 Orion at anchor, about 1913 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | Orion |
| Namesake | Mythological hunterOrion |
| Builder | HM Dockyard, Portsmouth |
| Laid down | 29 November 1909 |
| Launched | 20 August 1910 |
| Commissioned | 2 January 1912 |
| Decommissioned | March 1922 |
| Out of service | 12 April 1922 |
| Fate | Sold forscrap, 19 December 1922 |
| General characteristics (as built) | |
| Class & type | Orion-classdreadnought battleship |
| Displacement | 21,922long tons (22,274 t) (normal) |
| Length | 581 ft (177.1 m) (o/a) |
| Beam | 88 ft 6 in (27.0 m) |
| Draught | 31 ft 3 in (9.5 m) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | 4 × shafts; 2 ×steam turbine sets |
| Speed | 21knots (39 km/h; 24 mph) |
| Range | 6,730 nmi (12,460 km; 7,740 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement | 738–1,107 (1916) |
| Armament |
|
| Armour | |
HMSOrion was thelead ship ofher class of fourdreadnought battleships built for theRoyal Navy in the early 1910s. She spent the bulk of her career assigned to theHome andGrand Fleets, generally serving as aflagship. Aside from participating in the failed attempt to intercept the German ships that hadbombarded Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby in late 1914, theBattle of Jutland in May 1916 and the inconclusiveaction of 19 August, her service duringWorld War I generally consisted of routine patrols and training in theNorth Sea.
After the Grand Fleet was dissolved in early 1919,Orion was transferred to back to the Home Fleet for a few months before she was assigned to theReserve Fleet. She served as a gunnerytraining ship from mid-1921 until she was listed for disposal the following year. The ship was sold forscrap in late 1922 and subsequently broken up.
TheOrion-class ships were designed in response to the beginnings of theAnglo-German naval arms race and were much larger than their predecessors of theColossus-classbattleship to accommodate larger, more powerful guns and heavier armour. In recognition of these improvements, the class was sometimes called"super-dreadnoughts". The ships had anoverall length of 581 feet (177.1 m), abeam of 88 feet 6 inches (27.0 m) and a deepdraught of 31 feet 3 inches (9.5 m). Theydisplaced 21,922long tons (22,274 t) at normal load and 25,596 long tons (26,007 t) atdeep load as built; by 1918Orion's deep displacement had increased to 29,108 long tons (29,575 t). Her crew numbered 754 officers andratings as of 1914.[1]
TheOrion class was powered by two sets ofParsonsdirect-drivesteam turbines, each driving two shafts, using steam provided by 18Babcock & Wilcox boilers. The turbines were rated at 27,000shaft horsepower (20,000 kW) and were intended to give the battleships a speed of 21knots (39 km/h; 24 mph).[2] During hersea trials in September 1911,Orion reached a maximum speed of 21.3 knots (39.4 km/h; 24.5 mph) from 30,552 shp (22,783 kW). The ships carried enough coal andfuel oil to give them a range of 6,730nautical miles (12,460 km; 7,740 mi) at a cruising speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).[3]
TheOrion class was equipped with 10breech-loading (BL)13.5-inch (343 mm) Mark V guns in five hydraulically powered twin-gun turrets, all on the centreline. The turrets were designated 'A', 'B', 'Q', 'X' and 'Y', from front to rear. Theirsecondary armament consisted of 16BL 4-inch (102 mm) Mark VII guns. These guns were split evenly between the forward and aftsuperstructure, all in single mounts. Four47 mm (1.9 in)saluting guns were also carried. The ships were equipped with three21-inch (533 mm) submergedtorpedo tubes, one on eachbroadside and another in thestern, for which 20 torpedoes were provided.[1]
TheOrions were protected by awaterline 12-inch (305 mm)armoured belt that extended between the endbarbettes. Theirdecks ranged in thickness between 1 inch (25 mm) and 4 inches with the thickest portions protecting the steering gear in the stern. Themain battery turret faces were 11 inches (279 mm) thick, and the turrets were supported by 10-inch-thick (254 mm) barbettes.[4]
