H.M.S. Royal Sovereign (1915)

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H.M.S. Royal Sovereign (1915)
Pendant Number: 59 (Aug 1914)
5A (Jan 1918)
89 (Apr 1918)[1]
Builder: Portsmouth Royal Dockyard[2]
Ordered: 1913 Programme[3]
Laid down: 15 Jan, 1914[4]
Launched: 29 Apr, 1915[5]
Commissioned: May, 1916[6]
Sold: 5 Apr, 1949[7]
Fate: Scrapped

Construction

The keel plate was laid by Mrs. Heath, wife of the Admiral-Superintendent on Thursday, 15 January, 1914.[8]

Service

The ship was completed just a little too late to take part in the Battle of Jutland.

In June 1916, Royal Sovereign joined her sisters Revenge and Royal Oak in the First Battle Squadron. She remained with that formation through the end of the war and at least until July 1919.[9]

Great War

Post-War

Royal Sovereign was re-commissioned at Portsmouth on 3 October, 1922 for service with the Second Battle Squadron, Atlantic Fleet.[10]

Soviet Service

In 1947, the Sovereign was transferred to the Soviet Navy and renamed the Archangelsk. She had the following 15" rounds – 693 AP, 97 HE, 53 Practice and 16 Training. There were 150 radar-assisted practice shoots during the handing-over period in 1944.

Scrap and use at Jodrell Bank

In January 1949, Royal Sovereign was returned to the Royal Navy by the Soviet Navy but much of her equipment was found to be in poor condition and unserviceable, in the particular the main battery gun turrets and so in May 1949 she was sold to the Thomas Ward scrapyard at Inverkeithing, Scotland to be broken up and sold for scrap and parts. In the early 1950s, the elevation mechanisms from her 18-inch main battery gun turrets were purchased - along with those from her sister ship Revenge - by an engineer from the Husband & Company engineering firm, who re-used the components in the 250-foot Mark I radio telescope (now the Lovell Telescope) at Jodrell Bank, constructed between 1955 and 1957.[11]

Boats

In July 1914, the ship was appropriated 42-foot motor launch No. 251, though the boat was not yet delivered from the contractor.[12]

Torpedoes

In a torpedo firing practice exercise on 1 July, 1918, Royal Sovereign reloaded a submerged tube in a ninety seconds, and fired the second shot after a further delay of twenty seconds. The second tube failed to reload to to a misunderstood order.[13]

Alterations

In March, 1915, Open Director Sights were ordered for all[Inference] her turrets. They were likely in place by her completion.[14]

Her secondary battery directors were ordered in December, 1914 and installed in March, 1917.[15]

Captains

Dates of appointment are provided when known.

See Also

Footnotes

  1. Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 34.
  2. Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 34.
  3. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. p. 35.
  4. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. p. 35.
  5. Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 34.
  6. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. p. 35.
  7. Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 34.
  8. "Naval and Military Intelligence" (Official Appointments and Notices). The Times. Friday, 16 January, 1914. Issue 40422, col E, p. 54.
  9. See First Battle Squadron for citations.
  10. The Navy List. (April, 1925). pp. 266, 267.
  11. The 250ft Mk I Radio Telescope.
  12. Admiralty Weekly Order No. 122 of 10 July, 1914.
  13. Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1918. pp. 266-7.
  14. The Technical History and Index, Vol. 3, Part 23. p. 18.
  15. The Technical History and Index, Vol. 3, Part 23. p. 16.
  16. Hunt Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 354.
  17. The Navy List. (August, 1917). p. 397r.
  18. The Navy List. (December, 1918). p. 899.
  19. Doughty Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 50.
  20. Doughty Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/43. f. 50.
  21. The Navy List. (August, 1919). p. 899.
  22. Backhouse Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44. f. 206.
  23. The Navy List. (December, 1920). p. 858.
  24. Bax Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44/133. f. 133.
  25. Mackie, Colin. ROYAL NAVY WARSHIPS.
  26. Napier Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44. f. 296.
  27. Napier Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44. f. 296.
  28. The Navy List. (July, 1924). p. 266.
  29. Domvile Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44. f. 224.
  30. Domvile Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44. f. 224.
  31. Mackie, Colin. ROYAL NAVY WARSHIPS.
  32. Mackie, Colin. ROYAL NAVY WARSHIPS.
  33. Washington Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44/514. f. 517.
  34. Washington Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/44/514. f. 517.
  35. The Navy List. (July, 1931). p. 266.
  36. Mackie, Colin. ROYAL NAVY WARSHIPS.
  37. Mackie, Colin. ROYAL NAVY WARSHIPS.
  38. Elliott Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/50/30. f. 186.
  39. Elliott Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/50/30. f. 186.
  40. Miles Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/50. f. 327.
  41. Miles Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/50. f. 327.
  42. The Navy List. (May, 1939). p. 325.
  43. The Navy List. (February, 1944). p. 2573.

Bibliography

  • Admiralty, Gunnery Branch (1917). The Director Firing Handbook. O.U. 6125 (late C.B. 1259). Copy No. 322 at The National Archives. ADM 186/227.
  • 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.
  • Dittmar, F.J.; Colledge, J.J. (1972). British Warships 1914–1919. London: Ian Allan.
  • 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.
  • Parkes, O.B.E., Ass.I.N.A., Dr. Oscar (1990). British Battleships 1860–1950. London: Pen & Sword Ltd. ISBN 0850526043. (on Bookfinder.com).


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