H.M.S. Goliath (1898)

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H.M.S. Goliath (1898)
Pendant Number: N.54 (1914)[1]
Builder: Chatham Royal Dockyard[2]
Laid down: 4 Jan, 1897[3]
Launched: 23 Mar, 1898[4]
Completed: Mar, 1900[5]
Commissioned: 27 Mar, 1900
Torpedoed: 13 May, 1915
Fate: by Template:TU-Mauvenet

H.M.S. Goliath was a pre-dreadnought battleship of the Canopus Class in the Royal Navy completed in 1900. After a somewhat delayed build she served on the China Station, before eventually being torpedoed in the Dardanelles during the First World War.

Construction

It had originally been planned to launch Goliath in October, 1897, but due to non-delivery of important castings, her launch was delayed until March, 1898. It had been hoped that she could be launched in February and Irresistible laid down in the then current Financial Year, but more delays ensued. She was launched on Wednesday 23 March, 1898 by Lady Hotham, the wife of Admiral SirCharles Frederick Hotham. Also in attendance were the Admiral Superintendent of Chatham Dockyard Hilary Gustavus Andoe and Mrs Andoe, the Assistant Controller of the Navy and Director of Naval Construction Sir William White, Sir Evan MacGregor, Permanent Secretary to the Board of Admiralty and W.H. Fawkes, Private Secretary to the First Lord of the Admiralty. At the time of the launch she was the largest (by weight) vessel to be launched at the Chatham dockyard.

Her engines were constructed by John Penn & Sons, while her armour was provided by Messrs C. Cammell & Co. and J. Brown & Co.

Service

On 25 September, 1899 she left Chatham to being her steam trials. A preliminary trial was scheduled on the 26th, with two-fifths, four-fifths and full power runs carried out off the South coast of England. Due to machinery defects the first trial run was delayed by eight hours off the Isle of Wight. Consequently her full power run off the Cornish coast was delayed due to further mechanical faults. She finally completed her official steaming (and gunnery) trials on the 24 November, 1899.

It had been planned that upon completion Goliath would be placed in reserve, but on 10 January, 1900 it was announced that she would relieve the Victorious, then the Centurion, on the China Station. She commissioned at Chatham on 27 March, 1900 under Captain Lewis Edmund Wintz. Before sailing for China, on 19 April Goliath commenced another pattern of steam trials at Sheerness but was once more forced to delay due to a defective air pump. While still undergoing repairs in Sheerness Harbour an incident occurred with an anchor chain which left a Sergeant of Marines severely injured and four seamen slightly injured. With all her trials finally completed to a satisfactory degree, Goliath finally departed for China on 30 May, arriving at the port of Weihaiwei on 18 June, in time for the Boxer Rebellion.

Goliath left Port Said for home, intending to stop at Malta, on 15 August, 1903.[6]

Completed at Portsmouth on 9 May, 1905 for service as one of nine battleships in the Mediterranean Fleet.[7]

By mid-1906, she was one of seventeen battleships in the Channel Fleet.[8]

By March 1907, she was one of sixteen battleships in the Channel Fleet, but designated, along with Canopus, Mars and Prince George to soon transfer to the Home Fleet.[9]

She completed at Portsmouth on 4 February, 1908 and by July was one of six battleships in the Mediterranean Fleet.[10]

She commissioned at Sheerness on 22 April, 1909 and by mid-year was serving in the Home Fleet.[11] By April, 1911 she was in the Home Fleet's Third Division, one of four battleships based at Portsmouth.[12]

In mid-1913 she was with Third Fleet.[13]

Captains

Dates of appointment are provided when known.

Radio

In 1901, while serving in the China Squadron, she had or was slated to receive a Marconi W/T kit.[39]

See Aso

Footnotes

  1. Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 30.
  2. Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 30.
  3. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 34.
  4. Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 30.
  5. Burt. British Battleships: 1889-1904. p. 172.
  6. "Naval & Military Intelligence." The Times (London, England), Monday, Aug 17, 1903; pg. 8; Issue 37161.
  7. The Navy List. (November, 1905). pp. 269, 321.
  8. The Navy List. (June, 1906). pp. 269, 321.
  9. The Navy List. (March, 1907). p. 269.
  10. The Navy List. (July, 1908). pp. 269, 321.
  11. The Navy List. (July, 1909). p. 321.
  12. The Navy List. (April, 1911). p. 269a.
  13. The Navy List. (July, 1913). p. 320.
  14. Wintz Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/37. f. 1410.
  15. The Navy List. (May, 1902). p. 260.
  16. Wintz Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/37. f. 1410.
  17. Henderson Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/38. f. 615.
  18. Henderson Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/38. f. 615.
  19. "Appointments for the Naval Manoeuvres." The Times (London, England), Saturday, Jul 09, 1904; pg. 12; Issue 37442.
  20. Slade Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/20. f. 111.
  21. Slade Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/20. f. 111.
  22. Casement Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/38. f. 201.
  23. Casement Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/38. f. 201.
  24. Williams Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/39. f. 1409.
  25. The Navy List. (June, 1906). p. 320.
  26. Kingsford Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/38. f. 749.
  27. Stewart Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/20. f. 619.
  28. Stewart Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/20. f. 619.
  29. The Navy List. (October, 1908). p. 321.
  30. Miller Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 188.
  31. Kiddle Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 382.
  32. Field Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 178.
  33. Dicks Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43/145. f. 145.
  34. The Navy List. (April, 1911). p. 320.
  35. Dicks Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43/145. f. 145.
  36. The Navy List. (August, 1912). p. 320.
  37. The Navy List. (December, 1914). p. 324.
  38. Naval Operations. Volume II. pp. 407-8.
  39. Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1901. p. 112.

Bibliography


Canopus Class Pre-dreadnought
  Albion Canopus Glory  
  Goliath Ocean Vengeance  
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