 Revenge at anchor, about 1897 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | Revenge |
| Builder | Palmers |
| Cost | £954,825 |
| Laid down | 12 February 1891 |
| Launched | 3 November 1892 |
| Completed | 22 March 1894 |
| Commissioned | 14 January 1896 |
| Decommissioned | October 1915 |
| Renamed | Redoubtable, 2 August 1915 |
| Fate | Sold forscrap, 6 November 1919 |
| General characteristics (as built) | |
| Class & type | Royal Sovereign-classpredreadnought battleship |
| Displacement | 14,150long tons (14,380 t) (normal) |
| Length | 380 ft (115.8 m) (pp) |
| Beam | 75 ft (22.9 m) |
| Draught | 27 ft 6 in (8.4 m) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | 2 shafts; 2Triple-expansion steam engines |
| Speed | 17.5knots (32.4 km/h; 20.1 mph) |
| Range | 4,720 nmi (8,740 km; 5,430 mi) @ 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement | 695 (asflagship, 1903) |
| Armament |
|
| Armour | |
HMSRevenge was one of sevenRoyal Sovereign-classpre-dreadnought battleships built for theRoyal Navy during the 1890s. She spent much of her early career as aflagship for theFlying Squadron and in theMediterranean,Home andChannel Fleets.Revenge was assigned to theInternational Squadron blockadingCrete during the 1897–1898 revolt there against theOttoman Empire. She was placed inreserve upon her return home in 1900, and was then briefly assigned as acoast guard ship before she joined the Home Fleet in 1902. The ship became a gunnerytraining ship in 1906 until she waspaid off in 1913.
Revenge wasrecommissioned the following year, after the start ofWorld War I, to bombard the coast ofFlanders as part of theDover Patrol, during which she was hit four times, but was not seriously damaged. She hadanti-torpedo bulges fitted in early 1915, the first ship to be fitted with them operationally.[1] The ship was renamedRedoubtable later that year and was refitted as anaccommodation ship by the end of the year. The last surviving member of her class, the ship was sold forscrap in November 1919.
The design of theRoyal Sovereign-class ships was derived from that of theAdmiral-classironclad battleships, greatly enlarged to improveseakeeping and to provide space for asecondary armament as in the precedingTrafalgar-class ironclad battleships.[2] The shipsdisplaced 14,150long tons (14,380 t) at normal load and 15,580 long tons (15,830 t) atdeep load. They had alength between perpendiculars of 380 feet (115.8 m) and anoverall length of 410 feet 6 inches (125.1 m), abeam of 75 feet (22.9 m), and adraught of 27 feet 6 inches (8.4 m).[3] As a flagship,Revenge's crew consisted of 695 officers andratings in 1903.[4]
TheRoyal Sovereigns were powered by a pair of three-cylinder, verticaltriple-expansion steam engines, each driving one shaft. TheirHumphrys & Tennant engines[3] were designed to produce a total of 11,000indicated horsepower (8,200 kW) and a maximum speed of 17.5knots (32.4 km/h; 20.1 mph) using steam provided by eightcylindrical boilers withforced draught. The ships carried a maximum of 1,420 long tons (1,443 t) of coal which gave them a range of 4,720nautical miles (8,740 km; 5,430 mi) at a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).[4]
Their main armament consisted of fourbreech-loading (BL)13.5-inch (343 mm) guns mounted in two twin-gunbarbettes, one each fore and aft of thesuperstructure.[5] Each gun was provided with 80rounds.[4] Their secondary armament consisted of tenquick-firing (QF)6-inch (152 mm) guns.[3] 200 rounds per gun were carried by the ships.[4] Sixteen QF 6-pounder (2.2 in (57 mm)) guns of an unknown type and a dozenQF 3-pounder (1.9 in (47 mm))Hotchkiss guns were fitted for defence againsttorpedo boats. The two 3-pounders in the upperfighting top were removed in 1903–1904, and all of the remaining light guns from the lower fighting tops and main deck followed in 1905–1909. TheRoyal Sovereign-class ships mounted seven 14-inch (356 mm)torpedo tubes, althoughRevenge had four of hers removed in 1902.[6]
TheRoyal Sovereigns' armour scheme was similar to that of theTrafalgars, as thewaterlinebelt ofcompound armour only protected the area between the barbettes. The 14–18-inch (356–457 mm) belt and transversebulkheads 14–16 inches (356–406 mm) thick closed off the ends of the belt. Above the belt was astrake of 4-inch (102 mm) nickel-steel armour closed off by 3-inch (76 mm) transverse bulkheads.[3]
The barbettes were protected by compound armour, ranging in thickness from 11 to 17 inches (279 to 432 mm) and the casemates for the 6-inch guns had a thickness equal to their diameter. The thicknesses of the armourdeck ranged from 2.5 to 3 inches (64 to 76 mm). The walls of the forwardconning tower were 12–14 inches (305–356 mm) thick and the aft conning tower was protected by 3-inch plates.[4]
Revenge was the ninth ship of her name to serve in the Royal Navy[7] and was ordered under the Naval Defence Act Programme of 1889. The ship waslaid down byPalmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company at theirshipyard inJarrow inTyne and Wear, England, on 12 February 1891. She wasfloated out of thedrydock on 3 November 1892,[8] and completed on 22 March 1894[9] at a cost of£954,825.[5]
