Big Gun Monitors

MAIN PHOTOGRAPH

The two warship types mounting the heaviest ordnance, capital ships and monitors, under construction at Clydebank. This view, taken about 15 July 1916, shows Erebus having her 15in turret erected under the 150ton cantilever crane at John Brown’s shipyard, with battlecruiser Repulse, destroyers Romola (alongside forward) and Peregrine (aft), and submarine E.35 in the foreground.

(John Brown)

RIGHT

Taken in March 1941, this shows Roberts awaiting her 15in turret. The battleship fitting out is Duke of York and the destroyer Piorun (ex-Nerissa). The only significant change visible in the Clydebank shipyard in the intervening quarter of a century is the addition of the large tower crane to cover the upper end of the longest slipway on which the Queens were built, although the cantilever crane has been strengthened to 200 tons.

(John Brown)

CHAPTER 1

The Origins of the British Monitor ‘MONITOR — one who admonishes another as to his conduct’ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary

In a letter to Gustavus V. Fox, Assistant Secretary of the United States Navy during the American Civil War, the Swedish engineer John Ericsson claimed of his new design of ironclad ship:1

The impregnable and aggressive character of this structure will admonish the leaders of the Southern Rebellion that the batteries on the banks of their rivers will no longer present barriers to the entrance of the Union forces. The iron-clad intruder will thus prove a severe monitor to those

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leaders. … On these and many similar grounds, I propose to name the new battery Monitor.

The wooden ships of the Federal forces had been unable to overcome the batteries guarding the way to the Confederate strongholds above Hampton Roads, Virginia. Construction of Ericsson’s ironclad began in October 1861, and she was completed just in time to counter the destruction that the newly converted Confederate ironclad Virginia (ex-Merrimack) had been wreaking among the blockading Federal ships. The 987-ton ship was named uss Monitor, her principal features being a powerful armament of two 11in smooth-bore muzzle-loading guns in a rotating armoured turret, a well protected low-freeboard hull presenting a very small target, and no rig or sails, as she relied entirely on steam propulsion to provide her modest 6kts speed. The inconclusive action between the Monitor and Virginia on 9 March 1862 has been recounted many times; neither ship was seriously damaged owing to the protective value of their iron plates. Such a radically new design of fighting ship had a significant influence on warship development, making obsolete at a stroke virtually all the vulnerable wooden sailing vessels whose design had changed little over the centuries; although it must be recognised that the trend towards iron-cladding and the turret was already apparent in contemporary European designs, Warrior having been completed in 1861.

The use of special ships to attack welldefended targets has a long history. Both the British and French used bomb vessels at the end of the seventeenth century to bombard forts, as at Tripoli, Algiers and Genoa in 1682-84.

From time to time, bomb and mortar vessels continued to be used as required for coast offence purposes. The first serious attempt to ally this type of vessel with the new developments of steam propulsion and iron protection occurred during the Crimean War. In July 1854 French Emperor Napoleon III ordered ten ironclad floating batteries to be constructed which could be used against the Russian Crimean and Baltic forts. Five vessels were built in Britain and five in France, each of about 1,600 tons, mounting sixteen 68pdr or 50pdr muzzle-loading guns. Four-inch

wrought iron plating covered the sides of their hulls, and they could steam at about 4kts.

During the 1860s the unprotected broadside-armed sailing vessels and wooden screw battleships of the major navies were rapidly superseded by a wide variety of steampropelled ironclad designs. The principles of Ericsson’s Monitor found favour among the smaller powers for coast defence vessels, but low freeboard made the type unsuitable for overseas operations. Even the mighty Royal Navy embarked on building vessels suitable only for coast defence, starting with the Prince Albert in 1862. Over the next decade a motley fleet of some dozen such vessels was built.

Apart from the three designed for colonial defence, these ships were almost valueless. It was strategically unsound for a major power to build coast-defence vessels. The best defence against attack or invasion was the destruction of the enemy fleet, in effect making the enemy’s own shores the defence perimeter of the British Isles. Subsequent development of armoured ships for the RN therefore concentrated on well armed, well protected vessels with a reasonable speed and capable of keeping the seas in all weathers. Such ships were necessarily large and could not be afforded in great numbers.

When coast-offence vessels were needed, as at the Bombardment of Alexandria in 1882, the regular ships of the line were employed. Thus for some forty years the RN built neither coast-offence nor coast-defence vessels, although the latter remained popular with most of the smaller navies. The United States continued to build monitors up to 1903, when the last of a line of seventy-one vessels ordered was commissioned, the 3,225-ton uss Florida.

Several navies also built river monitors, in effect shallow-draft armoured gunboats, but they were intended only for service on rivers like the Danube or Amur, not on the open sea.

With the outbreak of World War 1 in August 1914 the RN was committed to its first fullscale war for a century. The Grand Fleet’s role was that of neutralising the German High Seas Fleet, so enabling Britain to keep command of the seas and her overseas communications while blockading Germany. Germany’s rapid thrust on land through Belgium towards Paris had been brought to a halt by October, when the war was already showing signs of dragging on for a year or more. In addition to the main

T H E

belligerents of Britain, France and Russia on the one hand, and Germany and AustriaHungary on the other, attempts were made to persuade other nations to join either the Allied Powers or the Central Powers. At the end of October it was plain that Turkey would join the latter bloc, but Italy could not yet be persuaded to join the former.

When Lord Fisher replaced Prince Louis of Battenberg as First Sea Lord on 30 October 1914, it was clear that some form of naval initiative would be desirable to break the impending stalemate on land and attempt to strike Germany decisively in a vulnerable spot.

Winston Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty, and Fisher had been mulling over various possibilities. Fisher had long been a proponent of a Baltic strategy, where an offensive against the Pomeranian coast could enable a landing to be made with Russian support only 90 miles from Berlin. To be successful such a scheme required the prior disablement or neutralisation of the High Seas Fleet, which otherwise could emerge from Wilhelmshaven or the Kiel Canal and wreak havoc among the invasion fleet. The shallow waters of the Baltic were easily mined, which would hamper and endanger the deep-draft biggun ships of the RN. It would therefore be necessary to undertake the hazardous operation of seizing some form of advanced base across the North Sea in the Friesian Islands or off the Danish coast, either to force the High Seas Fleet out of its well protected base at Wilhelmshaven and enable the Grand Fleet to destroy it by battle, or to permit surface forces and submarines to blockade movements from the German bases.

