- Duncan class battleship (1901)
The "Duncan"-class battleships were
predreadnought battleship s of theRoyal Navy .Technical Description
The "Duncan"-class battleships 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] Although they were designed before the ships of the "London" subclass of the "Formidable" class, the first two "London"s were laid down before the first "Duncan". ["Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1860-1905", p. 37]
Armor layout was similar to that of "London", with reduced thickness in the
barbette s and belt. ["Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1860-1905", p. 37]The "Duncan"s 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 fastestpredreadnought s ever built other than the "Swiftsure"-class HMS "Swiftsure" and HMS "Triumph". [Burt, p. 202]They 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]
The ships of the class were named after famous
admiral s of the Royal Navy and were informally known as "the Admirals". [Burt, p. 198] Like allpredreadnought s, they were outclassed by thedreadnought battleships that began to appear in 1906, but they nonetheless continued to perform front-line duties up through the early part ofWorld War I .Operational History
All six ships were launched in 1901; all were completed in 1903 except "Cornwallis", which was completed in 1904. Before
World War I , the ships served in theMediterranean Fleet ,Channel Fleet , Atlantic Fleet, andHome Fleet ; "Montagu", was lost prematurely when she was wrecked in 1906. [Burt, p. 204-214]During
World War I , the ships saw early service in theGrand Fleet andChannel Fleet . Later, "Albermarle" continued to serve in the Grand Fleet and in NorthRussia , while the others all were involved in service in the Mediterranean, where some saw action in the Dardanelles Campaign and members of the class served in theAtlantic Ocean ,Adriatic Sea ,Aegean Sea , andIndian Ocean . "Russell" and "Cornwallis" were lost offMalta ; the survivors went into reserve in 1917 and were scrapped in 1919-1920. [Burt, p. 204-214]"Duncan"-Class Ships
HMS "Albemarle"
HMS|Albemarle|1901|2 (after
George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle ) served in theMediterranean Fleet (1903-1905),Channel Fleet (1905-1907), Atlantic Fleet (1907-1910), andHome Fleet (1910-1914). HerWorld War I service was in theGrand Fleet (1914), Channel Fleet (1914-1915), and Grand Fleet again (1915-1916), where she was badly damaged in November 1915 in heavy weather while in thePentland Firth . She then served in atMurmansk in NorthRussia (1916), including duty as anicebreaker atArkhangelsk . She was in reserve 1916-1919 and was scrapped in 1919. [Burt, p. 211-212]HMS "Cornwallis"
HMS|Cornwallis|1901|2 (after
Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis ) served in theMediterranean Fleet (1904-1905), theChannel Fleet (1905-1907), theBritish Atlantic Fleet (1907-1909), the Mediterranean Fleet again (1909-1912), and theHome Fleet (1912-1914). HerWorld War I service was in theGrand Fleet (1914); in theChannel Fleet (1914); and in the WestIreland area (1914-1915). She took part in the Dardanelles Campaign (1915), during which she was the first ship to fire her guns during the campaign and took part in all operations including theGallipoli evacuation, being the last large ship to leave theSuvla Bay area. She then served on theSuez Canal Patrol andEast Indies Station (1915-1917), including duty in the easternMediterranean Sea andIndian Ocean . She was sunk with the loss of fifteen lives offMalta , on9 January 1917 by two or three torpedoes from "U-32". [Burt, p. 208-209]HMS "Duncan"
HMS|Duncan|1901|2, named after
Adam Duncan, 1st Viscount Duncan of Camperdown , served in theMediterranean Fleet (1903-1905),Channel Fleet (1905-1907), Atlantic Fleet (1907-1908), Mediterranean Fleet again (1908-1912), andHome Fleet (1912-1914). HerWorld War I service was in theGrand Fleet (1914), in the Channel Fleet (1914-1915), on the Finisterre-Azores -Madeira Station (1915), in theAdriatic Sea (1915-1916), in theAegean Sea (1916-1917), and in the Adriatic again (1917). She was placed in reserve in 1917 and broken up in 1920. [Burt, p. 204-205]HMS "Exmouth"
HMS|Exmouth|1901|2 (after
Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth ) served in theMediterranean Fleet (1903-1904),Home Fleet (1904-1905),Channel Fleet (1905-1907), Atlantic Fleet (1907-1908), Mediterranean Fleet again (1908-1912), and Home Fleet again (1912)-1914), during which she was a gunnery tender atPortsmouth in 1913, then joined the6th Battle Squadron and was later allocated to the3rd Battle Squadron . HerWorld War I service was in theGrand Fleet (1914); in the Channel Fleet (1914-1915), during which she was in action during theZeebrugge bombardment in 1915; in the Dardanelles Campaign (1915); in theAegean Sea (1915-1917); and in theIndian Ocean (1917). She was placed in reserve in 1917 and broken up in 1920. [Burt, pp. 212, 214]HMS "Montagu"
HMS|Montagu|1901|2 served in the
Mediterranean Fleet (1903-1905) andChannel Fleet (1905-1906). She was wrecked onLundy Island on30 May 1906 . [Burt, p. 205]HMS "Russell"
"Russell served in the
Mediterranean Fleet (1903-1904),Home Fleet (1904-1905),Channel Fleet (1905-1907), Atlantic Fleet (1907-1909), Mediterranean Fleet again (1909-1912), and Home Fleet again (1912-1914). HerWorld War I service was in theGrand Fleet (1914); Channel Fleet (1914-1915), during which she took part in the bombardment ofZeebrugge ; Grand Fleet again (1915); and Dardanelles Campaign (1915-1916), taking part later on in the evacuation ofGallipoli , being the last British battleship to leave theCape Helles area. She continued to serve in the easternMediterranean Sea until, on27 April 1916 , she struck two mines off the coast ofMalta and sank with the loss of 125 lives. [Burt, pp. 209, 211]ee also
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.External links
* [http://www.worldwar1.co.uk/pre-dreadnought/hms-duncan.html World War 1 Naval Combat]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.