 Agamemnon | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | Agamemnon |
| Builder | William Beardmore and CompanyDalmuir |
| Cost | £1,652,347[1] |
| Laid down | 15 May 1905 |
| Launched | 23 June 1906 |
| Sponsored by | Countess of Aberdeen |
| Completed | June 1908 |
| Commissioned | 25 June 1908 |
| Decommissioned | 20 March 1919 |
| Reclassified | Target ship 1921–1926 |
| Fate | Sold forscrap, 24 January 1927 |
| Notes | The last surviving Britishpredreadnought when scrapped |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Lord Nelson-classpre-dreadnought battleship |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 443 ft 6 in (135.2 m) |
| Beam | 79 ft 6 in (24.2 m) |
| Draught | 26 ft 9 in (8.2 m) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | 2 shafts, 2triple-expansion steam engines |
| Speed | 18knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) |
| Range | 9,180nautical miles (17,000 km; 10,560 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement | 800–817 |
| Armament |
|
| Armour |
|
HMSAgamemnon was one of twoLord Nelson-classpre-dreadnoughtbattleships launched in 1906 and completed in 1908. She was theRoyal Navy's second-to-last pre-dreadnought battleship to be built, followed by hersister ship,Lord Nelson. She was assigned to theChannel Fleet when theFirst World War began in 1914. The ship was transferred to theMediterranean Sea withLord Nelson in early 1915 to participate in theDardanelles Campaign. She made a number of bombardments against Turkish fortifications and in support of British troops.Agamemnon remained in the Mediterranean after the conclusion of that campaign to prevent the GermanbattlecruiserSMS Goeben andlight cruiserBreslau from breaking out into the Mediterranean.Agamemnon shot down the GermanZeppelinLZ-55 (LZ-85) during a bombing mission overSalonica in 1916. On 30 October 1918, theOttoman Empire signed theArmistice of Mudros on board the ship while she was anchored atLemnos in the northernAegean Sea. She was converted to a radio-controlledtarget ship following her return to theUnited Kingdom in March 1919 and began service in 1921.Agamemnon was the last pre-dreadnought in service with the Royal Navy; she was replaced byCenturion at the end of 1926 and sold for scrap in January 1927.
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HMSAgamemnon was ordered in 1904 and was the first warship built by theWilliam Beardmore and Company's Dalmuir Naval Construction Works. She was laid down on 15 May 1905 and launched on 23 June 1906 before the dockyards themselves were finished. Her completion was greatly delayed by labour troubles and by the diversion of the 12-inch (305 mm) guns intended for her to expedite completion ofDreadnought, and she was not finally completed until June 1908, six months before her sisterLord Nelson.[2]
Agamemnon displaced 17,683 long tons (17,967 t) at deep load as built, with a length of 443 feet 6 inches (135.2 m), a beam of 79 feet 6 inches (24.2 m) and a draft of 26 feet 9 inches (8.2 m). She was powered by two invertedvertical triple expansion four-cylinder steam engines, which developed a total of 16,750indicated horsepower (12,490 kW) and gave a maximum speed of 18knots (33 km/h; 21 mph).[1]
_12-inch_gun_replacement_at_Malta_1915.jpg)
The ship was armed with fourBL 12-inch Mk X guns arranged in two twingun turrets, one each fore and aft. Hersecondary armament consisted of tenBL 9.2-inch Mk XI guns, in twin gun turrets on each corner of the superstructure, and a single gun turret between them, plus 24QF 12-pounder 18 cwt guns. She also mounted five submerged 18-inch (457 mm) torpedo tubes, for which 23 torpedoes were stowed aboard.[1]
Agamemnon had an armourbelt at herwaterline that was 12 inches (305 mm) thick, as were the faces and sides of her gun turrets.[3]
HMSAgamemnon commissioned on 25 June 1908 atChatham Dockyard for service in theNore Division of theHome Fleet. On 11 February 1911, she grazed an uncharted rock in the harbour atFerrol, Spain, and damaged her bottom.[4] She was temporarily attached in September 1913 to the4th Battle Squadron.[5]
After theFirst World War began in August 1914,Agamemnon was assigned to the5th Battle Squadron in theChannel Fleet and was based atPortland. With other ships, she covered the safe transport of theBritish Expeditionary Force, under the command ofSir John French, to France. On 14 November, she transferred toSheerness to guard the English coast against the possibility of a German invasion. She returned to Portland on 30 December and was employed in the defence of the southern ports of England and patrols of theEnglish Channel until February 1915.[4]
In February 1915,Agamemnon was ordered to participate in theDardanelles Campaign. She departedPortland on 9 February, and joined the British Dardanelles Squadron atMudros 10 days later. That was the second day of the opening bombardment of theOttoman Turkish forts guarding the entrance to the Dardanelles, and the ship immediately joined the attack. She also took part in the subsequent bombardment of the inner forts later in February.Agamemnon was hit by seven 9.4-inch (240 mm) shells in ten minutes on 25 February and was holed above the waterline, suffering three dead.[4]
_9.2-inch_gun_firing_on_Sedd_el_Bahr_4_March_1915.jpg)
She supported the smallamphibious landings of 4 March and participated in another bombardment on 6 March 1915. She came under heavy fire fromFort Hamidieh on 7 March, taking eight hits from large-calibre shells; one of them, allegedly a 14-inch (356 mm) round, blew a large hole in herquarterdeck and wrecked thewardroom and thegunroom. She also took several hits by light shells that day, and, although she suffered damage to her superstructure, her fighting and steaming capabilities were not seriously impaired.[4]