The stabilisation of the Western Front on the Belgian Coast also offered opportunities for landing forces under the cover of heavy guns to turn the enemy’s flank and prevent ports such as Zeebrugge from being used as submarine bases by the Germans. Any hostilities against Turkey would probably entail an attempt to force the Dardanelles to open the direct supply route to Russia. Ships of the Grand Fleet could not be risked from their vital strategic role for such operations, while most of the older British ships had insufficiently powerful guns or were of too deep draft for working close inshore near strong shore defences. The makeshift fleet which had bombarded the Belgian Coast at the

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end of October (see p.95) had demonstrated the potential of coast-offence vessels, as it had been instrumental in stemming the German advance towards the French Channel ports.

All of these possibilities for coastal bombardment, some more practical than others, were at the backs of the minds of Churchill and Fisher when an important visitor called at the Admiralty on Tuesday 3 November 1914. The visitor was Charles M. Schwab, President of the Bethlehem Steel Corporation, who had left New York a fortnight earlier in the White Star liner Olympic to try to sell arms and munitions to Britain. In addition to steel and armour plate, Bethlehem manufactured ordnance as well as owning several shipyards.

After some delay because the passengers on the Olympic had witnessed the sinking of the British battleship Audacious, mined off the north coast of Ulster on 27 October, Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, C-in-C of the Grand Fleet, permitted Schwab to travel to London, when he learned that Schwab had arranged to see Lord Kitchener at the War Office and that Bethlehem had submarine-building capacity available. At the Admiralty the new construction programme was discussed and agreement was reached with Schwab to build twenty submarines for Britain in the USA. That evening Schwab was asked by Churchill and Fisher if he had any other naval material which might be of use to Britain. He then disclosed that he had four twin 14in turrets nearing completion, which had been ordered for the Greek battlecruiser Salamis, then building in Germany. As the British blockade would obstruct their delivery, he was quite willing to sell them to Britain instead, together with their outfit of ammunition.

At this moment the British monitor was conceived. A supply of modern heavy ordnance was the main prerequisite for building coastoffence vessels. While hulls and machinery could be constructed quite quickly, heavy gun mountings took well over a year to build. The only source of supply in Britain would have been the requisition of mountings ordered for some of the battleships of the 1912 and 1913 new construction programmes. Any such diversion would have a serious effect on the completions that were needed to ensure an adequate margin of capital ship numbers over the High Seas Fleet. Schwab’s offer opened up the prospect of rapidly obtaining a significant

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above

Laid up first in the Medway then at Portsmouth, Abercrombie was handed over to BISCO for scrapping at Barrow. Here she leaves Portsmouth under tow on 17 December 1954. Her four twin 4in mountings were still in good condition under their Kooncoting, but the Admiralty letter to Ward’s asking for them to be returned to store did not arrive until after they had been mutilated.

(Author’s collection) right

Roberts arriving at Ward’s Inverkeithing yard on 3 August 1965, with Ministry of Defence tugs assisting berthing.

(T.W. Ward)

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Roberts is manoeuvred alongside cruiser Mauritius at Inverkeithing on 3 August 1965, having been purchased by Ward’s for £152,600.

(T.W. Ward)

repairs at Taranto, arriving at Malta on 15 August 1944. She was exercising off the Delimara Light, south-east of the island, on the 21st when she had the bad luck to strike not one but two mines in 420ft of water. She hit one on her starboard side forward, which blew a hole about 16ft x 4ft, flooding part of the lower deck.

The second hit was on the bottom abaft the mainmast, and did considerable damage.

Although the hole was only about 10ft x 4ft, both shafts were bent and the starboard Abracket broken, the lower deck aft flooded and radar and gyro-compasses damaged. The 4H degree starboard heel was quickly reduced, while the ship dropped anchor to avoid hitting any more mines. The trawlers Cava and Juliet swept around her, finding four more German moored mines, then tugs towed her into Grand Harbour. She spent the next eleven months in Malta Dockyard repairing the damage.

After the fall of Le Havre the remaining French Channel ports were either captured by the Canadian Army without the need for naval bombardment or simply surrounded until the war ended. Although Antwerp had been captured as early as 4 September, this valuable port could not be used for supplying the Allied Armies until both banks of the River Scheldt had been cleared of Germans. After a hard

Roberts and Abercrombie – TECHNICAL DATA Displacement (as completed): 7,973 (Roberts)/ 8,536 (Abercrombie) tons standard, 9,150/ 9,717 tons deep on 13ft 61⁄4in/14ft 43⁄4in draft. 7,666/8,137 tons Admiralty light on 11ft 41⁄2in/12ft 01⁄4in.

Dimensions: Length 373ft 4in oa, 354ft 0in bp, breadth 89ft 9in oa, 54ft 0in main hull, depth to upper deck 27ft 3in.

Weight distribution (Roberts as designed/as completed) Armament 970/1,012 tons, ammunition 480/504, armour and protective plating 2,130/2,200, hull 3,270/3,445, equipment 380/537, machinery 275/275. Standard displacement 7,505/7,973 tons. Water protection 580/586, reserve feed water 40/42, oil fuel 550/549. Deep displacement 8,675/9,150 tons.

Complement (Roberts/Abercrombie): 19/20 officers, 423/440 men.

Armament (as completed); 2 x 15in (twin) (30-60 APC + 80-50 HE + 8 practice rpg), 8 x 4in (twin) (80 SAP + 320 HETF + 12 star + 83 practice rpg), 16 x 2pdr (2 quad, 1 octuple) (1,800 HE + 114 practice rpg), 8 (Roberts singles)/20 (Abercrombie 4 singles, 8 twins) 20mm (2,400 HE + 300 practice rpg).

Protection: Main deck 4in and 6in NC over 15in magazine, 3in (Roberts)/4in (Abercrombie) machinery and aft, 2in and 3in NC forward; sloping external belt 5in NC abreast 15in magazine, 4in elsewhere; torpedo protective bulkhead 11⁄2in D (3⁄4in at ends); steering gear 3in NC; barbette 8in C; gunhouse 13in C front, 11in C sides and rear, 5in (R)/6in (A ) NC roof, 3in HT floor; conning tower 3in NC sides, 2in front, rear and roof, 11⁄2in floor; splinter protection l1⁄2in NC sides and floor 15in magazine, 3⁄4in to 1in D superstructure positions.

Machinery: Twin-screw Parsons single-reduction-geared steam turbines by John Brown No. 573 (Roberts), Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Co, Wallsend No. 378 (Abercrombie).4,800shp at 250rpm. Two Admiralty three-drum boilers, 250lb/in2. Fuel oil 491 tons, diesel oil 58 tons.

Endurance: 2,680 miles at 12kts on 2.2 tons oil per hour.

Speed: 121⁄4 kts designed and service. Trials: Roberts 13.5, Abercrombie 12.0 kts.

Construction: Roberts John Brown (No. 573, J.1573) laid down 30.4.40/launched 1.2.41/completed 27.10.41. Abercrombie Vickers-Armstrongs, Tyne (No. 42, J.4359) 26.5.41/31.3.42/5.5.43.

