Courageous Class Battlecruiser (1916)
Contents
Fire Control
Rangefinders
Evershed Bearing Indicators
Both ships were likely fitted with this equipment upon or soon after completion.[Inference][1]
One might reasonably assume the particulars resembled those of the King George V class.[Inference]
Mechanical Aid-to-Spotter
At some point, both ships were likely equipped with four Mark II Mechanical Aid-to-Spotters:
- one on each side of the foretop, driven by flexible shafting from the Evershed rack on the director
- one on each side of the Gun Control Tower employing an electrical F.T.P. system.
As the need for such gear was apparently first identified in early 1916, it seems likely that these installations were effected well after Jutland.[2]
Directors
Both ships were completed with directors for main and secondary batteries installed.[3]
Main Battery
These ships were completed with 2 cam-type, tripod-mounted directors, one in an armoured tower and one in a light aloft tower.[4] The battery was divisible into forward ('A' turret) and aft ('Y' turret) groups, and a C.O.S. in the TS allowed the following modes of control:[5]
- All guns on aloft director
- All guns on armoured director
- Forward group on aloft director, aft on armoured director
Secondary Battery
The 4-in guns for both were supported by a pair of pedestal-mounted directors situated on the centre line, one forward and one aft.[6] A C.O.S. in the TS allowed the following modes of control:[7]
- All guns on forward director
- All guns on aft director
- Forward group on forward director, aft group on on aft director
Torpedo Control
Transmitting Stations
Dreyer Table
Each ship had a Mark IV* Dreyer Table and 2 (?) Turret Control Tables.[8]
Fire Control Instruments
See Also
Footnotes
- ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914
- ↑ The Technical History and Index: Fire Control in HM Ships, 1919, pp. 25-6.
- ↑ The Technical History and Index: Fire Control in HM Ships, pp. 9-11, 16.
- ↑ The Director Firing Handbook, 1917. p. 142.
- ↑ The Director Firing Handbook, 1917. p. 89.
- ↑ The Director Firing Handbook, 1917. p. 143.
- ↑ The Director Firing Handbook, 1917. p. 91.
- ↑ Handbook of Capt. F.C. Dreyer's Fire Control Tables, p. 3.
Bibliography