TheRevenge was immortalised in the painting "The Revenge leaving Jarrow" byNiels Moeller Lund which “managed to give picturesqueness to such a strictly utilitarian place as the Jarrow works”. Upon completion, she was placed in reserve atPortsmouth where almost two years later, she mobilised on 14 January 1896 asflagship of theParticular Service Squadron, soon renamed the Flying Squadron, which was formed in response to rising tensions in Europe following theJameson Raid and Germany'sKaiser Wilhelm II'stelegram of support to theBoer government. The squadron was briefly attached to theMediterranean Fleet in the middle of the year.[10] When it was disbanded on 5 November,Revenge relieved thebattleshipHMS Trafalgar as the flagship of thesecond-in-command of the Mediterranean Fleet.[11]
From February 1897 to December 1898,Revenge served in theInternational Squadron, a multinational force made up of ships of theAustro-Hungarian Navy,French Navy,Imperial German Navy, Italian Royal Navy (Regia Marina),Imperial Russian Navy, and Royal Navy that intervened in the 1897-1898 Greek uprising on Crete against rule by theOttoman Empire.[11] She served as flagship of the British component of the squadron, initially underRear-AdmiralRobert Harris, and later under Rear-AdmiralGerard Noel, and played a very active role in the International Squadron's operations. Leading a Royal Navy force that reinforced the battleshipHMS Barfleur, the British ship on station at Crete when unrest broke out in early February 1897,Revenge and the battleshipHMS Rodney arrived at Canea (nowChania) on 9 February 1897.[12][13][14][15] She contributed personnel to an international landing force of sailors andmarines the squadron put ashore at Canea on 15 February 1897.[16] On 21 February 1897, she joined the Britishtorpedo gunboatsHMS Dryad andHMS Harrier, the Russian battleshipImperator Aleksandr II, the Austro-Hungarianarmored cruiserSMS Kaiserin und Königin Maria Theresia, and the Germanprotected cruiserSMS Kaiserin Augusta in the International Squadron's first direct offensive action, a brief bombardment of Cretan insurgent positions on the heights east of Canea after the insurgents refused the squadron's order to take down aGreek flag they had raised, and she hit the farmstead that served as the insurgents′ base of operations with three 6-inch (152-mm) shells.[12][17] After a bombardment by the British battleshipHMS Camperdown on 26 and 27 March 1897 forced insurgents to abandon theirsiege of theIzzeddin Fortress near the entrance toSuda Bay,Revenge put a contingent ofRoyal Marines ashore that occupied the fortress.[18][19][20]
Thanks to the International Squadron's actions, organized fighting on Crete ended in late March 1897, although the insurrection continued.[21] The squadron focused on supporting international occupation forces ashore and enforcing ablockade of Crete and key ports inGreece.[22] After Rear Admiral Noel relieved Rear Admiral Harris on 12 January 1898, Noel withdrew his flag from Crete,[21] andRevenge conducted operations elsewhere. However, a violent riot byCretan Turks in Candia (nowHeraklion) on 6 September 1898, prompted reinforcement of the international forces on Crete, andRevenge arrived with Rear-Admiral Noel aboard on 12 September 1898. In a meeting aboardRevenge on the morning of 13 September 1898, Noel ordered the Ottoman governor,Edhem Pasha, to take a number of actions to ensure that no further violence would take place and deliver the ringleaders of the riot to the British to face trial; when Edhem Pasha expressed reluctance,Revenge andCamperdown conducted a demonstration that convinced him to comply.[23] The riot led the International Squadron to demand the withdrawal of all Ottoman forces from Crete, and when the final Ottoman troops finally departed on 6 November 1898, sailors fromRevenge and the British battleshipHMS Empress of India supervised their embarkation aboard the British torpedo gunboatHMS Hussar.[24][25] On 19 December 1898,Revenge, with Noel aboard, joined the Italian battleshipFrancesco Morosini (carrying the admiral commanding the International Squadron's Italian ships) and the Russianarmored cruiserGerzog Edinburgski (with the senior Russian commander,Rear AdmiralNikolai Skrydlov, aboard) in steaming toMilos with the French protected cruiserBugeaud, flagship of the International Squadron's overall commander, Rear AdmiralÉdouard Pottier. At Milos, they rendezvoused withPrince George of Greece and Denmark aboard hisyacht. After Prince George boardedBugeaud on 20 December,Revenge,Francesco Morosini, andGerzog Edinburgski escortedBugeaud to Crete, where Prince George disembarked on 21 December 1898 to take office as theHigh Commissioner of an autonomousCretan State under thesuzerainty of the Ottoman Empire, bringing the Cretan uprising to an end.[26][27][28] The International Squadron then dissolved.
