HMS Queen Mary

HMS "Queen Mary" was a battlecruiser of the British Royal Navy. She was similar to the "Lion" class, though she differed in details from her half-sisters.

Upon commissioning, she joined the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron. On 28 August 1914, she took part in the 1st Battle of Heligoland Bight. She was under refit at the time of the Dogger Bank battle, so she did not take part in that engagement. After completing her refit, she re-joined the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron.

She was under the command of Captain Cecil I. Prowse at the Battle of Jutland on 31 May 1916. Due to her more modern rangefinders, her gunnery was more accurate than the rest of the Royal Navy battlecruisers, and she was firing full broadsides. She had fired about 150 13.5 in shells, putting one of "Derfflinger's" turrets out of commission, then she switched fire and focussed 4 hits on the SMS "Seydlitz". The mighty "Seydlitz" hit back, first striking "Queen Mary" above the right gun on 'Q' turret; this gun was out of action, but the left gun kept firing. Shortly after, more 30.5 cm (12 inch) shells hit her forward near 'A' and 'B' turrets, and another hit 'Q' turret. The forward magazine exploded, the ship listed to port, and more explosions followed as the ship was sinking. The battlecruiser behind her, "HMS Tiger", was showered with hot debris from the explosion. All but twenty-one of her 1,266 crew were lost (two of the survivors were picked up by German ships). The survivors were:
*Peregrine Robert Dearden (POW) (Picked up by German destroyer G8)
*Alfred Thomas Sherwood (POW) (Picked up by German destroyer G8)
*Ernest Benjamin Francis (Picked up by HMS Petard)
*Albert Matthew Williets (Picked up by HMS Laurel)
*Marshall William Taylor (Picked up by HMS Laurel)
*Frank Smith (Picked up by HMS Laurel)
*Albert Ralph (Picked up by HMS Laurel)
*Frederick William Meads (Picked up by HMS Laurel)
*George William Manners (Picked up by HMS Laurel)
*John Hutchinson (Picked up by HMS Laurel)
*Herbert Ernest Hughes (Picked up by HMS Laurel)
*Stanley Foster Ford (Picked up by HMS Laurel)
*Albert Henry Brand (Picked up by HMS Laurel)
*Arthur Bower Clark (Picked up by HMS Laurel)
*Albert Edwards (Picked up by HMS Laurel)
*Thomas Charles May (Picked up by HMS Laurel)
*John H. Lloyd Owen (Picked up by HMS Laurel)
*Jocelyn L. Storey (Picked up by HMS Laurel)
*Voltelin St. J. Van Der Byl (Picked up by HMS Laurel)
*Humphrey M.L. Durrant (Picked up by HMS Laurel)
*Air Mechanic Wilson

Moritz von Egidy, captain of the "Seydlitz", wrote:

:"Soon the British light cruisers came in view, and behind them dense clouds of smoke. Then tripod masts and huge hulls loomed over the horizon. There they were again, our friends from Dogger Bank. At 1545 hours we opened fire. After a short time, HMS "Indefatigable" exploded, followed 20 minutes later by HMS "Queen Mary", our target as Tactical Number Three. The spectacle was overwhelming, there was a moment of complete silence, then the calm voice of a gunnery observer announced "Queen Mary" blowing up", at once followed by the order "Shift target to the right" given by the gunnery officer in the same matter-of-fact tone as at normal gunnery practice." [ [http://www.gwpda.org/naval/jut01.htm SMS Seydlitz at Jutland ] ]

Her wreck was discovered in 1991 and rests partly upside-down, on sand, 60 metres down. Much equipment is scattered about the wreck. "Queen Mary" is designated as a "protected place" under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 [ [http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2008/uksi_20080950_en_1 SI 2008/0950] Designation under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986] .

She should not be confused with the ocean liner RMS|Queen Mary, though both were named after Mary of Teck.

References

;Notes;Bibliography
*Robert Gardiner, ed., "Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921" (Conway Maritime Press, London, 1985)
*John Roberts, "Battlecruiser", (Chatham Publishing, London, 1997), ISBN 1-86176-006-X, ISBN 1-55750-068-1

External links

* [http://www.maritimequest.com/warship_directory/great_britain/battleships/queen_mary/hms_queen_mary.htm Maritimequest HMS Queen Mary Photo Gallery] . Includes striking photo of her explosion at Jutland.
*High precision 3D model at [http://dreadnoughtproject.org/models/ships/HMS_Queen_Mary/ Dreadnought Project Model page]
*Information page at [http://www.worldwar1.co.uk/battlecruiser/hms-queen-mary.html/ worldwar1.co.uk]