In 1914 the shelter-deck guns were enclosed incasemates. By October 1914, a pair of 3-inch (76 mm)anti-aircraft (AA) guns had been added.[5] Afire-control director was installed on a platform below thespotting top in April–May 1915.[6] Additional deck armour was added after the Battle of Jutland in May 1916. Around the same time, three 4-inch guns were removed from the aft superstructure and the ship was modified to operatekite balloons.[7] In mid-to-late 1917,Orion was the only battleship in the Royal Navy to receive a director for her secondary armament.[6] Twoflying-off platforms were fitted aboard the ship during 1917–1918; these were mounted on 'B' and 'Q' turret roofs and extended onto the gun barrels. A high-angle rangefinder was fitted in the forward superstructure by 1921.[8]
Orion, named after themythological hunter,Orion,[9] was the fourth ship of her name to serve in the Royal Navy (RN).[10] The ship waslaid down atHM Dockyard, Portsmouth on 29 November 1909. She waslaunched on 20 August 1910,[11] and wascommissioned on 2 January 1912.[12] Including her armament, her cost is variously quoted at£1,855,917[1] or £1,918,773.[2]Orion was assigned to the 2nddivision of the Home Fleet as the flagship[12] ofRear-Admiral SirHerbert King-Hall, the division'ssecond-in-command.[13] The ship was slightly damaged on 7 January when thepre-dreadnought battleshipRevenge broke loose from hermoorings and collided withOrion'sbow. The division was redesignated as the2nd Battle Squadron (BS) on 1 May.[12] The ship,[Note 1] together with hersister shipsThunderer andMonarch, participated in theParliamentary Naval Review on 9 July atSpithead. They then participated in training manoeuvres.[14] King-Hall was relieved by Rear-AdmiralRosslyn Wemyss on 29 October.[13] On 13 November, the ship participated in comparative gunnery trials withThunderer to evaluate the effectiveness of the latter's gunnery director.Thunderer decisively outshotOrion, although some of her success was because her director was above the smoke that obscured the target fromOrion's guns. The test was repeated in better conditions on 4 December andOrion performed much better, apparently beatingThunderer.[15] The three sisters were present with the 2nd BS to receive thePresident of France,Raymond Poincaré, at Spithead on 24 June 1913 and then participated in the annual fleet manoeuvres in August.[14] Wemyss was relieved in his turn by Rear-AdmiralSir Robert Arbuthnot, 4th Baronet on 28 October.[13]CaptainFrederic Dreyer assumed command ofOrion that same day.[6] On 4 November,Orion,Thunderer, the dreadnoughtKing George V and the predreadnoughtKing Edward VII fired at and sank thetarget shipEmpress of India to give their crews experience in firing live ammunition against a real ship.[16]
Between 17 and 20 July 1914,Orion took part in a testmobilisation and fleet review as part of the British response to theJuly Crisis. Arriving inPortland on 25 July, she was ordered to proceed with the rest of the Home Fleet toScapa Flow four days later[14] to safeguard the fleet from a possible surprise attack by theImperial German Navy.[17] In August 1914, following the outbreak of World War I, the Home Fleet was reorganised as theGrand Fleet, and placed under the command ofAdmiral SirJohn Jellicoe.[18] On 8 August,Orion was towing a target for the dreadnoughtAjax andMonarch when the latter reported that she had been unsuccessfully attacked by a torpedo and the gunnery exercise was terminated. Almost two weeks later, the ship began having serious problems with hercondensers and Jellicoe ordered that they be retubed while she was detached to the coaling base atLoch Ewe, on the northwest coast of Scotland.Orion rejoined the Grand Fleet on 9 September. Repeated reports of submarines in Scapa Flow led Jellicoe to conclude that the defences there were inadequate and he ordered that the Grand Fleet be dispersed to other bases until the defences be reinforced. On 16 October the 2nd BS was sent toLoch na Keal on the western coast of Scotland. Thesquadron departed for gunnery practice off the northern coast of Ireland on the morning of 27 October and the dreadnoughtAudacious struck amine, laid a few days earlier by the Germanarmed merchant cruiserSS Berlin. Thinking that the ship had been torpedoed by a submarine, the other dreadnoughts were ordered away from the area, while smaller ships rendered assistance. Shortly afterwards,Orion had to be sent toGreenock for repairs to her turbine mounts.[19]
