Bellerophon Class Battleship (1907)
The Bellerophon class of three dreadnoughts was designed as a follow-up to the revolutionary HMS Dreadnought.
Dreadnought's secondary armament was deemed insufficient to fight close quarter battle with enemy Torpedo Boat Destroyers, and the three ships were given heavier guns. Their internal sub-division was improved to decrease the possibility of sinking from mine or torpedo attack. Unlike Dreadnought the Bellerophon class were given two tripod masts, with two control tops. This was ostensibly to improve sea-keeping capability, but with the main mast just forward of the second funnel, it was frequently inundated with smoke and proved nearly useless in bad weather.
The three ships of the class performed service with the Grand Fleet for much of the First World War, and in 1918 HMS Superb and HMS Téméraire were dispatched to the Eastern Mediterranean for service against the Ottoman Empire. Due to their inferior main armament, all three ships were immediately relegated to non-active duties following the Armistice, and were scrapped during the course of the 1920s.
Name | Built at. | Machinery by. | Laid down | Launched | Completed | Boilers | Cost | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bellerophon | HM Dockyard, Portsmouth | Fairfield | 06 December, 1906 | 27 July, 1907 | 20 February, 1909 | Babcock | £1,763,491 | |
Téméraire | HM Dockyard, Devonport | Hawthorn Leslie | 01 January, 1907 | 24 August, 1907 | 01 May, 1909 | Yarrow | £1,641,114 | |
Superb | Armstrong, Whitworth & Co. | Wallsend Company. | 06 February, 1907 | 07 November, 1907 | 29 May, 1909 | Babcock | £1,744,287 |
Fire Control
Rangefinders
Evershed Bearing Indicators
Bellerophon and Téméraire were fitted with this equipment before late 1914, but it is not clear whether Superb was included in this.[1]
Transmitting positions were
- Fore control platform (transmitters to port and starboard with C.O.S. to select one in use)
- 'A' turret
- 'Y' turret
- Upper aft conning tower
The protocols for handling wooding of the turrets is outlined in the Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914.[2]
Gunnery Control
The control arrangements were as follows.[3]
Control Positions
- Fore top
- Main top
- 'A' turret
- 'Y' turret
Some ships had C.O.S.s within the control positions so they could be connected to either TS.[4]
Control Groups
The five 12-in turrets were each a separate group with a local C.O.S.[Inference] so that it could be connected to
- Forward TS
- After TS
- Local control from officer's position within turret
Directors
Main Battery
The ships were completed without a director, but were eventually fitted with a geared tripod-type director in a light aloft tower on the foremast along with a directing gun in 'Y' turret.[5] The battery was not divisible into groups for split director firing.[6]
Secondary Battery
The 4-in guns never had directors installed.[7]
Torpedo Control
Transmitting Stations
Like all large British ships of the era prior to King George V and Queen Mary, these ships had 2 TSes.[8]
Dreyer Table
Each ship was eventually retro-fitted with a Mark I Dreyer table,[9] but was never given Dreyer Turret Control Tables.[10]
Shipwide Network
By late 1914, all 3 ships were equipped with Barr and Stroud Mark II* instruments for range, deflection and orders.[11]
The ships also had Target Visible and Gun Ready signals, with indications of which turret could see the target and which guns were ready being visible in the TSes and control positions.[12]
See Also
Footnotes
- ↑ conspicuously not named in sections in Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914, pp. 33-9.
- ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914, pp. 34-5.
- ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914, p. 7.
- ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914, p. 7.
- ↑ The Director Firing Handbook, 1917. pp. 88, 142.
- ↑ The Director Firing Handbook, 1917. p. 88.
- ↑ absent from list in The Director Firing Handbook, 1917. p. 143.
- ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914, pp. 6-7.
- ↑ Handbook of Capt. F.C. Dreyer's Fire Control Tables, p. 3.
- ↑ absent from list in Handbook of Capt. F.C. Dreyer's Fire Control Tables, p. 3.
- ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914, pp. 72.
- ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914, p. 11.
Bibliography
Admiralty, Gunnery Branch (1914). Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914. G. 01627/14. C.B. 1030. Copy 1235 at The National Archives. ADM 186/191. Template:BibUKDirectorFiringHandbook1917 Template:BibUKDreyerTableHandbook1918