Difference between revisions of "Invincible Class Battlecruiser (1907)"

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==Construction==
 
==Construction==
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Uniquely, the vessels of the ''Invincible'' class were not put out for competitive tender and in late 1905 Armstrong's, Fairfield and John Brown were invited to construct the class.  The Admiralty's reasoning was to prevent the closure of large private yards and thus lose Britain her competitive edge in shipbuilding.<ref>Lmabert.  ''Sir John Fisher's Naval Revolution''.  pp. 147-148.</ref>  
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Uniquely, the vessels of the ''Invincible'' class were not put out for competitive tender and in late 1905 Armstrong's, Fairfield and John Brown were invited to construct the class.  The Admiralty's reasoning was to prevent the closure of large private yards and thus lose Britain her competitive edge in shipbuilding.<ref>Lambert.  ''Sir John Fisher's Naval Revolution''.  pp. 147-148.</ref>
  
 
==Fire Control==
 
==Fire Control==

Revision as of 15:43, 15 December 2010

Construction

Uniquely, the vessels of the Invincible class were not put out for competitive tender and in late 1905 Armstrong's, Fairfield and John Brown were invited to construct the class. The Admiralty's reasoning was to prevent the closure of large private yards and thus lose Britain her competitive edge in shipbuilding.[1]

Fire Control

Rangefinders

Evershed Bearing Indicators

All units were likely fitted with this equipment by late 1914.[2]

The transmitting positions were

  • Fore control platform (transmitters to port and starboard with a local switch to select one in use)
  • 'A' turret
  • 'X' turret
  • Upper aft conning tower

The protocols for how her crew should handle wooding of the turrets was outlined in the Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914.[3]

Mechanical Aid-to-Spotter

At some point, Indomitable and Inflexible were equipped with two Mark I Mechanical Aid-to-Spotters, one on each side of the foretop, keyed off the Evershed rack on the director. As the need for such gear was apparently first identified in early 1916, it seems likely that these installations were effected well after Jutland.[4]

Gunnery Control

The control arrangements were likely as follows.[5]

Control Positions

  • Fore top
  • Main top[Inference]
  • 'A' turret[Inference]
  • 'Y' turret[Inference]

Some ships had C.O.S.s within the control positions so they could be connected to either TS.[6]

Control Groups

The four 12-in turrets were separate groups, each 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 fitted with a tripod-type director in a light aloft tower on the foremast along with a directing gun (in Y turret?).[7] The battery was not divisible into groups for split director firing.[8]

Secondary Battery

The 4-in broadside guns are not listed as ever having had directors installed.[9]

Torpedo Control

Torpedo Control Systems
As shown in Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1913.

A description of the torpedo control system for this class is found in the Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1913. It features descriptions of adapted forms of existing Barr and Stroud instruments for torpedo order and the setting of gyro angles.

Transmitting Stations

Like all large British ships of the era prior to King George V and Queen Mary, these ships had 2 TSes.[10]

Dreyer Table

As of 1918, Inflexible still carried the Mark I Dreyer Table she'd been outfitted with.[11] Invincible was lost with her Mark I table at the Battle of Jutland. It appears likely that Indomitable never was fitted with a Dreyer table.[12]

The ships were never given Dreyer Turret Control Tables.[13]

Fire Control Instruments

By 1909, these ships were equipped with Barr and Stroud Mark II equipment for range, orders and deflection.[14]

The Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1909 lists the Barr and Stroud Mark II equipment on this class as:[15]

  • Combined Range, Order, Deflection: 8 transmitters, 30 receivers
  • Group Switches: 4
  • Rate: 4 transmitters, 16 receivers
  • Bearing: none
  • Range: none

Additionally, in 1909 this class had the following Graham fire control equipment:[16]

  • Turret fire gongs: 8 with 8 keys
  • Fire Gongs: none
  • Captain's Cease Fire Bells: 10 with 1 key

But by the Battle of the Falklands, Inflexible's gunnery officer reported that she had Siemens fire gongs in place and "an electrical [time-of-flight instrument] which operate[d] a rattler in the control position."[17]

The ships had Target Visible and Gun Ready signals, indicating which turrets could see the target and which guns were ready in the TSes and control positions.[18]

In 1911, it was decided that the three ships should be fitted with "range, buzzer and bearing instruments for communication between control positions, control turrets and transmitting and plotting stations."[19]

See Also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Lambert. Sir John Fisher's Naval Revolution. pp. 147-148.
  2. ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914. p. 34.
  3. ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914. p. 34.
  4. ↑ The Technical History and Index: Fire Control in HM Ships, 1919. pp. 25-26.
  5. ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914. pp. 7-8. (some inferences drawn due to fundamental differences between this design and that of Orion to which it is likened).
  6. ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914. p. 7.
  7. ↑ The Director Firing Handbook, 1917. pp. 88, 142.
  8. ↑ The Director Firing Handbook, 1917. p. 88.
  9. ↑ The Director Firing Handbook, 1917. pp. 143.
  10. ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914. pp. 6-7.
  11. ↑ Handbook of Capt. F.C. Dreyer's Fire Control Tables. p. 3.
  12. ↑ absent from list in Handbook of Capt. F.C. Dreyer's Fire Control Tables. p. 3.
  13. ↑ Handbook of Capt. F.C. Dreyer's Fire Control Tables. p. 3.
  14. ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1909. p. 56.
  15. ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1909. p. 58.
  16. ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1909. p. 58.
  17. ↑ Verner. The Battle Cruisers at the Action of the Falkland Islands. pp. 20-23.
  18. ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914. p. 11.
  19. ↑ Annual Report of the Torpedo School, 1911. p. 95.

Bibliography

Primary Sources

Template:CatClassUKBattlecruiser

Template:Invincible Class (1907)

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