Difference between revisions of "H.M.S. Commonwealth (1903)"

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("Career" is an awkward term for a ship, really)
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<div name=fredbot:career>{{ShipCareer|fullname=H.M.S. ''Commonwealth'' (1903)|fate2=Scrapped in Germany{{DittColl|p. 31}}
 
<div name=fredbot:career>{{ShipCareer|fullname=H.M.S. ''Commonwealth'' (1903)|fate2=Scrapped in Germany{{DittColl|p. 31}}
 +
|comp=Mar, 1905{{BurtBritishBattleships1889|p. 267}}
 
|comm=Mar, 1905{{Conways1860|p. 38}}
 
|comm=Mar, 1905{{Conways1860|p. 38}}
 
|fatedate=18 Nov, 1921{{DittColl|p. 31}}
 
|fatedate=18 Nov, 1921{{DittColl|p. 31}}
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|name=Commonwealth
 
|name=Commonwealth
 
|launch=13 May, 1903{{DittColl|p. 31}}
 
|launch=13 May, 1903{{DittColl|p. 31}}
−
|builder=[[Fairfield]]{{DittColl|p. 31}}
+
|builder=[[Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company]]{{DittColl|p. 31}}
 
|laid=17 Jun, 1902{{Conways1860|p. 38}}
 
|laid=17 Jun, 1902{{Conways1860|p. 38}}
 
|fate=Sold
 
|fate=Sold
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Then part of the Channel Fleet, ''Commonwealth'' started a refit in Devonport on 22 May 1908.<ref>Report from Charles Beresford dated 10 April 1908 in ''Naval Policy - Strategy - Tactics: Miscellaneous papers from Private Office received by record office'' at {{TNA|ADM 116/942}}, unnumbered folio halfway within series.</ref>
 
Then part of the Channel Fleet, ''Commonwealth'' started a refit in Devonport on 22 May 1908.<ref>Report from Charles Beresford dated 10 April 1908 in ''Naval Policy - Strategy - Tactics: Miscellaneous papers from Private Office received by record office'' at {{TNA|ADM 116/942}}, unnumbered folio halfway within series.</ref>
  
−
''Commonwealth'' completed to full crew at Sheerness on 14 May, 1912.<ref>''The Navy List'' (April, 1914).  p. 297.</ref> and was immediately assigned to the {{UK-BS|3}} upon its creation, remaining with the Squadron until January, 1918 when she was detached for miscellaneous duties "in Home Waters or on detached service".<ref>See [[Third Battle Squadron (Royal Navy)]] for details on her service in 3BS.</ref>
+
''Commonwealth'' reduced to Nucleus Crew under the command of [[Oswald William Ormsby]] at Devonport on 7 December, 1910.{{NLApr11|p. 295}}
 +
 
 +
''Commonwealth'' completed to full crew at Sheerness on 14 May, 1912.{{NLApr14|p. 297}} and was immediately assigned to the {{UK-BS|3}} upon its creation, remaining with the Squadron until January, 1918 when she was detached for miscellaneous duties "in Home Waters or on detached service".<ref>See [[Third Battle Squadron (Royal Navy)]] for details on her service in 3BS.</ref>
  
 
She was paid off in March, 1918,{{SMNLMar18|p. 19}} returning to commission in April,{{SMNLApr18|p. 19}} and assigned to the Northern Patrol in May.{{SMNLMay18|p. 13}}
 
She was paid off in March, 1918,{{SMNLMar18|p. 19}} returning to commission in April,{{SMNLApr18|p. 19}} and assigned to the Northern Patrol in May.{{SMNLMay18|p. 13}}
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==Alterations==
 
==Alterations==
−
Directors were ordered only for ''Commonwealth'' and her sister {{UK-Zealandia}} on 23 July, 1917 for use in bombardment.  ''Commonwealth'''s director was installed in May 1918, but Zealandia's installation was not completed.{{FCHMShips|p. 15}}  It appears that ''Commonwealth'' was the only pre-dreadnought to ever be fitted with a director system for regular service.
+
Directors were ordered only for ''Commonwealth'' and her sister {{UK-Zealandia}} on 23 July, 1917 for use in bombardment.  ''Commonwealth'''s director was installed in May 1918, but ''Zealandia's'' installation was not completed.{{FCHMShips|p. 15}}  It appears that ''Commonwealth'' was the only pre-dreadnought to ever be fitted with a director system for regular service.
 +
 
 +
==Radio==
 +
By the end of 1913, she and the rest of the {{UK-BS|3}} were all equipped with [[British_Wireless_Systems#Short_Distance_Set|Battleship Auxiliary W/T sets]].{{ARTS1913|W/T Appendix, p. 13}}
  
 
==Captains==
 
==Captains==
 
Dates of appointment are provided when known.
 