Scrapped: Roberts sold T.W. Ward 9.7.65, arrived Inverkeithing 3.8.65; Abercrombie handed over to BISCO 22.11.54, allocated T.W. Ward, arrived Barrow 24.12.54.

A B O V E This view from the foremasthead shows Roberts awaiting the shipbreaker’s men on 4 August 1965. In the foreground is the roof of the spotting top. The mounting ring for a single Bofors can be seen on the turret, but the circular tubs for the two fitted on the forecastle have been removed.

(Author) ABOVE LEFT Another view from Roberts’s foremasthead, showing much of the preserving Kooncoting stripped. De-equipping has already taken place: the 20mm guns have been removed from the twin mountings by the funnel, the compass from the after conning position, the aerial arrays from the rangefinder/directors and the boats from the davits.

(Author) ABOVE RIGHT Roberts awaits the cutting

torches at Inverkeithing on 4 August 1965.

(Author) LEFT Ward’s men prepare to cut off Roberts’s

15in gun barrels. Twin Oerlikon mount in foreground.

(T.W. Ward)

ABOVE FAR LEFT Ward’s 50-ton crane lifts the outer section of Roberts’s left 15in gun barrel, with the starboard one already lying on the deck.

(T.W. Ward) ABOVE LEFT Looking forward from Roberts’s mainmast, alongside cruiser Mauritius.

(Author) A B O V E The last of the RN’s 15in mountings in

pieces at the shipbreaker’s. In the foreground, a section of 11in-thick gunhouse armour, in the background a gun cradle with the recoil cylinder at left.

(T.W. Ward) LEFT Roberts’s 27ft-diameter training rack and

section of ring bulkhead, being prepared for shipment to Joddrell Bank radio telescope.

(T.W. Ward) FAR LEFT Roberts’s ammunition hoist trunk

lifted complete in October 1965. Compare with Abercrombie’s hoist when new on p.219.

(T.W. Ward)

MAIN PHOTOGRAPH

By late August 1965 demolition of Roberts at Inverkeithing is well advanced, with the masts and bridge stripped.

(Author’s collection)

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Index The index is arranged to include the most important subjects, but excludes passing references to people, places and ships, e.g. names of vessels escorting monitors.

Illustrations are indicated by italic type.

A Abercrombie (1915), exAdmiral Farragut, ex-M.1: Aegean operations 32, 33, 33, 35, 126; armament 16, 16, 17, 42, 43, 229, 230, 234, 235; construction 17, 18, 19, 20, 20, 21, 23, 43, 47; Dardanelles operations 25-31, 30, 38, 69, 125; deployment 24-5, 122; design 12-16; disposal 43; modifications 41-2; naming 21, 23, 24; performance 40-1; speed and trials 13, 22, 23, 26, 41, 43, 148.

Abercrombie (1943): armament 186, 188, 189, 213, 216-21, 216, 217, 218, 219, 235; design and construction 176, 186, 189, 191, 192, 193, 211, 243; draft and displacement 189, 210, 213; for Indian Ocean 208; mined and repaired 199, 198, 199, 200, 202, 206; modifications 210; naming 188; Salerno 198200, 2 0 1; scrapping 211, 2 1 2; Sicily 195-98.

Accommodation, on board monitors 14, 22, 74, 92, 106, 115, 173, 174, 184, 188.

Admiral Farragut, see Abercrombie (1915) Admiralty Experiment Works (A.E.W.), Haslar 13-16, 22, 40, 79, 146, 176, 178, 242.

Adriatic, monitor operations in 70-72, 242, 244.

Agamemnon, British predreadnought 36, 40, 128.

Aircraft: attacks on monitors 28, 32, 35, 71, 73, 85, 163, 166, 190, 194, 197, 200; effectiveness of compared with monitors 242-3; monitors designed to carry 14, 15, 17, 24, 29, 186; on board monitors 28, 29, 36, 60, 70, 159; see also Spotting, Zeppelins.

Alaunia II, ex-Marshal Ney 91, 91.

Alexandria: bombardment of

10; monitors at 103, 104, 131, 161, 162, 163, 167, 196.

Allenby, General E. 36, 131, 132.

Altham, Captain E. 52, 53, 57, 60, 95, 135-6, 237, 238, 246, 248.

Ammunition, expenditure: combined operations 198, 201, 205, 242; 18-inch 678, 227; 15-inch (WW1) 65, 85, 86, 87, 150, 151, 154, 156, 157, 221; 15-inch (WW2) 162, 163, 165, 168, 169, 170, 171, 196-201, 204-5, 208, 221, 222; 14inch 26, 28, 30, 33, 230; 12-inch 54, 56, 57, 60, 658, 69, 71, 225; 9.2-inch 109-10, 123, 128-30, 137, 230; 7.5-inch 134, 156; 6inch 99, 103, 123, 136, 205; 4-inch 136, 156-7, 162, 163; A.A. guns 195; see also Projectiles.

Anzac (Gallipoli) 28-31, 3 5, 69, 103, 123, 125, 126.

Aphis, British gunboat 162, 163.

Archangel 135-7, 156.

Arkansas, U.S. battleship 202, 203.

Ark Royal, British aircraft carrier (1938) 43.

Armour: penetration 220, 222, 225, 228, 230, 234; on ships, see Protection.

Armstrong Whitworth, shipbuilders and ordnance, Elswick , Openshaw and Walker 21, 106, 107, 113, 221, 225; see also Elswick Ordnance Co.; VickersArmstrong.

Audacious, British battleship 11, 45.

Awatea, British troopship 194.

B Bacchante, British cruiser 28 Bacon, Vice-Admiral R. H.: at Dover 53, 60, 64, 153; bombardment operations 54, 55, 56, 57, 86, 150; book The Dover Patrol 62, 246; ordnance work 53, 59, 73, 133, 138, 226, 237; plans against Bruges 61, 64, 86; use of monitors 62, 82, 83, 133, 134, 147, 151, 153; various plans 58, 62, 63, 84, 133.

Baden, German battleship 157, 158.

Balfour, A. J. 25, 31, 89, 90,

147.

Baltic: Fisher’s strategy 10, 24; Erebus operations 1567; WW2 plans 177.

Barham, British battleship 50, 163.

Beardmore, Wm., shipbuilders and gun manufacturers 77, 221.

Belfast, British cruiser 205.

Belgenland, Red Star liner 17, 47.

Belgian Coast: map 55; see Great Landing, Ostende, Westende, Zeebrugge.

Ben-my-Chree, British seaplane carrier 125.

Berwick, British cruiser 159.

Bethlehem Steel Corporation 10, 16, 21, 22, 29, 229, 230.

BISCO (British Iron & Steel Corporation, Salvage) 91, 211, 212, 213, 248.

