HMS Commonwealth (1903)

HMS "Commonwealth", was a sclass|King Edward VII|battleship of the British Royal Navy. Like all ships of the class (apart from HMS|King Edward VII) she was named after an important part of the British Empire, namely the Commonwealth of Australia.

Technical characteristics

HMS "Commonwealth" was built at Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company at Govan. She was laid down on 17 June 1902, launched on 13 May 1903, and completed in March 1905.

Although "Commonwealth" and her seven sister ships of the "King Edward VII" class were a direct descendant of the "Majestic" class, they were also the first class to make a significant departure from the "Majestic" design, displacing about 1,000 tons more and mounting for the first time an intermediate battery of four 9.2-inch (234-mm) guns in addition to the standard outfit of 6-inch (152-mm) guns. The 9.2-inch was a quick-firing gun like the 6-inch, and its heavier shell made it a formidable weapon by the standards of the day when the "Commonwealth" and her sisters were designed; it was adopted out of concerns that British battleships were undergunned for their displacement and were becoming outgunned by foreign battleships that had begun to mount 8-inch (203-mm) intermediate batteries. The four 9.2-inch were mounted in single turrets abreast the foremast and mainmast, and "Commonwealth" thus could bring two of them to bear on either broadside. Even then, "Commonwealth" and her sisters were criticized for not having, a uniform secondary battery of 9.2-inch guns, something considered but rejected because of the length of time it would have taken to design the ships with such a radical revision of the secondary armament layout. In the end, it proved impossible to distinguish 12-inch and 9.2-inch shell splashes from one another, making fire control impractical for ships mounting both calibers, although "Commonwealth" had fire-control platforms on her fore- and mainmasts rather than the fighting tops of earlier classes."Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1860-1905", p. 38]

Mounting of the 6-inch guns in casemates was abandoned in "Commonwealth" and her sister ships, the 6-inch instead being placed in a central battery amidships protected by 7-inch (178-mm) armored walls. Otherwise, "Commonwealth"'s armor was much as in the "London" class battleships, although there were various differences in detail from the "London"s.

"Commonwealth" and her sisters were the first British battleships with balanced rudders since the 1870s and were very maneuverable, with a tactical diameter of 340 yards (311 m) at 15 knots (27.75 km/h). However, they were difficult to keep on a straight course, and this characteristic led to them being nicknamed "the Wobbly Eight" during their 1914-1916 service in the Grand Fleet. They had a slightly faster roll than previous British battleship classes, but were good gun platforms, although very wet in bad weather.

Primarily powered by coal, "Commonwealth" had oil sprayers installed during her construction, as did all of her sisters except HMS|New Zealand|1904|6, the first time this had been done in British battleships. These allowed steam pressure to be rapidly increased, improving "Commonwealth's" acceleration. The eight ships between them were given four different boiler installations for comparative purposes; "Commonwealth's" outfit of 16 Babcock and Wilcox boilers allowed her to exceed her designed speed on trials, during which she exceeded 19.5 knots (36 km/h). [Burt, p. 241]

"Commonwealth" was a powerful ship when she was designed, and completely fulfilled the goals set for her at that time. However, she was unlucky in that the years of her design and construction were ones of revolutionary advancement in naval guns, fire control, armor, and propulsion. She joined the fleet in mid-1905, but quickly was made obsolete by the commissioning of the revolutionary battleship HMS|Dreadnought|1906|6 at the end of 1906 and the large numbers of the new dreadnought battleships that commissioned in succeeding years. By 1914, "Commonwealth" and her "King Edward VII"-class sisters were, like all predreadnoughts, so outclassed that they spent much of their 1914-1916 Grand Fleet service steaming at the heads of divisions of the far more valuable dreadnoughts, protecting the dreadnoughts from naval mines by being the first battleships to either sight or strike them. [Burt, p. 235]

"Commonwealth", however, was reconstructed in 1918 with all the trappings (such as updated fire control systems) of modern dreadnought battleships, so as to provide an adequate gunnery training platform. She served in this capacity until 1921, leaving service as the last seagoing British predreadnought still armed with her guns and the second-to-last British predreadnought in active service (outlasted only by HMS|Agamemnon|1906|6, which served as a disarmed seagoing radio-controlled target ship until 1926).