Dates of appointment are provided when known.
−
*{{CaptRN}} [[Richard Henry Peirse]], December 1905.{{MackieRNW}}
+
<div name=fredbot:officeCapt otitle="Captain of H.M.S. ''Commonwealth''">
−
*Captain [[Montague Edward Browning]], 1907.{{MackieRNW}}
+
{{Tenure|rank={{CaptRN}}|name=James Startin|nick=James Startin|appt=31 January, 1905<ref>Startin Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/19.}}  f. 502.</ref>|end=29 December, 1905<ref>Startin Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/19.}}  f. 502.</ref>|precBy=New Command}}
−
*Captain [[Godfrey Harry Brydges Mundy]], February 1908.{{MackieRNW}}
+
{{Tenure|rank={{CaptRN}}|name=Richard Henry Peirse|nick=Richard H. Peirse|appt=28 December, 1905<ref>Peirse Service Record. {{TNA|ADM 196/39.}} f. 1026.</ref>|end=27 May, 1907<ref>Peirse Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/39.}} f. 1026.</ref>}}
−
*Captain [[Horace Lambert Alexander Hood]], 5 December, 1908.{{CN}}
+
{{Tenure|rank=Captain|name=Montague Edward Browning|nick=Montague E. Browning|appt=28 May, 1907<ref>Browning Service Record. {{TNA|ADM 196/42.}}  f. 124.</ref>}}
−
* Captain [[George Alexander Ballard]], December 1909.{{MackieRNW}}
+
{{Tenure|rank=Captain|name=Godfrey Harry Brydges Mundy|nick=Godfrey H. B. Mundy|appt=1 February, 1908<ref>Mundy Service Record. {{TNA|ADM 196/20.}} f. 189.</ref>|end=4 December, 1908<ref>Mundy Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/20.}} f. 189.</ref>}}
−
*Captain [[Price Vaughan Lewes]], June 1911.{{MackieRNW}}
+
{{Tenure|rank=Captain|name=Horace Lambert Alexander Hood|nick=The Hon. Horace L. A. Hood|appt=5 December, 1908{{NLJan10|p. 294}}<ref>Hood Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/43.}}  f. 114.</ref>|end=31 December, 1909<ref>Hood Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/43.}}  f. 114.</ref>}}
−
*Captain [[Maurice Woollcombe]], 1 October, 1913.<ref>''The Navy List'' (December, 1914).  p. 296.</ref><ref>''The Navy List'' (October, 1915).  p. 393''b''.</ref>
+
{{Tenure|rank=Captain|name=George Alexander Ballard|nick=George A. Ballard|appt=31 December, 1909<ref>Ballard Service Record. {{TNA|ADM 196/42.}}  f. 65.</ref>|end=December, 1910<ref>Ballard Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/42.}}  f. 65.</ref>}}
−
*Captain [[Herbert William Richmond|Herbert W. Richmond]], 26 October, 1915 operating with the {{UK-BS|3}}<ref>''The Navy List'' (December, 1916).  p. 393''e''.</ref>
+
{{Tenure|rank={{CommRN}}|name=Oswald William Ormsby|nick=Oswald W. Ormsby|appt=19 January, 1911{{NLApr11|p. 292}}|end=|note=under Nucleus Crew}}
−
*Captain [[Arthur Gordon Smith]], April 1917.{{MackieRNW}}
+
