Formidable class battleship

The Royal Navy's "Formidable" class of battleships were an eight-ship class of predreadnoughts designed by Sir William White and built in the late 1890s. The class is often further divided into a separate "London" class, and the "London" class sometimes is divided further into a separate "Queen" class.

Technical Characteristics

Formidable Class

The "Formidable"s were similar in appearance to and had the same armament as the "Majestic" and "Canopus" classes that preceded them. The "Formidables" are often described as improved "Majestic"s, but in design they really were enlarged "Canopus"es; while the "Canopus" class took advantage of the greater strength of the Krupp armor employed in their construction to allow the ships to remain the same size as the "Majestic"s with increased tonnage devoted higher speed and less to armor without sacrificing protection, in the "Formidable"s Krupp armor was used to improve protection without reducing the size of the ships. ["Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905", p. 36] The "Formidable"s thus were larger than the two preceding classes, and enjoyed both greater protection than the "Majestic"s and the higher speed of the "Canopus" class. The "Formidable"s' armor scheme was similar to that of the "Canopus"es, although, unlike in the "Canopus"es, the armor belt ran all the way to the stern; it was 215 feet (65.5 m) long and 15 feet (4.8 m) deep and 9 inches (229 mm) thick, tapering at the stem to 3 inches (76.2 mm) thick and 12 feet (3.7 m) deep and at the stern to 1.5 inches (38.1 mm) thick and 8 feet (2.4 m) deep. The main battery turrets had Krupp armor, 10 inches (254 mm) on their sides and 8 inches (203 mm) on their backs. ["Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905", p. 36]

The "Formidable"s improved on the main and secondary armament of previous classes, being upgunned from 35-caliber to 40-caliber 12-inch (305-mm) guns and from 40-caliber to 45-caliber 6-inch (152-mm) guns. The 12-inch guns could be loaded at any bearing and elevation, and beneath the turrets the ships had a split hoist with a working chamber beneath the guns that reduced the chance of a cordite fire spreading from the turret to the shell and powder handling rooms and to the magazines. ["Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905", p. 36]

The "Formidable"s had an improved hull form that made them handier at high speeds than the "Majestic"s. They also had inward-turning screws, which allowed reduced fuel consumption and slightly higher speeds than in preious classes but at the expense of less maneuverability at low speeds. ["Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905", p. 36]

"London" Class (or subclass)

After the first three "Formidable"s, there was a change in design for the last five ships, starting with HMS|London|1899|2; as a result they are often considered to constitute the "London" class, [For example, "Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905", p. 37, and Burt, pp. 175-194, refer to the "London"s as a separate class while Gibbons, p. 151, lists them all as part of the "Formidable" class. Burt refers to the "London"s as the "Bulwark" class.] but also can be viewed as in effect a sub-class of the "Formidable" class. The main difference in the "London"s was thinner deck armor and some other detail changes to the armor scheme. and the consequent lower displacement. ["Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905", p. 37]

"Queen" class (or subclass)

The last two "London" class ships to be built, HMS|Prince of Wales|1902|2 and HMS|Queen|1902|2, were identical to the other "London"s except that they had open 12-pounder gun batteries mounted in the open on the upper deck amidships and had a lower displacement. ["Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905", p. 37] "Queen" and "Prince of Wales" were laid down after the "Duncan" class battleships that succeeded the "Formidable"s and "London"s, and were completed after the "Duncan"s as well. They generally are considered part of the "Formidable" [Gibbons, p. 151] or "London" class ["Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905", p. 37] , but the difference in the mounting of their 12-pounder guns, their lower displacement, and their later construction than the "Duncan"s lead some authors to viewed them as constituting a "Queen" class separate from the "Formidable" and "London" classes. [Burt, pp. 215-228]

The last of the ships to commission, "Prince of Wales", was the last battleship for which Director of Naval Construction Sir William Henry White had sole design responsibility. She also was the last of the 29 battleships of the "Majestic", "Canopus", "Formidable", "London", "Duncan", and "Queen" classes, commissioned between 1895 and 1904, which had all been based on the single, standard "Majestic" design and reached their final development in "Queen" and "Prince of Wales". [Burt, p. 217]

Like all predreadnoughts, the "Formidable"s, "London"s, and "Queen"s were outclassed by the dreadnought battleships that began to appear in 1906. However, they continued in front-line duties through the early part of World War I.

