HMS Dominion (1903)

HMS "Dominion" was a sclass|King Edward VII|battleship of the Royal Navy. Like all ships of the class (apart from the lead ship of the class, HMS|King Edward VII) she was named after an important part of the British Empire, namely the Dominion of Canada. She has been the only ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name "Dominion".

Technical characteristics

HMS "Dominion" was ordered under the 1902 Naval Estimates. She was laid down at Vickers' yards at Barrow-in-Furness on 23 May 1902 and launched on 25 August 1903. She began trials in May 1905 and was completed in July 1905. [Burt, pp. 232, 255]

Although "Dominion" and her seven sister ships of the "King Edward VII" class were a direct descendant of the "Majestic" class, they were also the first class to make a significant departure from the "Majestic" design, displacing about 1,000 tons more and mounting for the first time an intermediate battery of four 9.2-inch (234-mm) guns in addition to the standard outfit of 6-inch (152-mm) guns. The 9.2-inch was a quick-firing gun like the 6-inch, and its heavier shell made it a formidable weapon by the standards of the day when "Dominion" and her sisters were designed; it was adopted out of concerns that British battleships were undergunned for their displacement and were becoming outgunned by foreign battleships that had begun to mount 8-inch (203-mm) intermediate batteries. The four 9.2-inch were mounted in single turrets abreast the foremast and mainmast, and "Dominion" thus could bring two of them to bear on either broadside. Even then, "Dominion" and her sisters were criticized for not having, a uniform secondary battery of 9.2-inch guns, something considered but rejected because of the length of time it would have taken to design the ships with such a radical revision of the secondary armament layout. In the end, it proved impossible to distinguish 12-inch and 9.2-inch shell splashes from one another, making fire control impractical for ships mounting both calibers, although "Dominion" had fire-control platforms on her fore- and mainmasts rather than the fighting tops of earlier classes. ["Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1860-1905", p. 38]

Like all British battleships since the "Majestic" class, the "King Edward VII"-class ships had four 12-inch (305-mm) guns in two twin turrets (one forward and one aft); the first five "King Edwards", including "Dominion", mounted the Mark IX 12-inch. Mounting of the 6-inch guns in casemates was abandoned in "Dominion" and her sister ships, the 6-inch instead being placed in a central battery amidships protected by 7-inch (178-mm) armored walls. Otherwise, "Dominion's" armor was much as in the "London" class battleships, although there were various differences in detail from the "London"s. ["Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1860-1905", p. 38]

"Dominion" and her sisters were the first British battleships with balanced rudders since the 1870s and were very maneuverable, with a tactical diameter of 340 yards (311 m) at 15 knots (27.75 km/h). However, they were difficult to keep on a straight course, and this characteristic led to them being nicknamed "the Wobbly Eight" during their 1914-1916 service in the Grand Fleet. They had a slightly faster roll than previous British battleship classes, but were good gun platforms, although very wet in bad weather. ["Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1860-1905", p. 38]

Primarily powered by coal, "Dominion" had oil sprayers installed during her construction, as did all of her sisters except HMS|New Zealand|1904|6, the first time this had been done in British battleships. These allowed steam pressure to be rapidly increased, improving "Dominion's" acceleration. The eight ships between them were given four different boiler installations for comparative purposes; "Dominion's" outfit of 16 Babcock and Wilcox boilers allowed her to exceed her designed speed on trials ["Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1860-1905", p. 38] , during which she exceeded 18.3 knots (33.9 km/h). [Burt, p. 241]

"Dominion" was a powerful ship when she was designed, and completely fulfilled the goals set for her at that time. However, she was unlucky in that the years of her design and construction were ones of revolutionary advancement in naval guns, fire control, armor, and propulsion. She joined the fleet in mid-1905, but quickly was made obsolete by the commissioning of the revolutionary battleship HMS|Dreadnought|1906|6 at the end of 1906 and the large numbers of the new dreadnought battleships that commissioned in succeeding years. By 1914, "Dominion" and her "King Edward VII"-class sisters were, like all predreadnoughts, so outclassed that they spent much of their 1914-1916 Grand Fleet service steaming at the heads of divisions of the far more valuable dreadnoughts, protecting the dreadnoughts from naval mines by being the first battleships to either sight or strike them. [Burt, p. 235]

