HMS Temeraire (1907)

History
United Kingdom
Name:	HMS Temeraire
Ordered:	1906
Builder:	Devonport Dockyard
Laid down:	1 January 1907
Launched:	24 August 1907
Commissioned:	1 May 1909
Decommissioned:	1921
Fate:	Sold for scrap ON 7 December 1921
General characteristics
Class and type:	Bellerophon-class battleship
Displacement:	18,800 long tons (19,100 t) (normal); 24,619 shp (18,358 kW) (full load)
Length:	527 ft (161 m)
Beam:	82 ft 5 in (25.12 m)
Draught:	27 ft 8 in (8.43 m)
Installed power:	24,619 shp (18,358 kW) (trials); 23,000 shp (17,000 kW) (service)
Propulsion:	4 × Parsons steam turbines 18 × Yarrow boilers 4 × shafts
Speed:	21 kn (24 mph; 39 km/h) (trials); 20.75 kn (23.88 mph; 38.43 km/h) (service)
Range:	5,600 nmi (6,400 mi; 10,400 km) at 10 kn (12 mph; 19 km/h) (coal only)
Capacity:	Coal: 900 tons (normal), 2,648 tons (maximum); Fuel oil: 842 tons; "Patent Fuel": 170 tons
Complement:	733
Armament:	10 × BL 12 in (300 mm)/45 cal Mk X guns 11 × BL 4 in (100 mm) Mk VII guns 2 × 4 in (100 mm) AA guns 2 × 3 in (76 mm) AA guns 4 × 3-pounder (47 mm (1.9 in)) guns 2 × submerged 18 in (460 mm) torpedo tubes
Armour:	Belt: 9 to 10 in (230 to 250 mm) (lower, amidships); 8 in (200 mm) (upper, amidships); 7 to 8 in (180 to 200 mm) (lower and upper, bow); 5 in (130 mm) (stern) Deck: .75 to 1.75 in (19 to 44 mm) (main); 1.75 to 3 in (44 to 76 mm) (middle); 1.5 to 4 in (38 to 102 mm) (lower) Bulkhead: 8 in (200 mm) (aft) Barbettes: 9 to 10 in (230 to 250 mm) Turrets: 11 in (280 mm) Conning tower: 11 in (280 mm) (fore); 8 in (200 mm) (aft)

HMS Temeraire was a Bellerophon-class battleship of the Royal Navy, built at the Royal Dockyard, Devonport.

She was ordered under the 1906 Naval Estimates at the cost of £1,641,114. Although not externally much different from her predecessor HMS Dreadnought, internally she and others of the Bellerophon-class were much improved, with better sub-division of bulkheads against torpedo attack. A heavier secondary armament (originally, 16 single-mounted 4 inch in casemates placed in the superstructure) was believed to be capable of fighting off torpedo boat attacks.

First World War

For the majority of the war, Temeraire was a member of the 4th Battle Squadron of the Grand Fleet. On a sweep of the North Sea on 18 March 1915, she unsuccessfully attempted to ram U-29, which had just attacked HMS Neptune; in the process, she nearly collided with HMS Dreadnought, which ended up ramming and sinking U-29. During the summer of that year, she refitted at HM Dockyard, Devonport.

At the Battle of Jutland, Temeraire, under the command of Captain Edwin Veale Underhill,^[1] fired seventy-two 12 in (305 mm) and fifty 4 in (102 mm) shells,^[2] at the crippled German light cruiser SMS Wiesbaden, claiming two or three hits,^[3] at the battlecruiser SMS Derfflinger^[4] and German destroyers.^[5] Temeraire received no damage.^[6] In October 1918 she was detached to the Eastern Mediterranean Squadron, under the overall command of Vice-Admiral Somerset Gough-Calthorpe.

Post war

With the end of hostilities, Temeraire was converted to a cadet training ship (seagoing). With the other members of her class, she was regarded as obsolete; with a view towards the need for compliance with the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty that was shortly to be signed by Great Britain, she was decommissioned and sold for scrap in 1921.

References

1. Jellicoe 1919, p. 466.
2. Campbell 1998, pp. 346, 358.
3. Campbell 1998, pp. 157, 196.
4. Campbell 1998, p. 208.
5. Campbell 1998, p. 212.
6. Campbell 1998, p. 349.

• Campbell, John (1998). Jutland:An Analysis of the Fighting. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-750-3.
• Jellicoe, John (1919). The Grand Fleet 1914–1918: Its Creation, Development and Work. London: Cassell and Company.
• Taylor, Michael J.H. (1990). Jane's Fighting Ships of World War I. Studio. ISBN 1-85170-378-0.

External links

• Maritimequest HMS Temeraire Photo Gallery