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1860-1905", p. 37] good steering at all speeds, and an easy roll. They were the fastest battleships in the Royal Navy when completed, and the fastest predreadnoughts ever built other than the "Swiftsure"-class HMS "Swiftsure" and HMS "Triumph". [Burt, p. 202] "Cornwallis" herself was the fastest of the "Duncan" class on trials, achieving convert|19.56|kn|km/h, although her sister "Albemarle" was viewed as the best steamer of the class in everyday operations. ["Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1860-1905", p. 37]

"Cornwallis" and her sisters had the same armament as and a smaller displacement than the "Formidable"s and "London"s. ["Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1860-1905", p. 37]

Like all predreadnoughts, "Cornwallis" was outclassed by the dreadnought battleships that began to appear in 1906, but she nonetheless continued to perform front-line duties up through the early part of World War I.

Operational History

HMS "Cornwallis" commissioned on 9 February 1904 to relieve battleship "Renown" in the Mediterranean Fleet. [Burt, pp. 198, 208] In the Mediterranean Sea she collided with the Greek brigantine "Angelica" on 17 September 1904, but suffered no serious damage. She transferred to the Channel Fleet in February 1905, then to the Atlantic Fleet on 14 January 1907. During her Atlantic Fleet service, she underwent a refit at Gibraltar from January to May 1908, and became Second Flagship, Rear Admiral, on 25 August 1909. [Burt, p. 208]

In August 1909, "Cornwallis" transferred back to the Mediterranean Fleet and was based at Malta. Under a fleet reorganization on 1 May 1912, the Mediterranean Fleet battle squadron became the 4th Battle Squadron, Home Fleet, based at Gibraltar rather than Malta, and "Cornwallis" thus became a Home Fleet unit at Gibraltar. She was reduced to a nucleus crew in the 6th Battle Squadron, Second Fleet, in March 1914. [Burt, p. 208]

When World War I began in August 1914, plans originally called for "Cornwallis" and battleships "Agamemnon", "Albemarle", "Duncan", "Exmouth", "Russell", and "Vengeance" to combine in the 6th Battle Squadron and serve in the Channel Fleet, where the squadron was to patrol the English Channel and cover the movement of the British Expeditionary Force to France. However, plans also existed for the 6th Battle Squadron to be assigned to the Grand Fleet, and, when the war began, the Commander-in-Chief, Grand Fleet, Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, requested that "Cornwallis" and her four surviving sister ships of the "Duncan" class ("Albemarle", "Duncan", "Exmouth", and "Russell") be assigned to the 3rd Battle Squadron in the Grand Fleet for patrol duties to make up for the Grand Fleet's shortage of cruisers. Accordingly, the 6th Battle Squadron was abolished temporarily, and "Cornwallis" joined the 3rd Battle Squadron at Scapa Flow on 8 August 1914. [Burt, pp. 208, 211-212]

"Cornwallis" and her four "Duncan"-class sisters, as well as the battleships of the "King Edward VII" class, temporarily were transferred to the Channel Fleet on 2 November 1914 to reinforce that fleet in the face of German Navy activity in the Channel Fleet's area. On 13 November 1914, the "King Edward VII" class ships returned to the Grand Fleet, but "Cornwallis" and the other "Duncan"s stayed in the Channel Fleet, where they reconstituted the 6th Battle Squadron on 14 November 1914. This squadron was given a mission of bombarding German submarine bases on the coast of Belgium, and was based at Portland, although it transferred to Dover immediately on 14 November 1914. However, due a lack of antisubmarine defenses at Dover, the squadron returned to Portland on 19 November 1914. The 6th Battle Squadron returned to Dover in December 1914. [Burt, pp. 208, 212]

"Cornwallis" was detached from the squadron in late December 1914 and assigned to West Ireland, where she was based at Clew Bay and Killarney Bay. She remained there until January 1915. [Burt, p. 208]

In January 1915, "Cornwallis" was ordered to the Dardanelles to participate in the Dardanelles Campaign. She departed Portland on 24 January 1915 and arrived at Tenedos to join the British Dardanelles Squadron on 13 February 1915. [Burt, p. 208]

, [Burt, p. 208] firing 500 12-inch (305-mm) and 6,000 6-inch (152-mm) rounds, and was the last large ship to leave the Suvla Bay area. [Burt, p. 208]

After the Suvla Bay evacuation was complete, "Cornwallis" was transferred to the Suez Canal Patrol, which she joined on 4 January 1916. She operated as part of this patrol and on the East Indies Station until March 1916, including convoy duty in the Indian Ocean. She returned to the eastern Mediterranean in March 1916, and underwent a refit at Malta in May and June 1916. [Burt, p. 208-209]

, but counterflooding corrected the list. About 75 minutes after the first torpedo hit, another did, also on the starboard side, and "Cornwallis" rolled quickly to starboard. [Burt, p. 209, mentions only two torpedo hits; "Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1906-1921", p. 9, says "Cornwallis" was hit by three torpedoes.] Fifteen men were killed in the torpedo explosions, but she stayed afloat long enough to get the rest of the crew off. She sank about 30 minutes after the second torpedo hit. [Burt, p. 209]

Notes

References

* Burt, R. A. "British Battleships 1889-1904". Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1988. ISBN 0870210610.
* Chesneau, Roger, and Eugene M. Kolesnik, eds. "Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships, 1860-1905". New York: Mayflower Books, Inc., 1979. ISBN 0831703024.
* Dittmar, F. J. and J. J. Colledge. "British Warships 1914-1919". London: Ian Allen, 1972. ISBN 0-7110-0380-7
* 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.
* Gray, Randal, Ed. "Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1906-1921." Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1985. ISBN 0870219073.
* Pears, Randolph. "British Battleships 1892-1957: The Great Days of the Fleets". G. Cave Associates, 1979. ISBN 978-0906223147