In 1899,Revenge suffered acordite explosion in one of her 6-inch (152-mm)magazines due to spontaneous combustion, but the damage was not very severe because only three cartridges detonated.[29] In April 1900, the battleshipVictorious replaced her in the Mediterranean and she returned home, paying off into Fleet Reserve atChatham Dockyard. During this time the ship had awireless telegraph installed.[30] On 18 April 1901,Revenge was recommissioned at Chatham byCaptainFrederic Fisher to relieveAlexandra as both the coast guard ship atPortland and the flagship ofRear AdmiralSir Gerard Noel,Admiral Superintendent of Naval Reserves.[31] In March 1902, she arrived atPortsmouth for a refit that included the provision of casemates for her upper-deck six-inch guns, and her crew was temporarily transferred to the elderlyironcladHercules, which also took on her duties at Portland.[32] Captain Fisher and his crew were back on boardRevenge in early June 1902, following gun trials after the repairs.[33] After the refit, she took part in thefleet review held atSpithead on 16 August 1902 for thecoronation of KingEdward VII,[34] then commissioned in October 1902 to serve as flagship of theHome Fleet upon its creation.[35]
In April 1904,Revenge and her sister shipRoyal Oak both struck a submerged wreck off theScilly Isles while serving with the Home Fleet, damaging their bottoms. In July 1905, the ship participated in maneuvers with the Reserve Fleet and was then transferred to thePortsmouth Reserve Division on 1 September 1905. In June 1906, she relieved the battleshipColossus as the gunnery training ship at Portsmouth and was assigned to the gunnery schoolHMSExcellent.[36] On 13 June 1908,Revenge was struck by the merchant shipSS Bengore Head when the latter was cut loose by hertugboat during a suddensquall in Portsmouth Harbour.[37] In October 1909, she conducted gunnery tests on the obsolete battleshipEdinburgh to evaluate the effects of shells against varying thicknesses of armour.[38] On 7 January 1912, the ship was badly damaged when, during agale at Portsmouth, she broke loose from hermoorings and drifted onto the bow of thedreadnoughtOrion.[35] Later that year, her guns were relined down to 10 inches (254 mm) for testing;[39] the liners were removed in October 1912.[35]Revenge was relieved as a gunnery training ship by the battleshipAlbemarle and paid off on 15 May 1913. She was laid up atMotherbank, awaiting disposal.[11]
Revenge was given a reprieve from the scrapyard by the outbreak ofWorld War I in August 1914. The Admiralty decided to bring her back into service for use in coastal bombardment duties off the coast ofFlanders. In September and October 1914, she was refitted at Portsmouth for this mission, which included relining her 13.5-inch guns down to 12 inches (305 mm),[11] improving their range by about 1,000 yards (900 meters).[40] Her refit completed, she was ordered on 31 October 1914 to stand by to relieve the battleshipVenerable as flagship of theDover Patrol.Revenge was declared ready for service on 5 November 1914, and was assigned to the Channel Fleet's new6th Battle Squadron along with the battleshipsAlbemarle,Cornwallis,Duncan,Exmouth, andRussell. Plans for the squadron to participate in an attack on Germansubmarine bases were cancelled due to bad weather on 14 November 1914, and insteadRevenge and the battleshipMajestic departedDover, England, forDunkirk, France.[11]
Revenge participated in her first action of the war when she joined thegunboatBustard, six British and four Frenchdestroyers, and a Frenchtorpedo boat in bombarding German troops from offNieuwpoort, Belgium, on 22 November 1914. On 15–16 December 1914,Revenge bombarded German heavyartillery batteries, being hit twice by 8-inch (203-mm) shells, one of which penetrated her hull below the waterline and caused her to be withdrawn for repairs.[41] In early 1915, the ship participated in experiments using aircraft to observe and control her gunfire, but these were only partially successful.[42] In April and May 1915 she underwent a refit atChatham Dockyard in which she hadanti-torpedo bulges fitted.[43] Afterwards,Revenge conducted trials using sea-based observers on off-shore platforms to direct the bombardment.[44] On 2 August 1915, she was renamedRedoubtable to free the nameRevenge fora new dreadnought battleship.[7]
On 7 September 1915,Redoubtable returned to combat, joining the gunboatsBustard andExcellent in bombarding German barracks and gun positions atWestende, inflicting much damage on the Germans. One of her anti-torpedo bulges was deliberately flooded to give her alist that would increase the range of her guns. The ship was hit by a pair of 6-inch shells during the action.[45]Redoubtable underwent another refit from October to December 1915. Afterwards, she was not recommissioned, instead serving as anaccommodation ship at Portsmouth until February 1919.
Redoubtable was sold toThos. W. Ward for scrapping for £42,750[46] on 6 November 1919. She arrived atSwansea for stripping on 16 December 1919,[47] and atBriton Ferry, for final scrapping on 30 September 1921.[48]
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1908 | |
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Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1912 | |
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