 Painting of HMSFormidable, September 1898 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | HMSFormidable |
| Ordered | 1897 Programme |
| Builder | Portsmouth Dockyard |
| Laid down | 21 March 1898 |
| Launched | 17 November 1898 |
| Completed | September 1901 |
| Commissioned | 10 October 1901 |
| Fate | Sunk, 1 January 1915 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Formidable-classbattleship |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 431 ft 9 in (131.6 m)o/a |
| Beam | 75 ft (22.9 m) |
| Draught | 25 ft 11 in (7.90 m) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 18knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) |
| Range | 5,500 nmi (10,190 km; 6,330 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement | 780 |
| Armament | |
| Armour | |
HMSFormidable, the third of four ships of that name to serve in theRoyal Navy, was thelead ship ofher class ofpre-dreadnoughtbattleships. The ship waslaid down in March 1898, waslaunched in November that year, and was completed in September 1901.Formidable served initially with theMediterranean Fleet, transferring to theChannel Fleet in 1908. In 1912, she was assigned to the5th Battle Squadron, which was stationed atNore.
Following the outbreak of theFirst World War in August 1914, the squadron conducted operations in theEnglish Channel, and was based atSheerness to guard against a possible German invasion. In the first days of the war, the 5th Battle Squadron covered the crossing of theBritish Expeditionary Force to France. On 31 December, the squadron was conducting training exercises in the English Channel, and despite the risk of Germansubmarines, was without anti-submarine protection; the GermanU-24 stalked the ships during the day and in the early hours of 1 January 1915, torpedoedFormidable twice, sinking her with heavy loss of life.
The design for theFormidable class was prepared in 1897; it was an incremental improvement over the precedingMajestic andCanopus classes.Formidable adopted the larger size of theMajestics, while taking the strongerKrupp armour of theCanopus design. In addition, the new design incorporated longer (and thus more powerful) main and secondary guns and an improvedhull form. These characteristics produced a ship with better armour protection than either earlier class, the same high speed ofCanopus.[1]
Formidable was 431 feet 9 inches (131.6 m)long overall, with abeam of 75 ft (22.9 m) and adraught of 25 ft 11 in (7.90 m). Shedisplaced 14,500long tons (14,700 t) normally and up to 15,800 long tons (16,100 t) fully loaded. Her crew numbered 780 officers andratings. TheFormidable-class ships were powered by a pair of 3-cylindertriple-expansion engines, with steam provided by twentyBelleville boilers. The boilers were trunked into twofunnels locatedamidships. TheFormidable-class ships had a top speed of 18knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) from 15,000indicated horsepower (11,000 kW).[2]
Formidable had amain battery of four12-inch (305 mm) 40-calibre guns mounted in twin-gun turrets fore and aft; these guns were mounted in circular barbettes that allowed all-around loading or elevation. The ships also mounted asecondary battery of twelve6-inch (152 mm) 45-calibre guns mounted incasemates, in addition to ten12-pounder 3 in (76 mm) guns and six3-pounder 47 mm (1.9 in) guns for defence againsttorpedo boats. As was customary for battleships of the period, she was also equipped with four18-inch (457 mm) torpedo tubes submerged in the hull.[2]
Formidable had anarmoured belt that was 9 inches (229 mm) thick; the transversebulkheads on either end of the belt were 9 to 12 in (229 to 305 mm) thick. Her main battery turrets sides were 8 to 10 in (203 to 254 mm) thick, atop 12 in (305 mm)barbettes, and the casemate battery was protected with 6 in of Krupp steel. Herconning tower had 14 in (356 mm) thick sides as well. She was fitted with two armoured decks, 1 and 3 in (25 and 76 mm) thick, respectively.[2]
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HMSFormidable waslaid down atPortsmouth Dockyard on 21 March 1898 andlaunched on 17 November 1898; she was, at the time of her launching, very incomplete, and she was launched primarily to clear theslipway so construction could begin on the battleshipLondon.Formidable was completed in September 1901, and was commissioned at Portsmouth on 10 October for service in theMediterranean Fleet. CaptainAlexander William Chisholm-Batten paid offHMS Resolution on 9 October and he and his crew turned over toFormidable on the following day.[3] In September 1902 she visited theAegean Sea with other ships of the station for combined manoeuvres nearNauplia,[4] and in January the following year she cruised in the water offSyracuse, Sicily.[5] Later in 1903 she was escort ship to the royalyachtHMYVictoria and Albert when the King visited the Mediterranean.[6] She began a refit atMalta in 1904 which lasted until April 1905, and in April 1908 transferred to theChannel Fleet.[7][8]
