H.M.S. King George V (1911)

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H.M.S. King George V (1911)
Pendant Number: 61 (1914)
77 (Jan 1918)
70 (Apr 1918)[1]
Builder: Portsmouth Royal Dockyard[2]
Ordered: 1910 Programme[3]
Laid down: 16 Jan, 1911[4]
Launched: 9 Oct, 1911[5]
Completed: 23 Nov, 1912[6]
Commissioned: 16 Nov, 1912
Sold: Dec, 1926[7]
Fate: Scrapped
First cost: £1,778,133[8]

H.M.S. King George V was one of four King George V class battleships completed for the Royal Navy shortly before the war.

Construction

Machinery was provided by Parson's Turbine Company.[9]

Alterations

In 1913, King George V was slated as part of the twelve ship order to receive a director along the lines of that developed in Neptune. She was fully equipped sometime in 1914 prior to the start of the war with a light aloft tower atop her spotting top.[10] A letter at the National Maritime Museum seems to indicate that the fitting of the director tower was well underway on at the end of January at Portsmouth and that the same alteration could be copied for Ajax, Audacious and the Iron Duke class.[11]

In October, 1914, it was decided that King George V should receive an Open Director Sight for each of her turrets. They were fitted between April 1916 and June 1917.[12]

In October 1914, the ship was to be given 8 Pattern 1582 Electric Radiators to warm cabins whose stoves could not be used for heating them.[13]

Torpedo Control

In 1919, she was selected to eventually receive a Renouf Torpedo Tactical Instrument Type B and one of the first nine Renouf Torpedo Tactical Instrument Type Fs manufactured by Elliott Brothers.[14] In 1920, however, it was decided to send her Type F to Orion or to the the Staff College at Greenwich.[15]

Between late 1915 and mid 1917, she was fitted with a Torpedo Control Plotting Instrument Mark II in the T.C.T..[16][17]

Rangefinders

In June 1914, the ship was directed to return its Waymouth-Cooke Rangefinder to the manufacturer to replace the long telescope with a shorter one.[18]

When in 1918 it was desired to give each capital ship possible an additional effective 9-foot rangefinder to support torpedo control, King George V proposed one aft of the after funnel, which required a platform between No. 3 searchlight towers, on a transversing mounting to permit forward arcs. This would leave the 9-foot rangefinder on the bridge for use by the admiral and the secondary battery.[19]

Telescopes

In September 1914, the ship was to be sent sixteen 3/9 power telescopes and to return the same number of 2.5 power scopes, Pattern G. 329 upon receipt. These were likely to serve as trainer telescopes. Constrained supplies meant that 26% of the scopes may have been 5/12 and 5/21 scopes.[20]

Radio

By the end of 1913, she and the rest of the Second Battle Squadron were all equipped with Battleship Auxiliary W/T sets.[21]

Service

King George V commissioned on 16 November, 1912, under the command of Captain Mark E. F. Kerr, as a member of the Second Battle Squadron.[22]

Jutland

Main article: H.M.S. King George V at the Battle of Jutland

The ship, as flagship to Vice-Admiral Thomas Jerram's Second Battle Squadron, led the First Division, the left-most upon which the Grand Fleet deployed. Captain Frederick Field was in command, and her gunnery officer was Lt. Cdr. (G) John O. N. Wood.

King George V recommissioned on 28 August, 1917.[23]

Captains

Dates of appointment are provided when known.

See Also

Footnotes

  1. Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 33.
  2. Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 33.
  3. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. p. 30.
  4. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. p. 30.
  5. Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 33.
  6. Navy (Dockyard Expense Accounts). 1913–1914. p. 29.
  7. Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 33.
  8. Navy (Dockyard Expense Accounts). 1913–1914. p. 137.
  9. Navy (Dockyard Expense Accounts). 1913–1914. p. 29.
  10. The Technical History and Index: Fire Control in HM Ships, pp. 9-10. Audacious, which likely had the same configuration, is shown with her tower as described at Wikipedia.
  11. Letter in D'Eyncourt Papers at the National Maritime Museum's Caird Library, DEY/27
  12. The Technical History and Index: Fire Control in HM Ships, p. 18.
  13. Admiralty Weekly Order No. 512 of 16 Oct, 1914.
  14. Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1919. p. 119.
  15. Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1920. p. 91.
  16. Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1915. p. 60.
  17. Handbook of Torpedo Control, 1916. p. 38.
  18. Admiralty Weekly Order No. 68 of 26 June 1914.
  19. Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1918. p. 177.
  20. Admiralty Weekly Order No. 408 of 25 Sep, 1914.
  21. Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1913. W/T Appendix, p. 13.
  22. "Naval and Military Intelligence." The Times. 18 November, 1912. p. 4.
  23. The Navy List. (January, 1921). p. 798.
  24. Nicholas Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 306.
  25. Kerr Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 30.
  26. Kerr Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 30.
  27. The Navy List. (October, 1915). p. 395h.
  28. Baird Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 249.
  29. Field Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 178.
  30. Field Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 178.
  31. Molteno Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44. f. 260.
  32. The Navy List. (December, 1916). p. 395s.
  33. Molteno Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44. f. 260.
  34. The Navy List. (October, 1917). p. 394x.
  35. McClintock Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 459.
  36. The Navy List. (February, 1919). p. 825.
  37. Campbell Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43/521. f. 465.
  38. Campbell Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43/521. f. 465.
  39. The Navy List. (August, 1919). p. 825.
  40. Hamilton Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/46. f. 67.
  41. took command of Conqueror on that day, per Colin Mackie.
  42. The Navy List. (December, 1920). p. 797.
  43. Thesiger Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 179.
  44. Thesiger Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 179.
  45. Pearson Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44. f. 486.
  46. Pearson Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44. f. 486.
  47. Betty Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44. f. 397.
  48. Betty Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44. f. 397.
  49. The Navy List. (July, 1924). p. 250.
  50. Ridler Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/50/224. f. 282.
  51. The Navy List. (April, 1925). p. 250.
  52. Ridler Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/50/224. f. 282.

Bibliography


King George V Class Dreadnought
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<– Orion Class Battleships (UK) Iron Duke Class –>