H.M.S. Colossus (1910)

H.M.S. Colossus (1910)
Pendant Number:	93 (1914) 43 (Jan 1918) 24 (Apr 1918)
Builder:	Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Greenock
Laid down:	8 Jul, 1909
Launched:	9 Apr, 1910
Commissioned:	8 Aug, 1911
Sold:	Jul, 1928
Fate:	Scrapped
First cost:	£1,540,403

H.M.S. Colossus was one of two Colossus class battleships completed for the Royal Navy in 1911.

Service

Colossus was completed under the oversight of Commander Oliver Backhouse, who'd been appointed to her on 9 January, 1911.

Colossus was commissioned at Devonport on 8 August, 1911, by Captain Dudley R. S. de Chair for service in the Second Division of the Home Fleet.

At the end of 1912, she had one of the twelve Short Distance Radio Sets then installed in sea-going ships of five-mile range, situated behind armour near the fore bridge. From at least December 1912, she served in the First Battle Squadron alongside her sister ship, H.M.S. Hercules.

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

On 28 July, 1914, two men died during coaling operations at Portland. Engineer Lieutenant R. H. M. Bury was caught by a whip and dropped twenty feet, landing on his head, and Electrical Artificer Tripps was also killed.

Jutland

Main article: H.M.S. Colossus at the Battle of Jutland

She served under the command of Captain A. Dudley P. R. Pound as part of the First Battle Squadron.

Late War

Colossus and Hercules remained with the First Battle Squadron until June 1916, when they were transferred to the Fourth Battle Squadron, with Colossus becoming that formation's second flagship. In June 1917, she relinquished her flag role within the squadron, but she resumed it in October 1917.

Fate

In February 1919, Colossus was sent to Devonport when the Fourth was disestablished, where she was Reduced to Reserve on 4 March, 1919.

Colossus was placed on the disposal list in July, 1921 but was reprieved in September for service as a Boys' Training Ship. She was paid off in May, 1922 but recommissioned again on 31 January, 1924 with a special complement as an accommodation ship for the Training Ship Impregnable. She was paid off again in January, 1928 and sold to Alloa SB Company in July. She left Devonport under tow on 15 August and arrived at Rosyth for breaking up on 5 September.

Captains

Dates of appointment are provided when known.

• Captain Dudley R. S. de Chair, 27 July, 1911 – 10 August, 1912
• Captain William E. Goodenough, 10 August, 1912 – 5 July, 1913
• Captain George W. Smith, 5 July, 1913 – 29 June, 1914
• Captain The Hon. Edward S. Fitzherbert, 29 June, 1914 – 23 October, 1915
• Captain A. Dudley P. R. Pound, 24 October, 1915 – July, 1917
• Captain Wilfred Tomkinson, 6 July, 1917 – November, 1917
• Captain Charles P. Beaty-Pownall, 15 November, 1917 – 3 February, 1919  (and as Flag Captain)
• Captain Robert A. Hornell, 1 February, 1919 – 18 March, 1919
• Captain The Hon. Arthur L. O. Forbes-Sempill, 15 May, 1919 – 14 July, 1920
• Captain Francis A. Clutterbuck, 14 July, 1920 – 15 July, 1921
• Captain Bernard St. G. Collard, 6 September, 1921 – 31 March, 1922  (and in command of Boys' Training Establishment, Portland)
• Commander Kenneth N. Humphreys, 21 March, 1922 – 21 May, 1922  (temporary, dates are hard to read)
• Captain Hugh H. Rogers, 20 December, 1923 – 15 July, 1924
• Commander Harold A. Knight, 15 July, 1924 – 15 July, 1926  (vice Rogers)
• Commander George Wilson, 15 July, 1926 – 31 December, 1927
• Lieutenant-Commander Oliver C. Warner, 21 December, 1927 – 30 June, 1928

See Also

• Wikipedia

Bibliography

• Navy (Dockyard Expense Accounts). 1913–1914. London: Printed under the Authority of His Majesty's Stationary Office. 1915.
• 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.
• Dittmar, F.J.; Colledge, J.J. (1972). British Warships 1914–1919. London: Ian Allan.