{{Tenure|rank={{CommRN}}|name=William Francis Benwell|nick=William F. Benwell|appt=16 May, 1911<ref>Benwell Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/43/200.|D7602538}}  f. 215.</ref>|end=6 June, 1911<ref>Benwell Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/43/200.|D7602538}}  f. 215.</ref>}}
−
*Captain [[Arthur Gordon Smith]], April 1918.{{MackieRNW}}
+
{{Tenure|rank=Captain|name=Price Vaughan Lewes|nick=Price V. Lewes|appt=6 June, 1911{{NLJul13|p. 294}}<ref>Lewes Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/42.}}  f. 300.</ref>|end=1 October, 1913<ref>Lewes Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/42.}}  f. 300.</ref>}}
−
*Captain [[George Ronald Beddard Blount|George R. B. Blount]], 1 November, 1918.<ref>''The Navy List'' (December, 1918).  p. 762.</ref>
+
{{Tenure|rank=Captain|name=Maurice Woollcombe|nick=Maurice Woollcombe|appt=1 October, 1913<ref>Woollcombe Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/42.}}  f. 504.</ref>|end=26 October, 1915<ref>Woolcombe Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/42.}} f. 504.</ref>}}
−
*Captain [[Alfred Astley Ellison]], 30 September 1920.<ref>''The Monthly Navy List'', (December 1920).  p. 749.</ref>
+
{{Tenure|rank=Captain|name=Herbert William Richmond|nick=Herbert W. Richmond|appt=26 October, 1915{{NLDec16|p. 393''e''}}<ref>Richmond Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/43.}}  f. 288.</ref>|end=26 April, 1917<ref>Richmond Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/43.}}  f. 288.</ref>}}
 +
{{Tenure|rank=Captain|name=Arthur Gordon Smith|nick=Arthur G. Smith|appt=26 April, 1917<ref>Smith Service Record. {{TNA|ADM 196/43.}}  f. 305.</ref>|end=17 August, 1917<ref>Smith Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/43.}}  f. 305.</ref>}}
 +
{{Tenure|rank=Captain|name=Arthur Gordon Smith|nick=Arthur G. Smith|appt=April, 1918<ref>Smith Service Record. {{TNA|ADM 196/43.}}  f. 305.</ref>|end=15 November, 1918<ref>Smith Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/43.}}  f. 305.</ref>}}
 +
{{Tenure|rank=Captain|name=George Ronald Beddard Blount|nick=George R. B. Blount|appt=1 November, 1918{{NLFeb19|p. 762}}|ass=15 November, 1918<ref>Date his predecessor was discharged.  Smith Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/43.}}  f. 305.</ref>|end=30 September, 1920<ref>Blount Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/44.|}} f. 428.</ref>}}
 +
{{Tenure|rank=Captain|name=Alfred Astley Ellison|nick=Alfred A. Ellison|appt=30 September, 1920{{NLDec20|p. 749}}|end=c. April, 1922<ref>Ellison Service Record.  {{TNA|ADM 196/43.|}} f. 516.</ref>}}
 +
</div name=fredbot:officeCapt>
  