The Royal Navy'sRoom 40 hadintercepted and decrypted German radio traffic containing plans for a German attack onScarborough,Hartlepool andWhitby in mid-December using the fourbattlecruisers ofKonteradmiral (Rear-Admiral)Franz von Hipper'sI Scouting Group. The radio messages did not mention that theHigh Seas Fleet with fourteen dreadnoughts and eight predreadnoughts would reinforce Hipper. The ships of both sides departed their bases on 15 December, with the British intending to ambush the German ships on their return voyage. They mustered the six dreadnoughts ofVice-AdmiralSir George Warrender's 2nd BS, includingOrion and her sisters,Monarch andConqueror, and the four battlecruisers of Vice-Admiral SirDavid Beatty.[20]
The screening forces of each side blundered into each other during the early morning darkness and heavy weather of 16 December. The Germans got the better of the initial exchange of fire, severely damaging several Britishdestroyers, but AdmiralFriedrich von Ingenohl, commander of the High Seas Fleet, ordered his ships to turn away, concerned about the possibility of a massed attack by British destroyers in the dawn's light. A series of miscommunications and mistakes by the British allowed Hipper's ships to avoid an engagement with Beatty's forces. One of these occurred whenOrion's lookouts spotted the light cruiserSMS Stralsund and failed to engage because Arbuthnot refused to allow the ship to open fire without a command from Warrender.[21]
Jellicoe's ships, includingOrion, conducted gunnery drills on 10–13 January 1915 west ofOrkney and theShetland Islands. Rear-AdmiralArthur Leveson relieved Arbuthnot on 15 January. On the evening of 23 January, the bulk of the Grand Fleet sailed in support of Beatty's battlecruisers, butOrion and the rest of the fleet did not participate in the ensuingBattle of Dogger Bank the following day. On 7–10 March, the Grand Fleet conducted a sweep in the northern North Sea, during which it conducted training manoeuvres. Another such cruise took place on 16–19 March. On 11 April, the Grand Fleet conducted a patrol in the central North Sea and returned to port on 14 April; another patrol in the area took place on 17–19 April, followed by gunnery drills off Shetland on 20–21 April.[22]Orion was given a brief refit in late April inDevonport.[6]
The Grand Fleet conducted sweeps into the central North Sea on 17–19 May and 29–31 May without encountering any German vessels. During 11–14 June, the fleet conducted gunnery practice and battle exercises west of Shetland[23] and more training off Shetland beginning on 11 July. The 2nd BS conducted gunnery practice in theMoray Firth on 2 August and then returned to Scapa Flow. On 2–5 September, the fleet went on another cruise in the northern end of the North Sea and conducted gunnery drills. Throughout the rest of the month, the Grand Fleet conducted numerous training exercises. The ship, together with the majority of the Grand Fleet, conducted another sweep into the North Sea from 13 to 15 October. Almost three weeks later,Orion participated in another fleet training operation west of Orkney during 2–5 November and repeated the exercise at the beginning of December.[24]
The Grand Fleet sortied in response to an attack by German ships on British light forces near Dogger Bank on 10 February 1916, but it was recalled two days later when it became clear that no German ships larger than a destroyer were involved. The fleet departed for a cruise in the North Sea on 26 February; Jellicoe had intended to use theHarwich Force to sweep theHeligoland Bight, but bad weather prevented operations in the southern North Sea. As a result, the operation was confined to the northern end of the sea. Another sweep began on 6 March, but had to be abandoned the following day as the weather grew too severe for the escorting destroyers. On the night of 25 March,Orion and the rest of the fleet sailed from Scapa Flow to support Beatty's battlecruisers and other light forces raiding the GermanZeppelin base atTondern. By the time the Grand Fleet approached the area on 26 March, the British and German forces had already disengaged and a stronggale threatened the light craft, so the fleet was ordered to return to base. On 21 April, the Grand Fleet conducted a demonstration offHorns Reef to distract the Germans while theImperial Russian Navy relaid its defensiveminefields in theBaltic Sea.[25] The fleet returned to Scapa Flow on 24 April and refuelled before proceeding south in response to intelligence reports that the Germans were about to launch araid on Lowestoft, but only arrived in the area after the Germans had withdrawn. On 2–4 May, the fleet conducted another demonstration off Horns Reef to keep German attention focused on the North Sea.[26]
