HMS Victorious (1895)

HMS "Victorious" was one of nine "Majestic"-class predreadnought battleships of the British Royal Navy.

Technical Characteristics

HMS "Victorious" was laid down at Chatham Dockyard on 28 May 1894 and launched on 19 October 1895. She began sea trials in October 1896 and was completed in November 1896. [Burt, p. 114]

When the lead ship of the 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] "Victorious" began life as a coal-burner, but was converted to burn oil fuel by 1907-1908. [Gibbons, p. 137.] "Victorious" and her sisters were the last British battleships to have side-by-side funnels, successor classes having funnels in a line.

"Victorious" had a new design in which the bridge was mounted around the base of the foremast behind the conning tower to prevent a battle-damaged bridge from collapsing around the tower. She had pear-shaped barbettes and fixed loading positons for her main guns, as did six of her sisters, although her sister ships "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.]

"Victorious" 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 "Victorious" 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 ["Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905", p. 36] 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. "Victorious" 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 "Victorious" to carry a secondary battery of twelve 6-inch (152-mm) 40-caliber ["Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905", p. 36] guns, a larger secondary armament than in previous classes. [Gibbons, p. 137] She also had four submerged torpedo tubes in the bow and one above water in the stern.

Operational History

HMS "Victorious" commissioned on 4 November 1896 for service in the Fleet Reserve at Chatham Dockyard. On 8 June 1897, she went into full commission for service in the Mediterranean Fleet. Before leaving the United Kingdom, she was present at the Fleet Review at Spithead for the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria on 26 June 1897. She moved to the Mediterranean, where she relieved battleship HMS "Anson". [Burt, p. 136]

In February 1898, "Victorious" detached from the Mediterranean Fleet for service on the China Station. In 1900, she returned to the Mediterranean and underwent a refit at Malta.

Her Mediterranean service over, "Victorious" paid off at Chatham on 8 August 1903 and began a refit there that lasted until February 1904. [Burt, p. 136]

"Victorious" recommissioned at Devonport on 2 February 1904 to serve as second flagship of the Channel Fleet. On 14 July 1904, torpedo boat HMS "TB 113" rammed her at Hamoaze, slightly damaging her. When under a reorganization on 1 January 1905 the Channel Fleet became the new Atlantic Fleet, "Victorious" became an Atlantic Fleet unit. [Burt, p. 136] Captain Robert Falcon Scott, the Antarctic explorer, served as her Captain, acting as Flag Captain to Rear-Admiral Egerton aboard her, for a period from 1906. Her Atlantic Fleet service ended when she paid off at Devonport on 31 December 1906. [Burt, p. 136]

On 1 January 1907, "Victorious" recommissioned to serve at the Nore as part of the Nore Division of the new Home Fleet. She underwent a refit at Chatham in 1908 [Burt, p. 136] in which she was converted to burn fuel oil and had main battery fire control and radio installed. ["Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906-1921", p. 7] She was reduced to a nucleus crew, in commission in reserve, in March 1909. ["Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906-1921", p. 7]

"Victorious" transferred to the Devonport Division, Home Fleet, in January 1911, and to the 3rd Fleet in May 1912. ["Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906-1921", p. 7] She damaged her sternwalk in a collision with her sister ship HMS "Majestic" in fog on 14 July 1912, [Burt, p. 130 & 136, although "Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906-1921", p. 7, says this collision happened in June 1910] and began a short refit at Chatham in December 1913. [Burt, p. 136; "Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906-1921", p. 7]

In July 1914, the Royal Navy began a precautionary mobilization as war began to seem imminent. As part of this, "Victorious" and her sister ships HMS "Hannibal", HMS "Mars", and HMS "Magnificent", formed the 9th Battle Squadron on 27 July 1914, stationed at the Humber to defend the British coast; "Victorious" remained there as guard ship after the 9th Battle Squadron was dissolved on 7 August 1914. In December 1914, she transferred to the Tyne to serve as guard ship there. [Burt, p. 136]

On 4 January 1915, "Victorious" paid off at Elswick. The "Majestic"-class ships were by then the oldest and least effective battleships in service in the Royal Navy; "Victorious" was laid up on the Tyne February until September 1915, and her 12-inch (305-mm) guns were removed for use aboard the new "Lord Clive"-class monitors HMS "Prince Rupert" and HMS "General Wolfe". ["Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906-1921", p. 7] Between September 1915 and February 1916 Palmers converted her into a repair ship at Jarrow. [Burt, p. 136]

The converted "Victorious" was commissioned as a repair ship on 22 February 1916 and arrived at Scapa Flow to replace the converted merchant ship "Caribbean", which had been lost in September 1915, as repair ship for the Grand Fleet. "Victorious" performed this role there until March 1920. [Burt, p. 136]

In March 1920, "Victorious" was renamed "Indus II" and was transferred to Devonport for a refit to prepare her for service with the Indus Establishment. She arrived at Devonport on 28 March 1920 and paid off into a care and maintenance status while she awaited the beginning of her refit. However, plans for the refit were cancelled; work began to convert her into a harbor depot ship, but in April 1922 that conversion also was cancelled before it could be completed, and she was placed on the disposal list that month. [Burt, p. 136]

"Indus II" was sold for scrapping on 19 December 1922, but the sale was cancelled on 1 March 1923. She was again sold on 9 April 1923, and was towed from Devonport to Dover to be scrapped. [Burt, p. 136]

ee also

* List of battleships of the Royal Navy
* "Majestic"-class battleships

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", London: Conway Maritime Press, 1979. ISBN 0-85177-133-5.
*Dittmar F.J., and J. J. Colledge. "British Warships 1914-1919". London: Ian Allen, 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.

External links

* [http://www.maritimequest.com/warship_directory/great_britain/battleships/victorious/hms_victorious.htm Maritimequest HMS Victorious Photo Gallery]