H.M.S. Centurion (1911)
| HMS Centurion | |
| Career | Details |
|---|---|
| Pennant: | 83 (April, 1918) |
| Built By: | HM Dockyard, Devonport |
| Laid down: | 16 January, 1911 |
| Launched: | 18 November, 1911 |
| Commissioned: | 1 May, 1913 |
| Sunk: | 9 June, 1944 |
| Fate: | Scuttled as a breakwater in the invasion of France |
| General Characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 23,000 tons (load draught) 25,700 tons (full load) |
| Length: | 597 feet 6 inches o/a |
| Beam: | 89 feet |
| Draught: | 26 feet 7 inches / 28 feet 8 inches |
| Propulsion: | 4 Parsons single reduction steam turbines, 4 shafts, 27,000 shp |
| Speed: | 21 knots |
| Range: | 4,060 miles at 18.5 knots |
| Complement: | 782 / 759 |
| Armament: |
|
HMS Centurion was a dreadnought battleship of the Royal Navy and formed part of the King George V class.
While launching she was caught by the wind and swung along side a moored cruiser, crushing one of the cruiser's boats while avoiding collision.
Doing trials off Portland on 9 December, 1912 she collided with the Italian steamship Derna which sank with the loss of 36 lives.
As completed she was equipped with an experimental searchlight director, a new innovation.
In 1926 Centurion was slated to replace HMS Agamemnon as target ship, and under the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty was demilitarised with the removal of all her secondary armament and her five 13.5 in turrets. She was converted from mostly coal oiling to diesel to facilitate radio control. Her coal bunkers, to compensate for the loss of weight incurred by the loss of armament and ammunition, were filled with shingle. Her draught was increased from 27½ feet to 31. The tops of the engineering spaces were covered with armour plating, and all un-armoured spaces below decks were filled with cork to increase buoyancy.
A number of short-range wireless receiving and transmitting sets were installed along with eleven separate aerials. Instructions were passed from the controlling destroyer (HMS Shikari) by use of a standard telephone using combinations of numbers. A substantially reduced complement of officers was carried although two hundred ratings were required to oversee the ship. During a shoot the crew would retire to mess-decks below the waterline where the chance of being hit was minimal. Despite her added weight and new fuel Centurion could still steam under remote control at a speed of 16 knots.
In 1940 it was proposed that in common with other World War I vintage warships Centurion, then lying in HM Dockyard, Devonport, should be equipped as an Anti Aircraft ship for the Norwegian campaign. Before this could be approved first Norway then France fell to the Germans. As a last ditch measure, she was equipped with a number of small calibre weapons in the event of German invasion. As the threat of invasion receded and British naval forces suffered greater and greater losses in the Mediterranean, the Prime Minister Winston Churchill decided to have Centurion used as a block ship in the entrance to Tripoli (Libya).
Identification
| DATE | PENDANT NUMBER | |
|---|---|---|
| 1914 | 21 | |
| January, 1918 | 35 | |
| April, 1918 | 83 | |
