HMSMarshal Soult
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMSMarshal Soult
Namesake	MarshalJean-de-Dieu Soult
Builder	Palmers,Jarrow
Launched	24 August 1915
Commissioned	August 1915
Fate	Sold 10 July 1946
General characteristics
Class and type	Marshal Ney-classmonitor
Displacement	6,670 long tons (6,780 t) (standard) 6,900 long tons (7,000 t) (full load)
Length	340 ft (100 m) (p.p.) 355 ft 7.2 in (108.387 m) (o/a)
Beam	90 ft 3 in (27.51 m)
Draught	10 ft 6 in (3.20 m)
Installed power	1,898 hp (1,415 kW) (trials) 1,500 hp (1,100 kW) (service)
Propulsion	2 × Vickersdiesel engines 2 × screws
Speed	9 kn (10 mph; 17 km/h) (design) 6.6 kn (7.6 mph; 12.2 km/h) (trials) 6 kn (6.9 mph; 11 km/h) (service)
Capacity	Diesel fuel: 235 short tons (213 t) (maximum)
Complement	228
Armament	As built: 2 ×BL 15 in (380 mm)/42 cal Mk I guns 2 ×QF 12-pounder (3 in (76 mm))/50 cal 18 cwt Mk I guns 1 ×3-pounder (47 mm (1.9 in))anti-aircraft gun 1917: 2 × BL 15 in (380 mm)/42 cal Mk I guns 2 ×QF 6 in (150 mm) MK I guns 2 × QF 12-pounder (3 in (76 mm))/50 cal 18 cwt Mk I guns 1 × 3-pounder (47 mm (1.9 in)) anti-aircraft gun 1918: 2 × BL 15 in (380 mm)/42 cal Mk I guns 8 × BL4 in (100 mm)/50 cal Mk IX guns 2 ×QF 3 in (76 mm) 20 cwt anti-aircraft guns 2 × 12-pounder (3 in (76 mm)) anti-aircraft guns
Armour	Bulkheads: 4 in (10 cm) (fore and aft) Deck: 1 in (2.5 cm) (forecastle); 1.5–2 in (3.8–5.1 cm) (upper deck); 3 in (7.6 cm) (lower deck, bow); 1.5 in (3.8 cm) (lower deck, stern); 1–4 in (2.5–10.2 cm) (box citadel over magazine) Barbettes: 8 in (20 cm) Turrets: 4.5–13 in (11–33 cm) Conning tower: 6 in (150 mm); 1 in (25 mm) (navigator's position)

HMSMarshal Soult was aRoyal NavyMarshal Ney-classmonitor constructed in the opening years of theFirst World War. Laid down asM14, she was named after the French general of theNapoleonic WarsMarshalJean-de-Dieu Soult. She served in both World Wars and was decommissioned in 1946.

Designed for inshore operations along the sandbank strewn Belgian coastline,Marshal Soult was equipped with two 15-inch (380 mm) battleship guns. Originally, these guns were to have been stripped from one of thebattlecruisersRenown andRepulse after they were redesigned. However the guns were not ready, and guns intended for thebattleshipRamillies were used instead.

Thediesel engines used by the ships were a constant source of technical difficulty, restricting their use.

Marshal Soult performed numerous bombardment operations against German positions in Flanders, including during theFirst Ostend Raid in April 1918. In October 1918, she became a tender to the gunnery schoolHMSExcellent atPortsmouth and in March 1919 undertook a similar role atDevonport before paying off in March 1921. Recommissioned in 1924, she moved toChatham in April 1926 as a training ship.

Her armament was removed in March 1940 and was later fitted to the newRoberts-class monitorRoberts, which was completed in 1941.

In the year of her launch 1915, Caretta, an Admiralty Pinnace was assigned to her.

She served throughout theSecond World War as a depot ship for trawlers atPortsmouth until being sold on 10 July 1946 and scrapped atTroon.

• Commander R.D. Binney: his first command, in 1930, was theMarshal Soult

• Bacon, Reginald (1919).The Dover Patrol 1915-1917. (2 vols.). New York: George H. Doran Co. Vol. 1 •Vol. 2
• Buxton, Ian (2008) [1978].Big Gun Monitors: Design, Construction and Operations 1914–1945 (2nd Revised ed.). Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing.ISBN 978-1-84415-719-8.
• Crossley, Jim (2013).Monitors of the Royal Navy; How the Fleet Brought the Great Guns to Bear. Barnsley, UK: Pen & Sword.ISBN 978-1-78383-004-6.
• Dittmar, F. J. & Colledge, J. J., "British Warships 1914-1919", (Ian Allan, London, 1972),ISBN 0-7110-0380-7
• Dunn, Steve R (2017).Securing the Narrow Sea: The Dover Patrol 1914–1918. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing.ISBN 978-1-84832-251-6.
• Gray, Randal (ed), "Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921", (Conway Maritime Press, London, 1985),ISBN 0-85177-245-5
• Parkes, Oscar; Prendergast, Maurice, eds. (1969) [First published 1919].Jane's Fighting Ships 1919. New York: Arco Publishing Co.ISBN 978-0-71534-716-4.OCLC 1902851.

• 1915 ships
• Marshal Ney-class monitors
• Ships built on the River Tyne
• World War I monitors of the United Kingdom

• Use dmy dates from February 2017
• Use British English from February 2017