H.M.S. Swiftsure (1903)

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H.M.S. Swiftsure (1903)
Pendant Number: P.05 (Jan 1918)[1]
Builder: Armstrong, Whitworth & Company[2]
Ordered: Purchased 3 Dec, 1903[3]
Laid down: 26 Feb, 1902[4]
Launched: 12 Jan, 1903[5]
Commissioned: Jun, 1904[6]
Sold: 18 Jun, 1920[7]
Fate: Scrapped

H.M.S. Swiftsure was originally built for Chile as Constitucion; she was purchased along with sister Triumph on 3 December, 1903.[8] As a consequence, she did not resemble contemporary British ships.

Service

Swiftsure was recommissioned at Portsmouth on 26 March, 1913 to become flagship of the East Indies station.[9]

At 3am on the night of 28 January 1915, while in the Suez Canal supporting ground forces, Swiftsure switched on her searchlights to engage enemies attacking a friendly outpost. She opened fire with 7.5-in lyddite shells at 7.05am, ceasing fire at 7.40 when the enemy retreated.[10]

On 10 August, 1915, a gun aboard Swiftsure accidentally fired and caused casualties on a transport. A Court of Enquiry found that gunnery Lieutenant-Commander Cuthbert Winthrop Swithinbank had permitted the gun to remain loaded after the gun crew had fallen out. He received an expression of the Vice-Admiral's dissatisfaction with his neglect of duty.[11]

Swiftsure served in the East Indies until 1915 and then moved to the Mediterranean.[12] She paid off on 26 April, 1917.[13]

Alterations

In mid-1913 it was approved that these ships receive a Mark III Dumaresq, Pattern 760. Having been supplied with the Mark III variant, each was to surrender a Mark I instrument.[14]

In 1918, Swiftsure was converted to a blockship at Chatham Royal Dockyard, but was never used as such.[15]

Captains

Dates of appointment are provided when known.

See Also

Footnotes

  1. Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 31.
  2. Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 31.
  3. Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 31.
  4. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 39.
  5. Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 31.
  6. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 39.
  7. Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 31.
  8. Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 31.
  9. The Navy List. (April, 1914). p. 379.
  10. Transcribed ships log.
  11. Swithinbank Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/50/49. f. ?.
  12. Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships: 1914-1919. p. 31.
  13. The Navy List. (November, 1917). p. 398c.
  14. Admiralty Weekly Order No. 283 of 6 June, 1913.
  15. Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 31.
  16. The Navy List. (October, 1904). p. 381.
  17. Galloway Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/19. f. 139/276.
  18. Galloway Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/19. f. 139/276.
  19. Cradock Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 89.
  20. Cradock Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 89.
  21. The Navy List. (October, 1908). p. 380.
  22. Thursby Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/20. f. 658.
  23. Thursby Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/20. f. 658.
  24. Tower Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 32.
  25. The Navy List. (April, 1911). p. 380.
  26. Hornby Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 338.
  27. Hornby Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 338.
  28. Gaunt Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/49. f. 161.
  29. "Naval Appointments." The Times (London, England), 29 Aug. 1912, p. 2.
  30. Dutton Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44. f. 258.
  31. Dutton Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44. f. 258.
  32. Preston Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44/79. f. 79.
  33. Preston Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44/79. f. 79.
  34. Marshall Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43/110. f. 117.
  35. Marshall Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43/110. f. 117.
  36. The Navy List. (April, 1914). p. 379.
  37. The Navy List. (April, 1914). p. 379.
  38. The Navy List. (April, 1915). p. 398m.
  39. The Navy List. (April, 1915). p. 398m.
  40. Talbot Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43/421. f. 421.
  41. The Navy List. (December, 1916). p. 398m.
  42. Talbot Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43/421. f. 421.
  43. The Navy List. (February, 1919). p. 912a.

Bibliography

  • Dittmar, F.J.; Colledge, J.J. (1972). British Warships 1914–1919. London: Ian Allan.
  • Chesneau, Robert; Kolesnik, Eugene (editors) (1979). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. London: Conway Maritime Press. (on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk).
  • Admiralty, Gunnery Branch (1918). Handbook of Captain F. C. Dreyer's Fire Control Tables, 1918. C.B. 1456. Copy No. 10 at Admiralty Library, Portsmouth, United Kingdom.
  • Admiralty, Technical History Section (1919). The Technical History and Index: Fire Control in H.M. Ships. Vol. 3, Part 23. C.B. 1515 (23) now O.U. 6171/14. At The National Archives. ADM 275/19.


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