 
==See Also==
 
==See Also==
−
{{WP|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Commonwealth_(1903)}}
+
{{refbegin}}
 +
* [http://www.naval-history.net/OWShips-WW1-01-HMS_Commonwealth.htm Transcribed Ship Logs at naval-history.net]
 +
{{WP|https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Commonwealth_(1903)}}
 +
{{refend}}
  
 
==Footnotes==
 
==Footnotes==

Revision as of 15:30, 6 April 2018

H.M.S. Commonwealth (1903)
Pendant Number: 31 (1914)
44 (Jan 1918)
31 (Apr 1918)
N.88 (Jun 1918)[1]
Builder: Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company[2]
Ordered: 1901-02 Programme[3]
Laid down: 17 Jun, 1902[4]
Launched: 13 May, 1903[5]
Completed: Mar, 1905[6]
Commissioned: Mar, 1905[7]
Sold: 18 Nov, 1921[8]
Fate: Scrapped in Germany[9]

H.M.S. Commonwealth was one of eight King Edward VII class battleships. She entered service in 1905 and spent most of her service in the Great War with a shifting roster of her sisters in the Third Battle Squadron.

Service

Then part of the Channel Fleet, Commonwealth started a refit in Devonport on 22 May 1908.[10]

Commonwealth reduced to Nucleus Crew under the command of Oswald William Ormsby at Devonport on 7 December, 1910.[11]

Commonwealth completed to full crew at Sheerness on 14 May, 1912.[12] and was immediately assigned to the Third Battle Squadron upon its creation, remaining with the Squadron until January, 1918 when she was detached for miscellaneous duties "in Home Waters or on detached service".[13]

She was paid off in March, 1918,[14] returning to commission in April,[15] and assigned to the Northern Patrol in May.[16]

She left the Northern Patrol for "Miscellaneous Service" in December, 1918.[17] This nebulous assignment continued until July, 1919, when she was made a gunnery training ship at Invergordon.[18]

Alterations

Directors were ordered only for Commonwealth and her sister Zealandia on 23 July, 1917 for use in bombardment. Commonwealth's director was installed in May 1918, but Zealandia's installation was not completed.[19] It appears that Commonwealth was the only pre-dreadnought to ever be fitted with a director system for regular service.

Radio

By the end of 1913, she and the rest of the Third Battle Squadron were all equipped with Battleship Auxiliary W/T sets.[20]

Captains

Dates of appointment are provided when known.

See Also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 31.
  2. ↑ Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 31.
  3. ↑ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 38.
  4. ↑ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 38.
  5. ↑ Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 31.
  6. ↑ Burt. British Battleships: 1889-1904. p. 267.
  7. ↑ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 38.
  8. ↑ Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 31.
  9. ↑ Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 31.
  10. ↑ Report from Charles Beresford dated 10 April 1908 in Naval Policy - Strategy - Tactics: Miscellaneous papers from Private Office received by record office at The National Archives. ADM 116/942, unnumbered folio halfway within series.
  11. ↑ The Navy List. (April, 1911). p. 295.
  12. ↑ The Navy List. (April, 1914). p. 297.
  13. ↑ See Third Battle Squadron (Royal Navy) for details on her service in 3BS.
  14. ↑ Supplement to the Monthly Navy List. (March, 1918). p. 19.
  15. ↑ Supplement to the Monthly Navy List. (April, 1918). p. 19.
  16. ↑ Supplement to the Monthly Navy List. (May, 1918). p. 13.
  17. ↑ Supplement to the Monthly Navy List. (December, 1918). p. 19.
  18. ↑ Supplement to the Monthly Navy List. (July, 1919). p. 14.
  19. ↑ The Technical History and Index, Vol. 3, Part 23. p. 15.
  20. ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1913. W/T Appendix, p. 13.
  21. ↑ Startin Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/19. f. 502.
  22. ↑ Startin Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/19. f. 502.
  23. ↑ Peirse Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/39. f. 1026.
  24. ↑ Peirse Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/39. f. 1026.
  25. ↑ Browning Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 124.
  26. ↑ Mundy Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/20. f. 189.
  27. ↑ Mundy Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/20. f. 189.
  28. ↑ The Navy List. (January, 1910). p. 294.
  29. ↑ Hood Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 114.
  30. ↑ Hood Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 114.
  31. ↑ Ballard Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 65.
  32. ↑ Ballard Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 65.
  33. ↑ The Navy List. (April, 1911). p. 292.
  34. ↑ Benwell Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43/200. f. 215.
  35. ↑ Benwell Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43/200. f. 215.
  36. ↑ The Navy List. (July, 1913). p. 294.
  37. ↑ Lewes Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 300.
  38. ↑ Lewes Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 300.
  39. ↑ Woollcombe Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 504.
  40. ↑ Woolcombe Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 504.
  41. ↑ The Navy List. (December, 1916). p. 393e.
  42. ↑ Richmond Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 288.
  43. ↑ Richmond Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 288.
  44. ↑ Smith Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 305.
  45. ↑ Smith Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 305.
  46. ↑ Smith Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 305.
  47. ↑ Smith Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 305.
  48. ↑ The Navy List. (February, 1919). p. 762.
  49. ↑ Blount Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44. f. 428.
  50. ↑ The Navy List. (December, 1920). p. 749.
  51. ↑ Ellison Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 516.

Bibliography

  • Dittmar, F.J.; Colledge, J.J. (1972). British Warships 1914–1919. London: Ian Allan.
  • Gray, Randal (editor) (1985). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press. (on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk).
  • Admiralty, Gunnery Branch (1918). Handbook of Captain F. C. Dreyer's Fire Control Tables, 1918. C.B. 1456. Copy No. 10 at Admiralty Library, Portsmouth, United Kingdom.
  • 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.


King Edward VII Class Pre-dreadnought
  Africa Britannia Commonwealth Dominion  
  Hibernia Hindustan King Edward VII Zealandia  
<– Triumph Class Battleships (UK) Lord Nelson Class –>
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