Operational History

The ships saw peacetime service in the Mediterranean, Atlantic, and home waters. With the appearance of the new dreadnought -type battleships and battlecruisers beginning in 1906, predreadnoughts such as the "Formidable"s, "London"s, and "Queen"s were consigned to less demanding roles for much of the First World War, during which two were lost in action and a third was destroyed by an accidental explosion. Early war service in home waters was followed by duty in the Mediterranean including the Dardanelles campaign. The survivors were discarded soon after the war ended.

hips in the "Formidable" class

HMS "Formidable"

"Formidable" served in the Mediterranean Fleet (1904-1908), Channel Fleet (1908), Home Fleet (1909), Atlantic Fleet (1909-1914), and Home Fleet again (1912-1914). Her World War I service was in the Channel Fleet (1914-1915). She was torpedoed by German submarine U-24 off Portland Bill while on patrol in the English Channel on 1 January 1915 with the loss of 547 of her 750 crewmen. [Burt, pp. 170-172]

HMS "Irresistible"

"Irresistible" served in the Mediterranean Fleet (1902-1908), Channel Fleet (1908-1910), and Home Fleet (1911-1914). Her World War I service was in the Channel Fleet (1914-1915), and at the Dardanelles in 1915. She hit a mine on 18 March 1915 during the Dardanelles campaign and sank three hours later. [Burt, pp. 173-174]

HMS "Implacable"

"Implacable" served in the Mediterranean Fleet (1901-1909), Atlantic Fleet (1909-1912), and Home Fleet (1912-1914). Her World War I service was in the Channel Fleet (1914-1915), the Dardanelles campaign (1915), the Adriatic (1915), and the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean (1915-1917), and then in subsidiary duties in home waters. She was sold for scrap in 1921. [Burt, p. 172-173]

hips in the "London" class (or subclass) [Burt, pp. 175-194, refers to this as the "Bulwark" class]

HMS "London"

"London" served in the Mediterranean Fleet (1902-1907), Home Fleet (1907-1908), Channel Fleet (1908-1909), Atlantic Fleet (1910-1912), and Second Home Fleet (1912-1914). Her World War I service was in the Channel Fleet (1914-1915), Dardanelles campaign (1915), and Adriatic (1915-1916). She then was converted into a minelayer, serving as such in laying the Northern Mine Barrage in 1918, and was sold for scrapping in 1920. [Burt, pp. 192, 194]

HMS "Bulwark"

"Bulwark" served in the Mediterranean Fleet (1902-1907), Home Fleet (1907-1908), Channel Fleet (1908-1909), and Home Fleet again (1909-1914). Her World War I service was in the Channel Fleet (1914). She was destroyed by an internal explosion on 26 November 1914 while at anchor at Sheerness that killed all but 12 out of her 750 crew. [Burt, p. 191]

HMS "Venerable"

"Venerable" served in Mediterranean Fleet (1902-1908), Channel Fleet (1908-1909), Atlantic Fleet (1909-1912), and Second Home Fleet (1912-1914). Her World War I service was in the Channel Fleet (1914-1915), the Dardanelles campaign (1915), and the Adriatic (1915-1916). She then served in subsidiary duties in home waters and was sold for scrapping in 1920. [Burt, p. 194]

hips in the "Queen" class (or subclass) [Burt considers these ships to constitute a separate "Queen" class; "Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905" lists them as part of the "London" class; Gibbons lists all "London"s and "Queen"s as part of the "Formidable" class.]

HMS "Queen"

"Queen" served in the Mediterranean Fleet (1904-1908), Atlantic Fleet (1908-1912), and Second Home Fleet (1912-1914). Her World War I service was in the Channel Fleet (1914-1915), Dardanelles campaign (1915), and Adriatic (1915-1916). She then was disarmed and continued in the Adriatic in subsidiary roles (1917-1919). She was sold for scrapping in 1920. [Burt, pp. 227-228]

HMS "Prince of Wales"

"Prince of Wales" served in the Mediterranean Fleet (1904-1909), Atlantic Fleet (1909-1912), and Home Fleet (1912-1914). Her World War I service was in the Channel Fleet (1914-1915), Dardanelles campaign (1915), and Adriatic (1915-1917). She then was decommissioned and was sold for scrapping in 1920. [Burt, p. 228]

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.
*Gray, Randal, Ed. "Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1906-1921." Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1985. ISBN 0870219073.
*Archibald, E.H.H.; Ray Woodward (ill.) (1971). The Metal Fighting Ship in the Royal Navy 1860-1970. New York: Arco Publishing Co.. ISBN 0-6680-2509-3.

External links

* [http://www.worldwar1.co.uk/pre-dreadnought/hms-formidable.html World War 1 Naval Combat (Formidable)]
* [http://www.worldwar1.co.uk/pre-dreadnought/hms-bulwark.html World War 1 Naval Combat (Bulwark)]
* [http://www.worldwar1.co.uk/pre-dreadnought/hms-queen.html World War 1 Naval Combat (Queen)]