HMS Defence (1907)

HMS "Defence" was a "Minotaur"-class armoured cruiser of the Royal Navy, launched in 1907. She was the last armoured cruiser built for the Royal Navy. The wreck is designated under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 [ [http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2008/uksi_20080950_en_1 Designation under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986] by SI2008/950, Office of Public Sector Information, The National Archives. Retrieved 2008-07-17.]

Career

She was stationed in the Mediterranean in early 1914. At the start of World War I, she was involved in the pursuit of "Goeben" and "Breslau". She was ordered to the South Atlantic to take part in the hunt for Admiral Graf von Spee's squadron, but the squadron was destroyed on 8 December before she could reach the area.

She was the flagship of Rear Admiral Sir Robert Arbuthnot, leading the First Cruiser Squadron at the Battle of Jutland on 31 May 1916. The other ships of the squadron (HMS "Warrior", HMS "Duke of Edinburgh", and HMS "Black Prince") were of a similar outmoded class.

While closing for the kill at high speed with the "SMS Wiesbaden", drifting and crippled between the German and British fleets, "Defence" presented a target for the combined firepower of the German battlecruisers, whose proximity was hidden by smoke and mist. After initial damage she was struck by a salvo which blew up her after magazine, triggering explosions on the ammunition rails leading to the broadside 7.5 inch guns. Within seconds, another salvo immediately hit forward, and she blew up in a spectacular explosion, sinking with the loss of Arbuthnot and her entire complement of 903 men.

At the time, it was believed that "Defence" had been reduced to fragments by the explosion, but the wreck was discovered in 2001 by a diving team and found to be largely intact, despite the incredible violence of her sinking. [ [http://www.divernetxtra.com/news/items/ships290601.htm Warships found] , DIVER magazine, 29th June 2001] . The wreck was designated in 2006 as a "protected place" under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986.

Arbuthnot's actions, initially seen as entirely heroic, have remained a matter of historical debate. Admiral of the Fleet Lord Fisher described the event as "a glorious but not a justifiable death" [Lord Fisher on the navy - 11 September 1919, "The Times", September 11, 1991] and Arbuthnot's judgement has been questioned over his manoeuvre prior to the sinking of the "Defence": to turn his squadron across the path of the Grand Fleet. This blocked the fire of more powerful British ships, and required Beatty's flagship HMS "Lion" to change course to avoid collision with HMS "Warrior", the two passing each other at under 200 yards). ["Who's Who in World War One", John M. Bourne, 2001Routledge, ISBN 0415141796] [Paul G. Halpern, "Arbuthnot, Sir Robert Keith, fourth baronet (1864–1916)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, May 2006]

References

* Robert Gardiner, ed., "Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860 - 1905" (Conway Maritime Press, London, 1978)
* R.A. Burt, "Warships Illustrated Number 12, British Cruisers of World War I", (Arms and Armour Press, London, 1987)
*Colledge

External links

* [http://college.hmco.com/history/readerscomp/ships/html/sh_025800_hmsdefence2.htm Ships of the World]