Operational history

Upon completion, HMS "Commonwealth" was delivered to Portsmouth Dockyard on 14 March 1905, where she was placed in reserve. She went into full commission on 9 May 1905 at Devonport Dockyard for service in the Atlantic Fleet. She collided with battleship HMS|Albemarle|1901|6 near Lagos on 11 February 1907, sustaining hull and bulkhead damage. She began repairs at Devonport Dockyard later that month. [Burt, p. 255]

, and "Commonwealth" became a Home Fleet unit in that division. She underwent a refit at Devonport from October 1910 to June 1911. [Burt, p. 255]

Under a fleet reorganization in May 1912, "Commonwealth" and all seven of her sisters of the "King Edward VII" class (HMS|Africa|1905|2, HMS|Britannia|1904|2, HMS|Dominion|1903|2, HMS|Hibernia|1905|2, HMS|Hindustan|1903|2, HMS|King Edward VII|1903|2, and HMS|New Zealand|1904|2) were assigned to form the 3rd Battle Squadron, assigned to the Home Fleet. The squadron was detached to the Mediterranean in November 1912 because of the First Balkan War (October 1912-May 1913); it arrived at Malta on 27 November 1912 and subsequently participated in a blockade by an international force of Montenegro and an occupation of Scutari. The squadron returned to the United Kingdom in 1913 and rejoined the Home Fleet on 27 June 1913 [Burt, p. 255]

Upon the outbreak of World War I, the 3rd Battle Squadron was assigned to the Grand Fleet. It was used to supplement the Grand Fleet's cruisers on the Northern Patrol. On 2 November 1914, the squadron was detached to reinforce the Channel Fleet and was rebased at Portland. It returned to the Grand Fleet on 13 November 1914. [Burt, p. 255]

"Commonwealth" served in the Grand Fleet until April 1916. [Burt, p. 255] She underwent a refit from December 1914 to February 1915. As of 1 July 1915, she was 2nd flagship of the 3rd Battle Squadron for the rest of the year. During sweeps by the fleet, she and her sister ships often steamed at the heads of divisions of the far more valuable dreadnoughts, where they could protect the dreadnoughts by watching for mines or by being the first to strike them. [Burt, p. 235]

On 29 April 1916, the 3rd Battle Squadron was rebased at Sheerness, and on 3 May 1916 it was separated from the Grand Fleet, being transferred to the Nore Command. "Commonwealth" remained there with the squadron until August 1917. [Burt, p. 255]

"Commonwealth" left the 3rd Battle Squadron in August 1917 and paid off to undergo an extensive refit at Portsmouth Dockyard, during which she became the only "King Edward VII"-class ship fitted with updated features common among dreadnoughts, including torpedo bulges, a tripod foremast, and a director and fire control system; she also had her 6-inch (152-mm) gun batteries removed and four 6-inch (152-mm) guns installed one deck higher. When her refit was completed in April 1918, she was in effect the most advanced predreadnought battleship in the world. She recommissioned on 16 April 1918 for service on the Northern Patrol, then transferred to the Grand Fleet on 21 August 1918, where she made full use of her updated equipment in service as a seagoing gunnery training ship based at Invergordon. [Burt, p. 255] She continued in this service after World War I ended, training crews in the use of all weapons used on the modern dreadnought battleships, the last seagoing British predreadnought still armed with her guns.

After three years of this service as a training ship, "Commonwealth" paid off in February 1921. She was placed on the disposal list at Portsmouth Dockyard in April 1921 and was sold to Slough Trading Company for scrapping on 18 November 1921. She then was resold to German scrappers and towed to Germany to be broken up. [Burt, p. 255]

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.
*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.
* [http://www.pbenyon1.plus.com/Janes_1919/B_Ships/King_Edward_Cl_69.html HMS "Commonwealth"] in Jane's Fighting Ships, 1919.
* [http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/Mariners/2001-10/1003278100 Assignment of the HMS "Commonwealth"]

External links

* [http://www.maritimequest.com/warship_directory/great_britain/pages/battleships/hms_commonwealth.htm MaritimeQuest HMS Commonwealth pages]