H.M.S. Royal Oak (1914)
| H.M.S. Royal Oak | |
| Career | Details |
|---|---|
| Pendant Number: | 38 (April, 1918)[1] |
| Built By: | Devonport Royal Dockyard |
| Laid Down: | 15 January, 1914 |
| Launched: | 17 November, 1914 |
| Commissioned: | May, 1916 |
| Sunk: | 14 October, 1939 |
H.M.S. Royal Oak was a Revenge class dreadnought battleship of the British Royal Navy, torpedoed in Scapa Flow by the German submarine U-47 on 14 October, 1939. Launched in 1914 and completed in 1916, Royal Oak first saw action at the Battle of Jutland. In peacetime, she served in the Atlantic, Home and Mediterranean fleets, coming under accidental attack on more than one occasion. The ship became the centre of worldwide attention in 1928 when her senior officers were controversially Court-Martialled. During a twenty-five year career, attempts to modernise Royal Oak could not address her fundamental lack of speed, and by the start of the Second World War she was no longer suited to front-line duty.
Career
First World War
The First World War had been under way for almost two years when Royal Oak was commissioned. She was assigned to the Third Division of the Fourth Battle Squadron of the British Grand Fleet, and within the month was ordered, along with most of the fleet, to engage the German High Seas Fleet in the Battle of Jutland. Under the command of Captain Crawford Maclachlan,[2] Royal Oak left Scapa Flow on the evening of 30 May in the company of the battleships Superb, Canada and Admiral Jellicoe's flagship Iron Duke.[3][4] The next day's indecisive battle saw Royal Oak fire a total of thirty-eight 15-inch and eighty-four 6-inch shells,[5] claiming three hits on the battlecruiser Derfflinger, putting one of its turrets out of action, and a hit on the cruiser Wiesbaden. She avoided damage herself, despite being straddled by shellfire on one occasion.[6]
Following the battle, Royal Oak was reassigned to the First Battle Squadron. On 5 November 1918—the final week of the First World War—she was anchored off Burntisland in the Firth of Forth accompanied by the aircraft carrier Campania and battlecruiser Glorious. A sudden Force 10 squall caused Campania to drag her anchor, collide with Royal Oak and then with the 22,000-ton Glorious. Both Royal Oak and Glorious suffered only minor damage; Campania, however, was holed by her initial collision with Royal Oak. Her engine rooms flooded, and she sank five hours later, without loss of life.[7]
At the end of the First World War Royal Oak escorted several vessels of the surrendering German High Seas Fleet from the Firth of Forth to their internment in Scapa Flow,[8] and was present at a ceremony in Pentland Firth to greet other ships as they followed.
Alterations
Royal Oak received her secondary battery directors in March, 1917.[9]
In March, 1915, Open Director Sights were ordered for all[Inference] her turrets. They were likely in place by her completion.[10]
See also
Footnotes
- ↑ Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships: 1914-1919
- ↑ Template:Cite web
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- ↑ The Technical History and Index: Fire Control in HM Ships, p. 16.
- ↑ The Technical History and Index: Fire Control in HM Ships, p. 18.
Bibliography
- Template:BibUKDirectorFiringHandbook1917
- Template:BibUKDreyerTableHandbook1918
- Dittmar, F.J.; Colledge, J.J. (1972). British Warships 1914–1919. London: Ian Allan.
- Template:BibUKFireControlInHMShips1919