In an attempt to lure out and destroy a portion of the Grand Fleet, the High Seas Fleet, composed of sixteen dreadnoughts, six pre-dreadnoughts and supporting ships, departed theJade Bight early on the morning of 31 May. The fleet sailed in concert with Hipper's five battlecruisers. Room 40 had intercepted and decrypted German radio traffic containing plans of the operation. In response the Admiralty ordered the Grand Fleet, totalling some 28 dreadnoughts and 9 battlecruisers, to sortie the night before to cut off and destroy the High Seas Fleet.[27]
On 31 May,Orion, under the command of CaptainOliver Backhouse, was the lead ship of the 2nd Division of the 2nd BS and was the fifth ship from the head of thebattle line after deployment.[28] During the first stage of the general engagement, the ship fired foursalvos ofarmour-piercing, capped (APC) shells from her main guns at the battleshipSMS Markgraf at 18:32, scoring one hit that knocked out a 15-centimetre (5.9 in) gun and killed or disabled its crew.[Note 2] About 19:15, she engaged the battlecruiserSMS Lützow at a range of 18,700–19,800 yards (17,100–18,100 m) with six salvos of APC shells and claimed tostraddle her with the last two salvos. These last salvos were actually fired at the destroyerSMS G38 which was screening the battlecruiser and laying asmoke screen.Lützow was also fired at byMonarch during this time and was hit five times between the sisters. They knocked out two of her main guns, temporarily knocked out the power to the sternmost turret as well as causing a fair amount of flooding. This was the last time thatOrion fired her guns during the battle, having expended a total of fifty-one 13.5-inch APC shells.[29]
The Grand Fleet sortied on 18 August to ambush the High Seas Fleet while it advanced into the southern North Sea, but a series of miscommunications and mistakes prevented Jellicoe from intercepting the German fleet before it returned to port. Two light cruisers were sunk by GermanU-boats during the operation, prompting Jellicoe to decide to not risk the major units of the fleet south of 55° 30' North due to the prevalence of German submarines and mines. TheAdmiralty concurred and stipulated that the Grand Fleet would not sortie unless the German fleet was attempting an invasion of Britain or there was a strong possibility it could be forced into an engagement under suitable conditions.[30] Rear-AdmiralWilliam Goodenough assumed command of the division on 5 December[13] and CaptainEric Fullerton relieved Backhouse on the 14th.[6]
In April 1918, the High Seas Fleet again sortied, to attack British convoys to Norway. They enforced strict wireless silence during the operation, which prevented Room 40 cryptanalysts from warning the new commander of the Grand Fleet, Admiral Beatty. The British only learned of the operation after an accident aboard the battlecruiserSMS Moltke forced her to break radio silence to inform the German commander of her condition. Beatty then ordered the Grand Fleet to sea to intercept the Germans, but he was not able to reach the High Seas Fleet before it turned back for Germany.[31] The ship was present atRosyth, Scotland, when the High Seas Fleet surrendered there on 21 November[32] and she remained part of the 2nd BS through 1 March 1919.[33]
By 1 May,Orion had been assigned to the3rd BS of the Home Fleet and was serving as the flagship for Rear-Admiral SirDouglas Nicholson, second-in-command of the squadron.[34] On 1 November, the 3rd BS was disbanded andOrion was transferred to theReserve Fleet at Portland, together with her sisters. Nicholson still hoisted his flag aboard her, although he was now commander of the Reserve Fleet there.[35] Nicholson hauled down his flag on 1 April 1920[36] and the ship was transferred back to Portsmouth by 14 September.Orion then became the flagship of the Reserve Fleet, which was commanded by Vice-AdmiralRichard Phillimore.[37] In June 1921 she became a gunnery training ship at Portland. On 12 April 1922, she waspaid off and placed on the disposal list in accordance with the terms of theWashington Naval Treaty. On 19 DecemberOrion was sold for scrap toCox and Danks and she arrived atUpnor in February 1923 to begin demolition.[12]
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1912 | |
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| Shipwrecks |
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| Other incidents |
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