HMS Caesar (1896)

HMS "Caesar" was a "Majestic"-class pre-dreadnought battleship of the Royal Navy, named after the Roman military and political leader Julius Caesar.

Technical Desciption

HMS "Caesar" was laid down at Portsmouth Dockyard on 25 March 1895 and launched on 2 September 1896. She was completed in January 1898. [Burt, p. 114]

When the lead ship of her class, HMS "Majestic", was launched in 1895, at convert|421|ft|m|abbr=on long and with a full-load displacement of 16,000 tons, she was the largest battleship ever built at the time. The "Majestic"s were considered good seaboats with an easy roll and good steamers, although they suffered from high fuel consumption. ["Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905", p. 34] "Caesar" began life as a coal-burner, but all the "Majestic"s were converted to burn fuel oil by 1907-1908. [Gibbons, p. 137.] "Caesar" had side-by-side funnels, the "Majestic"s being the last British battleships to their funnels arranged in this way.

Although the earlier ships of the "Majestic" class had pear-shaped barbettes and fixed loading positons for the main guns, "Caesar" and "Illustrious" had circular barbettes and all-around loading for their main guns, ["Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905", p. 34] which established the pattern for future classes. [Gibbons, p. 137.]

"Caesar" and the other "Majestic"-class ships had 9 inches (229 mm) of Harvey armor, which allowed equal protection with less cost in weight compared to previous types of armor. This allowed "Caesar" and her sisters to have a deeper and lighter belt than previous battleships without any loss in protection. [Gibbons, p. 137] She was divided into 150 watertight compartments.

The "Majestics" boasted a new gun, the 46-ton 12-inch (305-mm) 35-caliber Mk VIII, the first new British battleships to mount a 12-inch (305-mm) main battery since the 1880s. One hundred thirteen miles (182 km) of wire were wrapped around each gun barrel, and each gun took nine months to manufacture. "Caesar" carried four such guns in two barbettes (one forwad and one aft) with up to 400 rounds for each. The new gun, which would be the standard main armament of British battleships for sixteen years, was a significant improvement on the 13.5-inch (343-mm) gun which had been fitted on the Admiral and "Royal Sovereign" classes that preceded the "Majestic"s. ["Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905", p. 34] and was lighter. This saving in weight allowed "Caesar" to carry a secondary battery of twelve 6-inch (152-mm) 40-caliber guns, a larger secondary armament than in previous classes. [Gibbons, p. 137; "Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905", p. 34] She also had four submerged torpedo tubes in the bow and one above water in the stern.

Operational History

HMS "Caesar" commissioned at Portsmouth on 13 January 1898 to serve in the Mediterranean Fleet. Before leaving for the Mediterranean, she was attached temporarily to the Channel Fleet to serve in home waters. [Burt, p. 133]

In May 1898, "Caesar" departed the United Kingdom for her Mediterranean service, undergoing a refit at Malta in 1900-1901. She ended her Mediterranean service in October 1903, paying off at Portsmouth on 6 October 1903 to begin a refit. [Burt, p. 132]

Her refit completed, "Caesar" commissioned at Portsmouth on 2 February 1904 to relieve her sister ship HMS "Majestic" as flagship of the Channel Fleet. When the Channel Fleet became the Atlantic Fleet as a result of a reorganization on 1 January 1905, "Caesar" became flagship of the Atlantic Fleet. She was relieved of this duty in March 1905, becoming 2nd Flagship of the new Channel Fleet (which had been the Home Fleet prior to the reorganization). [Burt, p. 132]

On 3 June 1905, "Caesar" collided with and sank the barque "Afghanistan" off Dungeness, suffering significant damage; her bridge wings were carried away and the boats, davits, and net booms on her port side were badly damaged. "Caesar" was refitted at Devonport to repair the damage. [Burt, pp. 132-133]

"Caesar" became Flagship, Rear Admiral, Home Fleet, in December 1905. ["Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906-1921", p. 7] She was relieved of this duty in February 1907 and transferred back to the Atlantic Fleet to become its temporary flagship. ["Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906-19021", p. 7] She served in this role until May 1907. [Burt, p. 133]

On 27 May 1907, "Caesar" recommissioned for service in the Devonport Division of the new Home Fleet, which had been formed in January 1907. During this service she underwent a refit at Devonport in 1907-1908. [Burt, p. 133]

In May 1909, "Caesar" transferred to the Nore, temporarily serving as the flagship of Vice Admiral, 3rd and 4th Divisions, Home Fleet. In April 1911 she transferred to Devonport to serve in the 3rd Division, Home Fleet. ["Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906-1921", p. 7]

On 16 January 1911, "Caesar" was rammed in fog by barque "Excelsior" at Sheerness, suffering no serious damage. [Burt, p. 133] In March 1912, "Caesar" was placed in commissioned reserve with a nucleus crew as part of the 4th Division, Home Fleet. ["Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906-1921", p. 7]

At the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, "Caesar" was brought back into full commission ["Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906-1921", p. 7] and transferred to the 7th Battle Squadron of the Channel Fleet; the squadron was charged with the defense of the English Channel. During this service she helped in transporting the Plymouth Marine Division from Plymouth to Ostend, Belgium, and covered the passage of the British Expeditionary Force from England to France in September 1914. [Burt, p. 133]

In December 1914, "Caesar" was detached from the 7th Battle Squadron and transferred to Gibraltar to serve as guard ship and gunnery training ship there. In July 1915, she transferred to the North America and West Indies Station, ["Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906-1921", p. 7] serving as guard ship and gunnery training ship at Bermuda [Burt, p. 133] and patrolling the Atlantic. ["Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906-1921", p. 7]

Her North America and West Indies Station service ended in September 1918, when "Caesar" was transferred to relieve HMS "Andromache" (the old second-class cruiser and former minelayer HMS "Latona") as flagship of the Senior Naval Officer, British Adriatic Squadron, at Corfu, the last British predreadnought to serve as a flagship. In September 1918, "Caesar" went to Malta for refit as a depot ship, during which she was equipped with repair shops and with leisure facilities such as recreation rooms and reading rooms. This conversion completed, she took up duties in October 1918 at Mudros as depot ship for the British Aegean Squadron. In January 1919 she was transferred to Port Said, Egypt, for service as a depot ship there.

In June 1919, "Caesar" transited the Dardanelles and transferred to the Black Sea, where she served as a depot ship for British naval forces operating against the Bolsheviks during the Russian Revolution. In this service she became the last British predreadnought to serve operationally overseas. [Burt, p. 133]

"Caesar" returned to the United Kingdom in March 1920, paid off at Devonport on 23 April 1920, and was placed on the disposal list. She was sold to a British firm for scrapping on 8 November 1921, then resold to a German firm in July 1922 and towed from Devonport to Germany to be scrapped. [Burt, p. 133]

Notes

References

* Burt, R. A. "British Battleship 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", (Conway Maritime Press, London, 1979), ISBN 0-85177-133-5.
* Dittmar, F. J. & Colledge, J. J., "British Warships 1914-1919", (Ian Allen, London, 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.