HMS Glory (1899)

HMS Glory was a Royal Navy battleship of the "Canopus" class.

Technical Characteristics

HMS "Glory" and her five sister ships were designed for service in the Far East, where the new rising power Japan was beginning to build a powerful and dangerous navy, and to able to transit the Suez Canal. They were designed to be smaller (by about 2,000 tons), lighter, and faster than their predecessors, the "Majestic"-class battleships, although they were slightly longer at 430 feet (131 m). In order to save weight, "Glory" carried less armor than the "Majestic"s, although the change from Harvey armor in the "Majestic"s to Krupp armor in the "Canopus" class meant that the loss in protection was not as great as it might have been, Krupp armor having greater protective value at a given weight than its Harvey equivalent. Still, "Glory's" armor was light enough to make her almost a second-class battleships. Part of the "Canopus" class's armor scheme included the use of a special 1-inch (2.54 mm) armored deck over the belt to defend against plunging fire by howitzers that France reportedly planned to install on its ships, although this report proved to be false. ["Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905", p. 35]

"Glory" had four 12-inch (305-mm) 35-caliber guns mounted in twin turrets fore and aft; these guns were mounted in circular barbettes that allowed all-around loading, although at a fixed elevation. ["Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905", p. 35] The ships also mounted twelve 6-inch (152-mm) 40-caliber guns (sponson mounting allowing some of them to fire fore and aft) in addition to smaller guns, and four 18-inch (457-mm) submerged torpedo tubes. ["Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905", p. 35; Gibbons, p. 145]

The "Canopus" class ships were the first British battleships with water-tube boilers, which generated more power at less expense in weight compared with the cylindrical boilers used in previous ships. The new boilers led to the adoption of fore-and-aft funnels, rather than the side-by-side funnel arrangement used in may previous British battleships. The "Canopus"-class ships proved to be good steamers, consuming 10 tons of coal per hour at full speed, [Gibbons, p. 145] with a high speed for battleships of their time, a full two knots faster than the "Majestic"s. ["Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905", p. 35; Gibbons, p. 145]

Operational History

HMS "Glory" commissioned on 1 November 1900 for service on the China Station, departing the United Kingdom for China on 24 November 1900. While there, she was in collision with battleship HMS "Centurion" during a storm at Hong Kong on 17 April 1901, when "Centurion" drifted across her bows, but "Glory" suffered no damage. "Glory" refitted at Hong Kong in 1901-1902. [Burt, p. 156]

In 1905, the United Kingdom and Japan ratified a treaty of alliance that reduced the need for a Royal Navy presence on the China Station, and all battleships there were recalled. As a result, "Glory" was recalled from China in July 1905, departing Hong Kong on 22 July 1905. [Burt, p. 156]

"Glory" paid off at Portsmouth on 2 October 1905. She returned to full commission on 24 October 1905 for service in the Channel Fleet. On 31 October 1906, she transferred to the Portsmouth Reserve Division, which in January 1907 became the Portsmouth Division of the new Home Fleet. She underwent a refit at Portsmouth from March to September 1907, [Burt, p. 156] during which she received fire control and magazine cooling and had her machinery and boilers overhauled. ["Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906-1921", p. 8]

Her refit completed, "Glory" commissioned at Portsmouth on 18 September 1907 for service in the Mediterranean Fleet. On 20 April 1909, she paid off at Portsmouth and recommissioned for reserve duty with a nucleus crew in the 4th Division, Home Fleet, at the Nore. [Burt, p. 156; "Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906-1921", p. 8] She became part of the 3rd Fleet at the Nore in May 1912 and transferred to Portsmouth in April 1913. ["Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906-1921", p. 8]

When World War I broke out in August 1914, "Glory" was assigned to the 8th Battle Squadron, Channel Fleet, based at Devonport, but she was detached on 5 August 1914 to serve at Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, as guard ship and to support the North America and West Indies Station cruiser squadron, [Burt, p. 156] serving as flagship of the station. ["Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906-1921", p. 8] She escorted a Canadian troop convoy in October 1914. [Burt, p. 156; "Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906-1921", p. 8, provides a somewhat different chronology, in which "Glory" escorted the Canadian convoy while a Channel Fleet unit in October 1914, "then" transferred to the North America and West Indies Station.]

"Glory" transferred to the Mediterranean in May 1915 to participate in Dardanelles campaign, arriving at the Dardanelles in June 1915. At the end of 1915 she left this duty and joined the Suez Canal Patrol in the Mediterranean on 4 January 1916. In April 1916, she returned to the United Kingdom and began a refit at Portsmouth that lasted until July 1916. [Burt, p. 156]

"Glory" recommissioned on 1 August 1916 to serve as Flagship, Rear Admiral, British North Russia Squadron. In this duty, she was based at Archangel to protect supplies that arrived there for the Russian Army. [Burt, p. 156]

In September 1919, "Glory" returned to the United Kingdom. She paid off into care and maintenance on 1 November 1919 at Sheerness. [Burt, p. 156] She was renamed HMS "Crescent" in April 1920 ["Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906-1921", p. 8] and transferred to Rosyth on 1 May 1920 to serve as a harbor depot ship. [Burt, p. 156]

"Crescent" paid off and was placed on the disposal list on 17 September 1921. She was sold for scrapping on 19 December 1922. [Burt, p. 156]

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., & J. J. Colledge. "British Warships 1914-1919", Londo: Ian Allen, London, 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.
* Pears, Randolph. "British Battleships 1892-1957: The Great Days of the Fleets". G. Cave Associates, 1979. ISBN 978-0906223147.