St. Vincent Class Battleship (1908)
Fire Control
Rangefinders
Evershed Bearing Indicators
All three ships were fitted with this equipment by late 1914, albeit Collingwood differed slightly.[1] St. Vincent and Vanguard had swapped out the use of 'Y' turret as a transmitting position in favor of 'X', but Collingwood retained the old arrangement.
Transmitting positions were
- Fore control platform (transmitters to port and starboard with a local switch to select one in use
- 'A' turret
- 'X' turret ('Y' for Collingwood)
- Upper aft conning tower
The protocols for how to handle wooding of the turrets was outlined in the Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914.[2]
Mechanical Aid-to-Spotter
At some point, these ships 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.[3]
Gunnery Control
Control arrangements were as follows.[4]
Control Positions
- Fore top
- Main top
- 'A' turret
- 'Y' turret
Some ships had C.O.S.s within the control positions so they could be connected to either TS.[5]
Control Groups
The five 12-in turrets were each a separate group 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 completed without a director, but were eventually fitted with a geared tripod-type director in a light aloft tower on the foremast along with a directing gun in 'Y' turret[6]. The battery was not divisible into groups for split director firing.[7]
Secondary Battery
The 4-in guns never had directors installed.[8]
Torpedo Control
Transmitting Stations
Like all large British ships of the era prior to King George V and Queen Mary, these ships had 2 TSes.[9]
Dreyer Table
Each ship was eventually retro-fitted with a Mark I Dreyer Table,[10] but was never given Dreyer Turret Control Tables.[11] It appears reasonable to assume that Vanguard had a table fitted prior to her accidental loss.
Fire Control Instruments
As in the previous class, by 1909 all 3 ships were equipped with Barr and Stroud Mark II* Fire Control Instruments for range, deflection and orders.[12]
The Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1909 lists the Barr and Stroud Mark II* equipment on this class as:[13]
- Combined Range, Order, Deflection: 10 transmitters, 27 receivers
- Group Switches: 11
- Rate: 4 transmitters, 8 receivers
- Bearing: 4 transmitters, 8 receivers
- Range: 4 transmitters, 8 receivers
Additionally, this class had the following Graham's fire control equipment:[14]
- Turret fire gongs: 10 with pushes in lamp boxes
- Fire Gongs: none
- Captain's Cease Fire Bells: 12 with 1 key
The ships also had Target Visible and Gun Ready signals, with indications of which turret could see the target and which guns were ready being visible in the TSds and control positions[15].
See Also
Footnotes
- ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914, p. 35.
- ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914, pp. 34-6.
- ↑ The Technical History and Index: Fire Control in HM Ships, 1919, pp. 25-6.
- ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914, p. 7.
- ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914, p. 7.
- ↑ The Director Firing Handbook, 1917. pp. 88, 142.
- ↑ The Director Firing Handbook, 1917. p. 88.
- ↑ absent from list in The Director Firing Handbook, 1917. p. 143.
- ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914, pp. 6-7.
- ↑ Handbook of Capt. F.C. Dreyer's Fire Control Tables, p. 3.
- ↑ absent from list in Handbook of Capt. F.C. Dreyer's Fire Control Tables, p. 3.
- ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1909, p. 56.
- ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1909, p. 58.
- ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1909, p. 58.
- ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914, p. 11.
Bibliography
