H.M.S. Magnificent (1894)

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H.M.S. Magnificent (1894)
Pendant Number: D.13 (1914)
P.83 (Sep 1915)
P.3A (1918)[1]
Builder: Chatham Royal Dockyard[2]
Ordered: 1893[3]
Laid down: 18 Dec, 1893[4]
Launched: 19 Dec, 1894[5]
Commissioned: 12 Dec, 1895
Sold: 9 May, 1921[6]
Fate: Scrapped


H.M.S. Magnificent was a Majestic class battleship of the British Royal Navy, launched in 1894 and sold for scrap in 1921. She was the third Royal Navy warship to bear the name.

Service

Magnificent was laid down in No. 7 dock at Chatham Royal Dockyard on 18 December, 1893. Her main propulsion machinery was constructed by Messrs. John Penn and Son of Greenwich. All her armour plate bar four plates was fitted before floating out, owing to her being constructed in a dry dock. She was floated out on 19 December, 1894, in a ceremony performed by Countess Spencer, wife of the First Lord of the Admiralty, Earl Spencer, who was also present. In attendance were Rear-Admiral G. Digby Morant, Admiral Superintendent; Rear-Admiral Lord Walter Kerr, Second Naval Lord; Sir Ughtred J. Kay-Shuttleworth, Bart, Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Board of Admiralty; Vice-Admiral Richard Wells, Commander-in-Chief at the Nore; Captain Lord Charles Beresford, Captain of the Medway Dockyard Reserve; William H. White, the Assistant Controller of the Navy and Director of Naval Construction, and others.[7]

On 10 December, 1895, Magnificent was inspected by Admiral Sir Frederick W. Richards, First Naval Lord; Rear-Admiral Sir John A. Fisher, Controller of the Navy and Sir Evan MacGregor, Permanent Secretary to the Board of Admiralty. They were conducted over the ship by the new Admiral Superintendent, Rear-Admiral Hilary G. Andoe, and Captain Beresford.[8]

Upon completion of the ship Rear-Admiral Andoe received a communication from the Board of Admiralty:

I aim to express their lordships' gratification at the remarkable feat in shipbuilding accomplished in completing for commission her Majesty's ship Magnificent within the unprecedented date of two years from the date her keel-plates were laid down. This result reflects the highest credit on the Admiral Superintendent, the officers of the yard, the workmen, and Dockyard Reserve. Unless all had most cordially and loyally cooperated in the work it would have been impossible for so unexampled a result to have been achieved.[9]

She was commissioned at Chatham on 12 December, 1895, by Captain Charles J. Barlow, as flagship of Rear-Admiral Arthur H. Alington, Second-in-Command of the Channel Squadron, with a complement of 773 officers and men, largely taken from the crew of the Empress of India.[10][11]

Magnificent paid off on 8 August, 1917.[12]

Radio

By the end of 1901, she was fitted or due to receive a Marconi W/T set.[13]

Torpedoes

In October 1898, the ship became one of the first in the Royal Navy to receive torpedoes fitted for gyroscopes, drawn from the Portsmouth Depot. Though there were four torpedoes, only two gyros were initially supplied:[14]

Captains

Dates of appointment are provided when known.

See Also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 29.
  2. ↑ Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 29.
  3. ↑ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 34.
  4. ↑ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 34.
  5. ↑ Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 29.
  6. ↑ Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 29.
  7. ↑ "H.M.S. Magnificent" (Official Appointments and Notices). The Times. Thursday, 20 December, 1894. Issue 34452, col A, p. 10.
  8. ↑ "Naval & Military Intelligence" (Official Appointments and Notices). The Times. Wednesday, 11 December, 1895. Issue 34757, col C, p. 7.
  9. ↑ "Naval & Military Intelligence" (Official Appointments and Notices). The Times. Friday, 13 December, 1895. Issue 34759, col B, p. 7.
  10. ↑ "Naval & Military Intelligence" (Official Appointments and Notices). The Times. Monday, 2 December, 1895. Issue 34749, col B, p. 6.
  11. ↑ "Naval & Military Intelligence" (Official Appointments and Notices). The Times. Friday, 13 December, 1895. Issue 34759, col B, p. 7.
  12. ↑ The Navy List (November, 1917). p. 395k.
  13. ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1901. p. 111.
  14. ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1898. p. 42.
  15. ↑ "Naval & Military Intelligence" (Official Appointments and Notices). The Times. Monday, 2 December, 1895. Issue 34749, col B, p. 6.
  16. ↑ "Naval & Military Intelligence" (Official Appointments and Notices). The Times. Friday, 13 December, 1895. Issue 34759, col B, p. 7.
  17. ↑ Mackie, Colin. ROYAL NAVY WARSHIPS.
  18. ↑ Mackie, Colin. ROYAL NAVY WARSHIPS.
  19. ↑ Mackie, Colin. ROYAL NAVY WARSHIPS.
  20. ↑ Mackie, Colin. ROYAL NAVY WARSHIPS.
  21. ↑ Farquhar Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/38. Book 2. f. 446.
  22. ↑ Mackie, Colin. ROYAL NAVY WARSHIPS.
  23. ↑ The Navy List (October, 1908). p. 342.
  24. ↑ "Naval and Military Intelligence" (Official Appointments and Notices). The Times. Tuesday, 1 December, 1908. Issue 38818, col E, p. 6.
  25. ↑ Hope Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 44.
  26. ↑ "Naval and Military Intelligence" (Official Appointments and Notices). The Times. Monday, 7 February, 1910. Issue 39189, col F, p. 4.
  27. ↑ Mackie, Colin. ROYAL NAVY WARSHIPS.
  28. ↑ The Navy List (December, 1914). p. 352.
  29. ↑ The Navy List (October, 1915). p. 395q.

Bibliography


Majestic Class Pre-dreadnought
Cæsar Hannibal Illustrious Jupiter Magnificent
  Majestic Mars Prince George Victorious  
<– Centurion Class Battleships (UK) H.M.S. Renown –>


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