Black Sea: monitor operations 137; see also Crimea.

Boats, ships’ 41, 129, 152, 185, 188.

Bolinder, semi-diesel engine 116, 116, 140, 145.

Bombardment, effectiveness of naval 198, 201, 205, 236, 242-5.

Brazil, river monitors for 11, 92-3, 244; see also Severn, Humber and Mersey.

Breslau, German cruiser 3 5, 36-7, 40, 192.

Broome, Viscount 35, 38.

Brown, John, shipbuilders, Clydebank 8, 9, 48, 49, 50, 52, 82, 178-83, 179, 181, 182, 183, 184, 185, 187, 213, 248.

Bruges, port and canal 53, 54, 58, 61, 64, 65, 86, 152, 225, 242. See also Zeebrugge.

Bruton, Captain C. W. 150, 153.

Bulgaria, see Salonika Bulges, see Protection Bulwark, British predreadnought 105.

Bustard, British gunboat 53, 55, 95.

C Camouflage: WW1 ships 30, 37, 42, 73, 87, 98, 98, 89, 119, 140; WW2 ships 141, 143, 158, 164, 1 7 0 Canadian forces 196, 205, 206.

Cape Town/Cape of Good Hope 159, 161, 164, 166, 186,

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189.

Chatham: monitors refit at 55, 59, 72, 94, 96, 97, 165; pontoons built at 62; ships at 76, 87, 90, 91, 104, 135, 138, 157, 177; Turret Drill Ships at 90, 158, 171, 211; 15-inch turret at 188, 219.

Churchill, Winston S.: defends building programme 89, 90; deployment of monitors 24, 25, 29, 31, 52, 68, 122; First Lord 10; planning first monitors 11, 12, 18, 21, 242-3; planning further monitors 45, 78; planning monitors and operations (WW2) 164, 177, 204; Russian intervention 135; transfer of foreign ships 93, 107; weapon development 173, 216.

Cicala, British gunboat 136.

City of Oxford, British seaplane carrier 36, 132.

Claverhouse, ex-M.23 140.

Clyde, monitors in: building 91, 178, 179; scrapped 77, 91; trials 92, 93, 175, 186; WW2 143, 167, 168, 195, 195, 203.

Coast defence ships 10, 11, 45, 106, 244.

Constantinople (Istanbul) 24, 33, 36, 38, 104, 123, 128, 130, 132, 137.

Comus, British cruiser 12, 18.

Conqueror, British battleship (1939) 178.

Cordite, see Propellant Cossack, British destroyer 110.

Costs: ammunition 22, 220, 224, 229, 230; armour 22, 107, 148, 150, 185; disposal 43, 77, 113, 211, 213; fuel 79; guns and mountings 22, 94, 107, 148, 161, 185, 218, 223, 230; machinery 22, 79, 94, 107, 148, 185; monitor building 21, 22, 45, 82, 94, 107, 109, 118, 122, 148, 185, 189, 241; monitor operating 241; refits 90, 141, 172, 173; steel 22, 150.

Courageous, British battlecruiser, later aircraft carrier 107, 218, 221, 225.

Coventry Ordnance Works 21, 45, 49, 53, 122, 218, 221, 248.

Cowan, Rear-Admiral W. 156.

Cressy, British armoured cruiser 114.

Cricket, British gunboat 136.

Crimea: monitor operations

WW1 137; War in 10, 24, 150.

Cunard ships: 17, 21, 43, 91.

Cunningham, Admiral A. B. 163.

Curaçaosche Scheepvaart Maatschappij 140.

D Damage to monitors by: aircraft 71, 85, 91, 166, 194, 195; D.C.B. 128; mines 134, 163, 198, 199, 199, 200; shellfire 26, 28, 29, 31, 36-7, 56, 70, 71, 99, 125, 135, 136, 171, 205; torpedo 132, 153.

Danube, River 98, 104.

Dardanelles and Gallipoli operations: Allied vessels steam through 33, 104, 132; early operations 25, 103, 238; evacuation 30-1; forcing the Narrows 25, 29; Gallipoli peninsula 25, 35, 127; general conditions 53, 65, 242; Goeben blockade and sortie 32, 35, 36, 38, 126, 132; monitor operations 26-31, 27, 32, 33, 70, 103; operation planned 24, 25, 98; Turkish batteries at 26, 27, 28, 29, 31, 123, 129.

De Robeck, Vice-Admiral J. M. 25, 26, 28, 29.

Deutschland battery (4 - 15˝ Ostende) 56, 64, 109, 151.

Devonport (Plymouth): guns and mountings repaired at 169, 183; monitors at (WW1) 26, 43, 52, 69, 91, 98, 113; monitors at postWWl and WW2 141, 169, 211, 213; refits at 104, 159; Turret Drill Ships at 90, 158.

Dewar, Commander K. G. B. 31.

D’Eyncourt, E. Tennyson (D.N.C.) 11, 13, 22, 45, 112, 153.

Diggle, Commander N. W. 52, 108, 110.

Director, gunnery 17, 66, 90, 107, 133. See also Fire control.

Director of Naval Construction (D.N.C.): department of 12, 175, 209; see also D’Eyncourt.

Distance-controlled boats (D.C.B.) (Fernlenkboote) 73, 138, 152.

Dixon, Sir Raylton, shipbuilders, Middlesbrough 115, 117, 145.

Dominion battery (1 - 12˝ Adinkerke) 55, 60.

Dover Squadron 52, 53, 57, 83, 84, 94, 109, 133, 156; see also Dunkirk and individual ships.

Downs anchorage off Ramsgate 85, 88, 150.

Drake: British armoured cruiser 114; R.N. Barracks, Devonport 91.

Drydocks: floating docks 31, 63, 131, 151, 152, 160, 167, 185, 187; graving docks 26, 61, 108, 108, 143, 1 4 4, 167; size restrictions 13, 78.

Duke of York, British battleship 9, 178, 179, 183, 184.

Dunkirk: base for monitors 57, 60, 88; WW1 57, 59, 5 9, 63, 83, 85, 86, 87, 87, 88, 95, 109, 133, 150, 152, 239; WW2 165.

Durban 103, 161, 166, 167, 189, 190.

Dvina, River 100, 135-7, 136, 137.

E Earl of Peterborough: Adriatic operations 70, 70, 71, 72, 73; Aegean operations 35, 69, 70; armament 45, 49, 73, 74, 77; construction 47, 47, 48, 51, 77; Dardanelles operations 30, 31, 68; disposal 77; naming 49.

Edgar, British cruiser 25, 30, 38, 114, 117.

Elswick Ordnance Co. (E.O.C.), later Vickers-Armstrong 21, 45, 49, 84, 106, 114, 117, 118, 138, 150, 216, 218, 219, 221, 223, 225, 227, 230.

