- HMS Neptune (1909)
-
For other ships of the same name, see HMS Neptune.
Class overview Name: Neptune Preceded by: St. Vincent class Succeeded by: Colossus class In commission: 1911– Completed: 1 Career 
Name: Neptune Ordered: 1908 Naval Estimates Builder: Portsmouth Dockyard Laid down: 19 January 1909 Launched: 30 September 1909 Commissioned: 11 January 1911[1] Fate: Scrapped in September 1922 General characteristics Type: Dreadnought battleship Displacement: 19,900 tons (22,000 full load) Length: 546 ft (166 m) Beam: 85 ft (26 m) Draught: 27 ft (8.2 m) Propulsion: Parsons steam turbines, direct drive on four shafts, 25,000 shp, 18 Yarrow boilers Speed: 21 knots (39 km/h) Range: 6,330 nm at 10 knots (19 km/h) Complement: 756 Armament: - 10 × BL 12-inch (304.8 mm) Mk XI guns (5×2)
- 12 × BL 4-inch (101.6 mm) Mk VII guns
- 3 × 18 inch (457 mm) torpedo tubes, later removed
Armour: - Belt: 10 inches (254 mm)
- Upper Belt: 8 inches (203 mm)
- Bulkheads: 5 and 8 inches (203 mm)
- Conning Tower: 11 inches (280 mm)
- Turrets: 11 inches (280 mm)
- Barbettes: 9 inches (229 mm)
HMS Neptune was a Royal Navy dreadnought battleship, intended to be the lead ship of three Neptune-class battleships, but the subsequent two ships had slightly thicker belt armour and were reclassified as the Colossus class.
Contents
Design
Arrangement of main gun turrets, bows pointing right She was the first Royal Navy battleship that differed in her gun turret layout from Dreadnought. She had two wing turrets staggered conning tower, which risked similarly being obscured if the bridge collapsed.[2]
She was one of the first battleships to be built with director gun-control and was used for trials of this then-novel system.[3]
Service history
She was flagship of the Home Fleet from May 1911 until May 1912 when she was transferred to the 1st Battle Squadron, where she remained until June 1916, just after the Battle of Jutland.[4] She was accidentally struck by SS Needvaal in April 1916 but no serious damage was done. She was present at the Battle of Jutland as part of Admiral Jellicoe's Battle Fleet. She fired only 48 12 inch (305 mm) shells but is credited with scoring several hits on the German battlecruiser Lützow.
After the war she was quickly transferred to the reserve fleet and subsequently scrapped.
External Sources
- Dreadnought Project Technical material on the weaponry and fire control for the ships
References
- ^ The Times (London), Wednesday, 11 January 1911, p.7
- ^ a b DK Brown (2003). The Grand Fleet, warship design and development 1906–1922. Caxton Editions. p. 38–40. ISBN 1-84067-531-4.
- ^ "Neptune Class Dreadnought Battleship". World War 1 Naval Combat. http://www.worldwar1.co.uk/battleship/hms-neptune.html. Retrieved 2007-02-04.
- ^ "HMS Neptune". Battleships-Cruisers.co.uk. http://www.battleships-cruisers.co.uk/neptune.htm. Retrieved 2007-02-04.
Bibliography
- Burt, R. A. (1986). British Battleships of World War One. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-863-8.
- Campbell, John (1998). Jutland: An Analysis of the Fighting. Lyons Press. ISBN 1-55821-759-2.
- Gardiner, Robert; Gray, Randal, eds (1984). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships: 1906–1922. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
- Hythe, Viscount, ed. The Naval Annual 1914.
- Massie, Robert (2004). Castles of Steel: Britain, Germany and the winning of the Great War. Random House. ISBN 0224040928.
- Roberts, John (1997). Battlecruisers. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-068-1.
HMS Neptune NeptunePreceded by: St Vincent class · Followed by: Colossus class
List of battleships of the Royal NavyCategories:- Neptune class battleships
- Portsmouth-built ships
- World War I battleships of the United Kingdom
- 1909 ships
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
