HMS Invincible (1907)

HMS "Invincible" was a battlecruiser of the Royal Navy, the lead ship of her class of three, and the first battlecruiser to be built by any country in the world.

The ship was built at Sir W. G. Armstrong, Whitworth & Co., Ltd on Tyneside. She was laid down on 2 April 1906, and launched at 3 p.m. on 13 April 1907 by Lady Allendale. On 28 December, while still fitting out, she was hit by the collier "Oden", which resulted in the buckling of beams and frames in the hull and 5 bottom plates were stove in. She was officially completed on 16 March 1909. On 18 March, she sailed from the Tyne to Portsmouth, where she would be commissioned. On the way, she collided with the brigantine "Mary Ann", and stood by until the lifeboat "John Birch" arrived from Yarmouth to take the brigantine in tow. She was commissioned into the fleet on 20 March 1909.

She participated in fleet manoeuvres in April and June 1909, the Spithead Review on 12 June 1909, ["The Times (London)", Saturday, 12 June 1909, p.7] and the Fleet Review off Southend on 2 July. "Invincible" initially served with the 1st Cruiser Squadron until 1913, when she was assigned to the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron. In March 1913, she collided with the Submarine C-34. At the beginning of the First World War, she took part in the action at the Battle of Heligoland Bight on 28 August 1914, before being sent along with her sister was one part of the solution found by Fisher's committee. The other part was a new class of armoured cruisers.

The Naval Estimates continued to decline over the next three years, reaching a low of 31 million pounds, as Fisher paid off obsolete small cruisers and closed or downgraded overseas bases. These ships and bases were to be replaced by the new ships - able to sail quickly from one point to the next, hunt down their opposition and move on.

The new battlecruisers, as they were eventually named, retained the protection scheme of the last armoured cruisers, but added the all big gun armament and turbine propulsion of the "Dreadnought"-design. The result was a large, fast and powerful ship that rendered every existing armoured cruiser obsolete and soon saw that type disappear from the building programmes of every navy. Very quickly though, the "Invincible"-design was overtaken by new battlecruiser designs and was itself rendered obsolete, particularly with regard to protection.

The Battle of the Falkland Islands completely vindicated her design thinking, yet very soon after, at the Battle of Jutland, the obsolescence of this initial class was demonstrated by its vulnerability to large calibre fire of other ships, built of course in answer to her own design.

It was often said of the armoured cruisers - particularly after the "Canopus"-class battleships used the properties of face hardened Krupp armour in 6 in (152 mm) thickness, identical to contemporary armoured cruiser protection - that armoured cruisers would be a valuable addition to the battleline in some circumstances. With their powerful armament, use of battlecruisers in the line of battle was often postulated. However, at no time during First World War were British battlecruisers used in the battle line, although they suffered heavy losses while being deployed in the scouting forces of the main fleet.

"Invincible" Today

Her wreck was first located by the Royal Navy in 1919. "Invincible" was blown in half by the midships explosion, and the pieces of the ship rest on a sandy bottom near each other, the stern right-side up and the bow upside-down. The roof of the aft 12 inch turret is missing, the guns still loaded. She is designated as a "protected place" under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986, though her propellers have already been removed by looters.

References

* V. E. Tarrant, "Battlecruiser Invincible: The History of the First Battlecruiser, 1909-1916" (Arms and Armour Press, London, 1986) ISBN 0-87021-147-1
* Robert Gardiner, ed., "Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906 - 1921" (Conway Maritime Press, London, 1985)

External links

* [http://www.maritimequest.com/warship_directory/great_britain/battleships/invincible/hms_invincible.htm Maritimequest HMS Invincible Photo Gallery] (includes two photographs of the ship's destruction at Jutland).
* [http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2008/uksi_20080950_en_1 SI 2008/0950] Designation under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986