Empress, British seaplane carrier 70.

Endymion, British cruiser 25, 26, 28, 33, 114, 117, 122.

Enterprise, British cruiser 205, 248.

Erebus: armament 147, 155, 166, 169, 171, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 177, 178, 219, 221, 234, 235; Baltic operations 156-7; C.O.s 150, 154, 156, 164, 166; construction 8, 47, 147, 148, 150; cost 148; design 147-8; Dover operations WW1 59, 60, 65, 66, 85, 86, 87, 150, 152, 152, 153, 154; general contribution 68, 156, 177, 242-3, 245; home waters

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1939-41 164-5, 166, 174; home waters 1944-5 16771, 167, 170, 202-04, 207-08, 211, 243; Indian Ocean area 90, 166-7; manoeuvrability 164, 175, 209; Mediterranean 1943 167, 189, 195-8; modifications 165, 167, 172, 171-5; performance 175, 179; post WW1 90, 158, 245; South African guardship 161, 161, 164, 176; trials and speed 147, 150, 175, 175; White Sea/Russian operations 156, 157.

Ericsson, John 9, 10, 11.

Euryalus, British cruiser 104, 130.

Excellent: British gunboat 53, 55, 95; gunnery school Portsmouth 90.

F Faa’ Di Bruno, Italian monitor 71, 72.

Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Co., Govan 47, 48, 183, 248.

Fareham, British minesweeper 163.

Fire control: equipment 17, 33, 58, 115, 157, 161, 172, 177, 189, 236, 239; transmitting station 17, 177, 182, 217, 239. See also Director.

Fisher, Admiral Sir John: construction of monitors 16, 17, 18, 242; deployment of monitors 24, 25, 98; First Sea Lord 10, 25; planning first monitors 11, 12, 90, 242; planning later monitors 44, 79, 107, 114, 115; 18inch gun 225.

Flores, Dutch gunboat 197.

Florida, U.S. monitor 10, 244.

Frobisher, British cruiser 158, 2 0 7.

Froude, R. E. 13, 14, 22, 82.

Fuel: coal 14, 18, 24, 26, 40, 61, 74, 79, 111-12; oil 79, 92, 107, 112, 116, 122, 128, 130, 131, 140, 175, 175, 210; capacities: see ship technical data.

Fullerton, Commander E. J. A. 94.

Furious, British battlecruiser, later aircraft carrier 42, 64, 73, 107, 150, 185, 188, 217, 219, 225, 227, 228.

G Gallipoli, see Dardanelles.

Garth, British destroyer 164, 207.

General Craufurd: armament 45, 49, 74, 77, 234; C.O.s 52, 108; construction 46, 47, 47, 53, 77; deployment 25, 52; disposal 43, 77; Dover operations 55-68, 58; ferrying guns 59, 5 9; gunnery experiments 57, 60, 237; modifications 72-3; naming 49.

General Grant, see Havelock.

General Wolfe: armament 42, 45, 49, 72-74, 77, 223, 227, 234; construction 47, 77; conversion for 18-inch 64, 66. 73, 74, 75, 226; C.O.s 52, 66, 108, 154; design 45-6, 77; disposal 43, 77; Dover operations 52, 57-68, 5 8; 109; naming 48, 49; operation of 18-inch 66-8, 75, 227; performance and trials 51, 76, 77.

Gibraltar, monitors at 26, 31, 190, 195.

Gibraltar, British cruiser 114, 117, 133.

Glatton, ex-BjĂśrgvin: armament 106, 107, 111, 113, 230, 231, 234, 235; design and construction 1060 9; exploded at Dover 11011; inquiry into loss 11112, 112; naming 107; Norwegian origin 106; salvage 112-13, 113; technical data 113.

Glorious, British battlecruiser, later aircraft carrier 47, 90, 122, 218, 225.

Goeben, German battlecruiser 33, 3 5, 36-40, 69, 126, 132.

Goliath, British predreadnought 25.

Goodwood, British coaster 182, 183.

Gorgon, ex-Nidaros: armament 106, 107, 113, 230, 231, 234, 235; design and construction 106-09; disposal 113; Dover operations 66, 87, 109-10, 109, 110; Glatton inquiry 111-12; Norwegian origin 106; speed and trials 108, 110, 113.

Grafton, British cruiser 25, 28, 104, 114, 117, 132.

Gray, Wm., shipbuilders, Hartlepool 115, 116, 145.

Great Landing, Belgian Coast 1917 32, 55, 62, 62, 63, 63, 87.

Gunboats: China 11, 135-6, 162; river 10, 11; 19th century 17.

Gun life and wear 87, 95, 163, 220-1, 224, 227-8, 230, 234, 235, 237.

Guns, anti-aircraft: Bofors 40mm 173, 210, 235; generally 17, 42, 161-3, 173-4, 178, 210, 235; high-angle 17, 24, 42, 43, 52, 74, 88, 96, 138, 139, 139, 171-3, 232, 2 3 5; Oerlikon 20mm 165, 173, 183, 187, 189, 210, 235.

Guns, 4-inch: B.L. 73, 89, 172, 172, 173, 233, 2 3 4; H.A./L.A. 178, 189, 210, 232, 235; Q.F. 172, 231, 232, 235; triple 135, 136, 139, 234.

Guns, 6-inch: B.L. VII 73, 74, 96, 97, 98, 138, 233, 2 3 4; B.L. XII 41, 118, 143, 144, 145, 158, 232, 234; coast defence 161; H.A. 32, 41, 73; operations 36, 244; other B.L. 85, 88, 107, 113, 234; Q.F. 72, 73, 89, 138, 150, 171, 234; twin turret 93, 95, 96, 103, 105, 234.

Guns, 7.5-inch: 113, 134, 135, 138, 158, 234.

Guns, 9.2-inch: coast defence 159, 161; ferrying 59; Mark VI 37, 114, 117, 119, 133, 138, 145, 231, 232, 23 4; Mark VIII 88, 234; Mark X 59, 114, 117, 122, 123, 137, 145, 234, 238, 243; Mark XII 107, 113, 230, 231; range 107, 114, 230, 231, 234.

Guns, 12-inch: increased elevation 45, 223; Mark VIII 45, 77, 223-5, 225; others 59, 224; range 45, 65, 225; trials 49, 54.

Guns, 13.5-inch: 44, 179, 216, 217, 229.

Guns, 14-inch: costs 22; Mark II 16, 16, 43, 229-30; operations 28-33, 32, 36-7; range 16, 230; trials 23.

Guns, 15-inch: coast defence 161, 221, 228; German 55, 64, 71, 72, 151, 170; increased elevation 85, 89, 147, 150, 217, 220; Mark I 217-22; mounted in monitors 78, 81, 84, 147, 154, 177, 217, 218, 222; range 78, 85, 147, 219, 220, 222;

I N D E X

trials 76, 157-8, 186; turret allocation 82, 146, 150, 176, 188, 218.