Paid off atChatham Dockyard on 17 August 1908,Formidable began another refit and recommissioned on 20 April 1909 for service in the 1st Division,Home Fleet, stationed at theNore. On 29 May, she transferred to theAtlantic Fleet. In May 1912,Formidable was reduced to a nucleus crew and transferred to the5th Battle Squadron in the Second Fleet, Home Fleets, again at the Nore, where she served until the outbreak of war in August 1914.[7] Hard steaming during this service led to her developing serious machinery problems.[8]
At the beginning of theFirst World War,Formidable and the 5th Battle Squadron were based atPortland and assigned to the Channel Fleet to defend theEnglish Channel. After covering the safe transportation of theBritish Expeditionary Force to France in August 1914,Formidable took part in the transportation of the PortsmouthMarine Battalion toOstend on 25 August.[7][9] On 14 November,Formidable and the other ships of the 5th Battle Squadron were rebased atSheerness because of concern that aGerman invasion of Great Britain was in the offing. The squadron was relieved byDuncan-class battleships of the 6th Battle Squadron and transferred to Portland on 30 December.[7]
Under the command ofVice-Admiral Commanding, Channel Fleet, SirLewis Bayly, the 5th Battle Squadron spent 31 December participating in gunnery exercises off the Isle of Portland, supported by thelight cruisersTopaze andDiamond. The squadron received no escort ofdestroyers for the operation. After the exercises, that night the fleet remained at sea on patrol even though submarine activity had been reported in the area. Visibility that night was good, though the sea was rough enough to make detection of asubmarine difficult. Bayly suspected no danger from submarines, and so steamed his ships inline ahead formation at a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).Formidable was the last battleship in the line, followed only by the two cruisers. Unknown to the British, the German submarineU-24 stalked the squadron while it was exercising all afternoon, trying to find a suitable attack position.[10]
At around 02:20 on 1 January 1915,U-24 launched atorpedo atFormidable, striking her on the starboard side abreast of the forward funnel.Formidable's commander,Captain Loxley, hoped to save the ship by bringing her close to shore; the other British ships were at that point unaware of what had happened, but afterFormidable turned out of line,Topaze increased speed to determine what she was doing. By the timeTopaze closed withFormidable twenty minutes later, the latter vessel had already taken on a list of 20 degrees to starboard, and Loxley had issued the order to abandon ship. Men attempting to save the vessel remained aboard and through counter-flooding reduced the list, thoughFormidable was by then very low in the water.[11][12]
At around 03:05,U-24 launched another torpedo at the strickenFormidable, hitting her again on the starboard side close to her bow.Topaze, joined byDiamond, began the rescue effort, but the heavy seas made it very difficult to bring men aboard.Formidable remained afloat for another hour and forty minutes, and at 04:45 began tocapsize and sink by the bow. She remained afloat, with her stern in the air, for a few minutes before sinking. Loxley was last seen on thebridge calmly overseeing the evacuation of the ship.Diamond picked up thirty-seven officers and crew from the water.[13][12] TheBrixham trawlerProvident picked up 73 members ofFormidable's crew from the battleship'slaunch at around midday, whileFormidable'spinnace managed to reachLyme Regis after 22 hours at sea, saving another 47 men.[14] A total of 35 officers and 512 men were killed in the sinking.[12][15]
An inquiry from the Admiralty into the sinking determined that the risk of conducting training exercises in the Channel without destroyer protection was excessive and should not be continued. Bayly was relieved of command for failing to take adequate precautions against submarine attack.[16]
Formidable's wreck site is designated as a controlled site under theProtection of Military Remains Act 1986.[17]
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in January 1915 | |
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| Shipwrecks |
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| Other incidents |
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