Operational history

HMS "Dominion" commissioned on 15 August 1905 at Portsmouth Dockyard for service in the Atlantic Fleet. She ran aground in the Gulf of St. Lawrence on 16 August 1906, suffering severe damage to her hull plating and some flooding. She arrived at Bermuda in September 1906; when these were completed in January 1907, she moved to Chatham Dockyard for completion of her repairs beginning in February 1907. While out of service at Chatham, she transferred to the Channel Fleet in March 1907. [Burt, p. 255]

Her repairs were completed in May-June 1907, and she recommissioned for her Channel Fleet service. Under a fleet reorganization on 24 March 1909, the Channel Fleet became the 2nd Division, Home Fleet, and "Dominion" became a Home Fleet unit in that division. [Burt, p. 255]

Under a fleet reorganization in May 1912, "Dominion" and all seven of her sisters of the "King Edward VII" class (HMS|Africa |1905|2, HMS|Britannia|1904|2, HMS|Commonwealth|1903|2, HMS|Hibernia|1905|2, HMS|Hindustan|1903|2, HMS|King Edward VII|1903|2, and HMS|New Zealand|1904|2) were assigned to form the 3rd Battle Squadron, assigned to the First Fleet, Home Fleet, although "Dominion" was initially attached to the 2nd Battle Squadron and did not join the 3rd Battle Squadron until June 1912. The squadron was detached to the Mediterranean in November 1912 because of the First Balkan War (October 1912-May 1913); it arrived at Malta on 27 November 1912 and subsequently participated in a blockade by an international force of Montenegro and in an occupation of Scutari. The squadron returned to the United Kingdom in 1913 and rejoined the Home Fleet on 27 June 1913 [Burt, p. 255]

Upon the outbreak of World War I, the 3rd Battle Squadron was assigned to the Grand Fleet and based at Rosyth. It was used to supplement the Grand Fleet's cruisers on the Northern Patrol. On 2 November 1914, the squadron was detached to reinforce the Channel Fleet and was rebased at Portland. It returned to the Grand Fleet on 13 November 1914. [Burt, p. 255]

"Dominion" served in the Grand Fleet until April 1916, [Burt, p. 255] serving temporarily as flagship, Vice Admiral, 3rd Battle Squadron, in August-September 1915 ["Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1906-1921", p. 9] . During sweeps by the fleet, she and her sister ships often steamed at the heads of divisions of the far more valuable dreadnoughts, where they could protect the dreadnoughts by watching for mines or by being the first to strike them. [Burt, p. 235]

On 29 April 1916, the 3rd Battle Squadron was rebased at Sheerness, and on 3 May 1916 it was separated from the Grand Fleet, being transferred to the Nore Command. "Dominion" remained there with the squadron until March 1918, being attacked unsuccessfully by a German submarine in May 1916 and undergoing a refit at Portsmouth Dockyard in June 1917. [Burt, p. 255]

The units of the 3rd Battle Squadron had begun to disperse gradually in 1916, and by 1 March 1918, "Dominion" and battleship "Dreadnought" were the only ships left in the squadron. The squadron was finally dissolved in March 1918, and "Dominion" paid off to serve as a parent ship for the Zeebrugge Raid and the first Ostend Raid. She served in this capacity, stationed in the Swin, until May 1918. [Burt, p. 256]

On 2 May 1918, "Dominion" paid off into the Nore Reserve. She was employed as an accommodation ship. On 29 May 1919, she was placed on the disposal list at Chatham Dockyard. She was sold for scrapping on 9 May 1921 to T. W. Ward & Company Limited. On 30 September 1923 she was towed to Belfast to be stripped, and she arrived at Preston for scrapping on 28 October 1924. [Burt, p. 256]

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". New York: Mayflower Books, Inc., 1979. ISBN 0831703024.
*
* Dittmar, F. J. & Colledge, J. J. "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.
* Pears, Randolph. "British Battleships 1892-1957: The Great Days of the Fleets". G. Cave Associates, 1979. ISBN 978-0906223147

External links

* [http://www.pbenyon1.plus.com/Janes_1919/B_Ships/King_Edward_Cl_69.html HMS "Commonwealth"] in "Jane's Fighting Ships", 1919.
* [http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/Mariners/2001-10/1003278100 Assignment of the HMS "Commonwealth"]
* "Jane's Fighting Ships of World War One" (1919), Jane's Publishing Company
* [http://www.worldwar1.co.uk/pre-dreadnought/hms-king-edward-vii.html Careers of the "King Edward VII" class]