Guns, 18-inch: installed in monitors 42, 64, 66, 73-75, 227, 228; Mark I 225-8, 226; operation 66-8; range 67, 225, 227, 228.

H Haig, General Sir D. 60, 63, 85, 150.

Hamilton, General Sir I. 28.

Hamilton, Wm., shipbuilders, Port Glasgow 47, 48, 77, 146, 147.

Hannibal, British predreadnought 49.

Harland & Wolff, shipbuilders and engineers: Belfast 17, 21, 20, 23, 43, 47, 52, 77, 120, 122, 145, 149, 150, 151, 175, 248; engine building 18, 24, 43, 47, 77, 175; Govan 17, 43, 47, 77, 146-8, 150, 175; resources 17, 18, 47.

Havelock, ex-General Grant, ex-M.2: armament 16, 16, 17, 43, 235; construction 17, 18, 20, 21, 43, 47; Dardanelles operations 2631; deployment 24-5; design 12-16; disposal 42, 43; home waters 31, 32; modifications 26, 41-2; naming 21, 24; performance 40-1; trials and speed 12, 24, 40, 43.

Hayes-Sadler, Rear-Admiral A. 36, 38, 40.

Haynes, Commander H. J. 163, 186, 210.

Helles, Cape: British position at 26, 28-31, 3 5, 69, 123, 125; Turkish guns at 36, 130, 132.

Hibernia, British predreadnought 88.

Hood, Rear-Admiral H. L. A. 53, 94, 97.

Howitzers, on monitors 45, 93, 95, 96, 102, 103, 105, 234, 243.

Humber, ex-Javary: armament 93-97, 95, 98, 99, 103, 104, 105, 234, 235; Brazilian origin 92-3; Dardanelles operations 29, 96, 102, 103; design and construction 92-4, 92, 105; disposal 104-5, 105; home waters 94-6; Mediterranean, Red and Black Seas 103-04; modifications

96, 103, 104; naming 94; speed and trials 92, 93, 94, 105; White Sea operations 104, 135-7.

I Illustrious: British predreadnought 72, 88; British aircraft carrier 163.

Imbros, Aegean island, (Kephalo and Kusu) 26, 30, 31, 32, 33, 35, 35, 36, 38, 38, 126, 127, 127, 132.

Iron, Captain J. 112, 153.

J Jackson, Admiral H. B. 88, 147.

Jacobsen, Admiral A. D. 54, 63.

Javary, ex-Brazilian monitor, see Humber.

Jellicoe, Admiral Sir J. 11, 64.

K Kaiser Wilhelm battery (4 12Ë? Knocke) 35, 57, 58, 60, 86, 154.

Kerr, Rear-Admiral M. 71.

Keyes, Vice-Admiral R.: at Dardanelles 29; at Dover 64, 65, 109, 110, 134, 153.

King, Admiral E. 202.

King George V, British battleship and class 43, 177, 185, 229.

Kitchener, Lord 11, 25, 35.

KĂśnigsberg, German cruiser 98, 99, 101.

L Ladybird, British gunboat 162, 163.

Lady Brassey, British tug 67, 110, 153, 165.

Largs, British H.Q. ship 205, 239 L.C.G. (Landing craft, gun) 170, 207, 244.

Le Havre 170, 171, 202, 203, 206.

Ledbury, British destroyer 197 Leviathan, British armoured cruiser 114.

Lillicrap, C. S. 12, 13, 78, 118, 120, 147.

Lion, British battleship and class (1939) 178, 188.

Lizard, British destroyer 3 5, 36-8.

Lord Clive: armament 44, 49,

72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 76, 77, 221, 225-8, 234, 235; construction 47, 77, 148; conversion for 18-inch 64, 66, 73, 74, 227, 228; damage to 56; deployment 25, 52; design 44-5; disposal 77; Dover operations 54-68, 58, 63, 68, 109, 147; naming 49; operation of 18-inch 67-8, 67, 227; performance and trials 51, 76, 77.

Lord Nelson, British predreadnought 36, 38, 40 Lowestoft 31, 32, 43, 164.

M M.1, M.2, M.3, British submarines 244.

M.1, M.2, M.3, M.4 see Abercrombie, Havelock, Raglan, Roberts respectively M.5. M.6, M.7, M.8, M.9, M.10, M.11, M.12 see Sir John Moore, Lord Clive, General Craufurd, Earl of Peterborough, General Wolfe, Prince Rupert, Prince Eugene, Sir Thomas Picton respectively M.13, M. 14 see Marshal Ney, Marshal Soult M.15-M.18, 9.2-inch Mark X monitor class: armament 114, 115, 138, 145, 234, 235; deployment 25, 29, 122, 126; design and construction 114-18, 114, 115; machinery 115, 116, 145; numbering 115; speed and trials 117, 139, 145; technical data 145; see also individual ships M.15: Aegean operations 1223, 124, 125-6; armament 114, 115, 118, 122, 139, 145, 234, 235; construction 117, 145; Egyptian operations 126, 131-2; loss 132.

M.16: Aegean operations 35, 122-3, 125-6, 129, 130, 132; armament 114, 115, 118, 122, 139, 145, 234, 235; construction 117, 145; mercantile conversion 140.

M.17: Aegean operations 38, 69, 122-3, 125-6, 128, 129, 129, 1 3 2; armament 114, 115, 139, 145, 234, 235; Black Sea operations 137; log 128-31; mercantile conversion 140.

M.18: Aegean operations 30, 31, 38, 122, 125, 126,

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128, 130, 132; armament 114, 115, 139, 145, 234, 235; arrangement 114-5; Black Sea operations 137; camouflage 140; machinery 115-16, 122, 145; mercantile conversion 140.

M.19-M.28, 9.2-inch Mark VI monitor class: armament 114, 115, 138, 145, 232, 234, 235; deployment 25, 29, 122, 126; design and construction 114-18; machinery 115-17, 116, 117, 145; numbering 115; speed and trials 117, 139, 145; technical data 145; see also individual ships M.19: Aegean operations 122, 123, 125, 126, 128, 129, 132; armament 114, 115, 117, 125, 128, 139, 145, 234, 235; camouflage 140; construction 117, 145; machinery 116, 145; mercantile conversion 140.

M.20: Aegean operations 122, 126, 126, 128, 129, 129; armament 114, 115, 117, 139, 145, 234, 235; machinery 116, 145; mercantile conversion 140.

M.21: Aegean operations 122, 128, 129; armament 114, 115, 118, 119, 138, 139, 145, 234, 235; camouflage 140; Dover operations 87, 131, 133, 134; Egyptian operations 126, 127, 131; machinery 117, 117, 145; mined 134-5.