The ship also participated in the main attack on theDardanelles forts on 18 March. This time, a 6-inch (152 mm)howitzer battery opened fire onAgamemnon and hit her 12 times in 25 minutes; five of the howitzer shells hit her armour and did no damage, but the seven that hit outside her armour protection did considerable structural damage and temporarily put one of her 12-inch (305 mm) guns out of action.[4]
On 25 April,Agamemnon supported themain landings as part of the 5th Squadron, and after that she patrolled to protect Alliedminesweeping andnetlaying vessels operating in the Dardanelles. In action against Ottoman field batteries, she took two hits between 28 April and 30 April, and she provided fire support for Allied troops during a Turkish counterattack on 1 May.Agamemnon bombarded Ottomanartillery batteries on 6 May prior to theSecond Battle of Krithia.[4]
Agamemnon was withdrawn toMalta later in May to undergo a refit and returned to the Dardanelles in June. On 2 December, the ship joined theprotected cruiserEndymion andmonitorM33 in bombarding theKavak bridge, destroying several spans of it and interdicting Ottoman communications to theGallipoli Peninsula.[4]
With the end of the Dardanelles Campaign in January 1916, British naval forces in the area were reorganized, andAgamemnon became part of theEastern Mediterranean Squadron, which was renamed the Aegean Squadron in August 1917. Under both names, the squadron was dispersed throughout the area to protect Allied-held islands, support theBritish Army atSalonika, and guard against any attempted breakout from the Dardanelles by the GermanbattlecruiserGoeben andlight cruiserBreslau.Agamemnon spent the remainder of the war based at Salonika andMudros, alternating between the two bases with her sisterLord Nelson;Agamemnon was based mostly at Mudros,Lord Nelson mostly at Salonika.[4] While carrying out these duties,Agamemnon damaged the ImperialGerman NavyZeppelinLZ-55 (LZ-85) on 5 May 1916 at Salonika with a shell from a 12-pounder and forced it to crash-land.[4]
Of all the responsibilities given the two ships, the most important was to guard the EasternMediterranean against a breakout byGoeben, but whenGoeben andBreslau finally made their breakout attempt on 20 January 1918,Lord Nelson was away at Salonika andAgamemnon could not get steam up to depart Mudros in time to participate in the resultingBattle of Imbros. After both German ships struck mines,Breslau sank andGoeben returned to the Dardanelles beforeAgamemnon could arrive on the scene.[4]
Agamemnon underwent a refit at Malta in 1918. On 30 October, theOttoman Empire signed theArmistice of Mudros on boardAgamemnon while she was anchored atLemnos in the northernAegean Sea.[4]
Agamemnon was part of the British squadron that went toConstantinople in November 1918 following the armistice. She returned to theUnited Kingdom in March 1919, where she paid off at Chatham Dockyard and went into reserve on 20 March.[4]
In September 1918, theCommander-in-Chief,Grand Fleet,AdmiralDavid Beatty, had called for a large target to be provided which would allow realistic gunnery practice for the battleships of the Grand Fleet, which had seen little action since theBattle of Jutland in 1916. Tests against armour plate in 1919 demonstrated that firing 15-inch (381-mm) guns at any pre-dreadnought would sink her quickly, but the use of a pre-dreadnought for target practice and tests by guns of 6-inch calibre (152-mm) or smaller seemed practical. At first, the pre-dreadnoughtHibernia was suggested for target duties, but ultimatelyAgamemnon became available and was selected instead.[6]
_as_target_ship_1924-1925.jpg)
Based on the earlier experience in radio-controlledBritish drone weapons,Agamemnon was modified atChatham Dockyard for use as atarget ship between 6 December 1920 and 8 April 1921.[Note 1] The ship was rewired for radio control and stripped; the 12-inch turrets remained aboard, but all of her guns and their equipment were removed, as were her torpedo equipment, flying deck, sea cabins, main derrick and boat equipment, lower conning tower, masts and yards, most of her crew amenities, and other unnecessary equipment. Unnecessary hatches, coamings, scuttles, and lifts were removed and plated over, and she wasballasted differently than she had been as a battleship. It was not intended to sink her, so she was assigned a crew of 153 to maintain and operate her when she was not under fire.[6]
Agamemnon's first target service took place before her modifications were completed. On 19 March 1921, she was exposed to a cloud ofpoisonous gas to determine the effect of gas on a battleship. It was found that gas could penetrate the ship via her various openings, but the ship had not been sealed against gas before the trial and no accurate results applicable to a commissioned battleship could be obtained. On 21 September, she was subjected to machine-gun fire by strafing aircraft. These trials showed that such strafing could harass a battleship, but could not impair her fighting or steaming capabilities, and helped to determine protection for bridge personnel.[6]
Agamemnon also was used to test the vulnerability of battleships to 6-inch (152-mm), 5.5-inch (140-mm), and 4.7-inch (120-mm) rounds fired at her by ships such as thebattlecruisersRenown andRepulse while she maneuvered under radio control. These tests showed that ships protected as well asAgamemnon, such as the later dreadnoughts, would suffer damage to their upper works if struck by such shells, but would not have their steaming or fighting capability seriously impaired even by numerous smaller-caliber hits.[6]
Agamemnon was relieved as target ship by the dreadnoughtCenturion in December 1926. By then the last British pre-dreadnought battleship in existence, she was sold toJ Cashmore ofNewport, South Wales, on 24 January 1927 for scrap, and departedPortsmouth Dockyard on 1 March to be broken up at Newport.[6]