M.22: Aegean operations 35, 122, 123, 125, 127, 128; armament 114, 115, 139, 145, 234, 235; Black Sea operations 137-8; machinery 117, 145; minelayer (Medea) 140, 141, 142.

M.23: Aegean operations 122, 127; armament 114, 115, 133, 138, 139, 145, 234, 235; camouflage 140; Dover operations 131, 134, 151, 152, 154; Egyptian operations 126, 127; machinery 116, 145; postwar 140; rolling 139; White Sea operations 135, 137, 156.

M.24: armament 114, 115, 133, 138, 139, 145, 234, 235; Dover operations 65, 86, 133, 134, 135; machinery 117, 145; mercantile service 140, 141; White Sea operations 135, 137.

M.25: armament 114, 115, 133, 138, 138, 139, 145, 234, 234; blown up 137; Dover operations 55, 58, 63, 133, 134, 151, 154; machinery 116, 145; rolling 139; White Sea operations 135, 137.

M.26: armament 114, 115, 133, 134, 138, 139, 145, 234, 235; Dover operations 65, 86, 87, 133, 134, 135; machinery 116, 145; mercantile conversion 140; White Sea operations 135, 137.

M.27: armament 104, 114, 115, 133, 138, 139, 145, 234, 235; blown up 137; Dover operations 58, 133, 134, 135; machinery 116, 145; White Sea operations 135, 136, 136, 137.

M.28: Aegean operations 122, 125, 126, 127, 132, 1 3 3; armament 114, 115, 139, 145, 234, 235; loss 36-8, 40, 132; machinery 116, 145.

M.29-M.33, 6-inch monitor class: armament 41, 118, 139, 145, 232, 234, 235; deployment 29, 122; design and construction 47, 118, 120, 121, 122, 145, 243; displacement 120, 122, 145; machinery 145; speed 122, 139, 145; technical data 145; see also individual ships.

M.29: Aegean operations 70, 122, 123, 125-7, 130, 132; armament 41, 118, 139, 145; Black Sea operations 137, 139; camouflage 140; construction 47, 121, 122, 145; Egyptian operations 131-2; minelayer/depot ship (Medusa/ Talbot/Medway II) 141, 142, 142.

M.30: Aegean operations 34, 122, 124, 125, 127; armament 41, 118, 139, 145; construction 47, 121, 145; loss 125, 125.

M.31: Aegean operations 31, 122, 123, 125, 127, 130; armament 41, 118, 139, 145, 235; construction 47, 121, 145; Egyptian operations 103, 104, 126, 127, 131, 132; minelayer (Melpomene/Menelaus) 141, 142; White Sea operations 135, 136, 136, 137.

M.32: Aegean operations 33, 122, 125-7, 128, 129, 131,

132; armament 118, 139, 145; construction 122, 145; Egyptian operations 131-2; mercantile conversion 140.

M.33: Aegean operations 70, 122, 125-6, 128, 132; armament 41, 118, 129, 235, 248; construction 122, 145; minelayer/workshop (Minerva/ C.23) 141-3, 143; preservation 142-5; White Sea operations 135-7, 136.

M.34-M.37, cancelled 15-inch monitors 146-7.

Machinery: auxiliary 40, 79, 178, 188, 202; diesel 45, 78, 79, 79, 82, 88, 89, 90, 91, 116, 116, 123, 140, 145, 177, 243; steam reciprocating 13, 18, 43, 47, 48, 49, 88, 92, 105, 106, 113, 115, 145, 146, 175; steam turbine 177, 178, 213.

Madeira, ex-Brazilian monitor, see Mersey.

Magnificent, British predreadnought 19, 49, 51, 69, 123.

Majestic: British predreadnought and class 24, 45, 103, 223, 223; White Star liner 43.

Malaya, British battleship 203, 218, 221.

Malta: defences of 161, 162; guns at 118, 122, 138; monitors at (WW1) 26, 26, 72, 96, 97, 98, 103, 122, 132, 137; monitors at (postWW1) 141, 142, 142, 159, 161, 167, 196, 197, 198, 200, 201, 202, 206, 208, 209; monitors refit at 33, 35, 40, 70, 125, 126, 131, 132, 172, 206, 210, 230.

Mars, British pre-dreadnought 18, 49, 51, 69.

Marshal Ney: armament 78, 88, 91, 150, 218, 219, 221, 234, 235; Belgian Coast operations 56, 58, 83, 84, 85, 243; C.O.s 64, 69, 82, 150; construction 80-1, 82, 91; deployment 25, 83; guardship at Downs 85; machinery 78, 79, 79, 8 2, 84, 88, 91, 147, 243; modifications 85, 87, 88, 90-1, 9 1; naming 82, 91; parliamentary debate 89-90; post-WWl 90, 91, 91, 176; speed and trials 82, 83, 84, 87, 91, 147; steering and performance 83, 87, 88, 209.

I N D E X

Marshal Soult: armament 78, 87, 8 9, 89, 91, 150, 219, 220, 221, 234, 235; Belgian Coast operations 59, 60, 64, 66, 84-7, 109, 151; construction 80-1, 82, 91; design 78, 78-9, 82; machinery and equipment 78, 79, 79, 83, 89, 91, 243; modifications 89; post-WW1 90-1, 91, 157, 158, 176; speed and performance 88, 91; trials 83, 84, 91; turret transferred to Roberts 91, 176, 178, 179, 182-3, 182.

Mauritius, British cruiser 167, 196, 197, 205, 213, 215.

Mavro Island (Rabbit Island) 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 35, 36, 123, 125, 128, 129, 130.

McKie & Baxter, marine engineers, Glasgow 18, 47, 48, 48, 49, 77, 90, 117, 117, 145.

Medea, ex-M.22 141, 142.

Medusa, ex-M.29 141, 142, 142.

Medway II, ex-M.29 142.

Melpomene: ex-M.31 141, 142; British destroyer 59.

Menelaus, ex-M.31 142.

Merrimack, see Virginia.

Mersey, ex-Madeira: armament 92, 94, 95, 95, 96, 96, 105, 234, 235; Black Sea 104; Brazilian origin 92; design and construction 92, 92, 93, 105; disposal 43, 104, 105; East African operations 97, 98-9, 103; home waters 947; naming 94; performance and speed 94, 104, 105.

Minelayers, coastal 140, 141, 142, 143.

Minefields and nets: Dover area 59, 63, 64, 85, 87, 134; Mediterranean 36, 37, 40, 123, 132; WW2 199, 206; see also Damage Mines: monitors damaged or sunk by 135, 163, 198, 199, 199, 200, 206; types of 141, 154, 204; see also Protection Minerva, ex-M.33 141, 142, 143, 143, 121; preservation 143, 1 4 4.

Mitylene, Aegean island (Lesbos) 33, 35, 35, 69, 126, 127, 127, 132.

Mombasa (Kilindini) 166, 167, 209.

Monitor, U.S.S. 9, 10, 21.

Monitor, British destroyer, see Munster

Monitors, 12-inch gun ships: armament 44, 45, 74, 77; design 44, 44-5,; general contribution 68, 242; technical data 77; see also individual ships.

Monitors, 14-inch gun ships: design 11, 12-16, 12, 15, 15; displacement 24, 63; technical data 77; see also individual ships.

Monitors, 15-inch gun ships: at Dover 83-7; for Dardanelles 24, 25, 38, 146; for Singapore 90, 159; see also individual ships.

Monitors, Italian 71, 72, 244.

Monmouth, British cruiser and class 92, 95, 96.

Montagu, British predreadnought 96, 97.

Moreno, U.S. salvage tug 199, 199.

Moreton, Captain J. A. 58, 154, 156.

Motor launches (M.L.s): at Dover 86, 87; base ship for 90; smoke-producing 60, 86, 109, 151.

Mudros (Lemnos island) 26, 30, 31, 33, 33, 36, 37, 37, 38, 40, 41, 69, 98, 102, 103, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 130, 131, 132, 137.

Munster, British destroyer 18.

Myngs, British destroyer 110.

N Nairana, British seaplane carrier 156.

Nalder, Captain H. F. 164, 166, 175.

Narkunda, British liner 47, 121, 122.

Nelson, British battleship 202, 203, 228.

Nevada, U.S. battleship 169, 202, 203.

New Jersey, U.S. battleship 244.

New York, U.S. battleship and class 16, 229.

Normandy landings and operations (“Neptune”) 16771, 202-05, 203, 239, 240, 244.

North Africa: landings (“Torch”) 190, 194, 195; operations off Egypt and Libya 1940-1 162-3.

O Olympic, White Star liner 11, 18, 20.

Orion: British cruiser 196-7; Reserve Fleet base, Devonport 211.

Ostende: bombardments by 15˝ monitors 64, 66, 87, 151, 152, 242; early bombardments 25, 53-6, 132; plans to block 64, 65, 66, 134; plans to land at 58, 62, 66, 84, 132; M.21 sunk off 134-5; river monitors at 94; WW2 165.

P Palestine, monitor operations off 31, 36, 131, 242.

Palmer’s Shipbuilding & Iron Co., Jarrow and Hebburn 48, 77, 80-1, 82, 91, 108, 218.

Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Co., Wallsend 178, 188.

Pembroke (dockyard) 26, 78, 113, 122, 141.

Pendant numbers 173, 249.

Philadelphia, U.S. cruiser 196.

Pirow, O. 159, 161.

Pirrie, Lord 17, 47, 122.

Plymouth: see Devonport.

Pollock & Co, James: 116, 116.

Port Said 36, 69, 126, 132, 202, 203, 208.

Portsmouth: conversion of monitors to 18˝ 64, 66, 68, 73, 74, 227, 228; guns and mountings at 76, 118, 138, 225; gun trials off 157-8; minelayers at 140-1; monitors at (WW1) 42, 43, 77, 84, 85, 110, 113, 134, 135; monitors at (WW2 and after) 91, 142-3, 144-5, 161, 164, 171, 176, 179, 204, 205, 207, 208; ships repaired and refitted at 31, 32, 59, 63, 64, 72, 76, 85, 87, 90, 133, 152, 153, 154, 171; Soult and 15˝ turret 91, 178, 179, 182, 182; Turret Drill Ships at 90, 157, 158.

Power, Vice-Admiral A.J.: 30, 208.

Prince Eugene: armament 44, 49, 72, 74, 77, 227, 234; construction 47, 47, 77; conversion for 18˝ 64, 6 5, 68, 73, 74; disposal 43, 77; Dover operations 56-9, 58, 62, 63-6, 87; naming 49; performance and trials 51, 77.

Prince Rupert: armament 44, 49, 72, 74, 77, 234; construction 44, 47-9, 50, 51, 52, 77; deployment 25,

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52; displacement 51, 77; disposal 76, 77; Dover operations 54-5, 57, 58, 62, 6 3; guardship at Tees 61, 63; machinery 47, 49, 48, 9 0; modifications 72, 73; naming 48, 49; performance and trials 51, 74, 77.

Projectiles: characteristics 65, 220, 220, 222, 224, 225, 228, 230; loading and handling 16, 115, 217, 224, 226, 227, 229; outfits 43, 74, 77, 91, 105, 113, 145, 158, 159, 173, 175, 213, 220, 226; types used 65, 98, 157, 115, 177, 205, 219, 220, 221, 224, 227, 229, 234, 235, 243; see also Ammunition expenditure.

Propellant: cordite 16, 115, 224; cordite MD 115, 217, 222, 224, 225, 229, 230, 231, 234, 235; cordite SC 221, 222; nitro-cellulose 16, 22, 229, 230.

Propellers 14, 16, 22, 23, 24, 26, 32, 40, 83, 84, 92, 149, 243, 248.

Protection: against gunfire 14, 15, 106, 177; against mines and torpedoes 14, 44, 110, 177, 184; bulge type 13, 14, 21, 33, 42, 43, 44, 61, 107, 108, 113, 147, 152, 177, 199, 243; deck 14, 92, 94, 106, 148, 173, 186; ironcladding 10; monitor schemes 14, 148, 177; ship details 14, 43, 77, 82, 9 1, 93, 105, 1 0 8, 113, 145, 147, 175, 177, 213; types of armour 248.

Q Queen Elizabeth, British battleship and class 25, 118, 146, 218.

R Radar 163, 165, 167, 170, 172, 173, 174, 184, 187, 189, 193, 195, 199, 203, 210, 239.

Raglan, ex-Robert E. Lee, exM.3: Aegean operations 33, 34, 35-6, 37, 70, 132; armament 16, 16, 17, 41, 42, 43, 229, 234, 248; construction 2-3, 17-21, 43, 47; Dardanelles operations 28-31, 35, 128; deployment 24-5; design 1216; loss 35, 36-40, 39, 69;

machinery 18, 24, 43, 47, 48; modifications 41, 42; naming 21, 23, 24; Palestine operations 36, 132; performance 40; trials and speed 13, 24, 43.

Ramillies, British battleship 82, 90, 168, 202, 203, 204, 218, 221.

Ramsay, Vice-Admiral B. H. 132, 164, 202, 208, 245.

Rangefinders 17, 172, 178, 184, 185, 189, 239.

Range Tables 224, 229, 231, 237, 238.

Redoubtable, ex-Revenge, British pre-dreadnought 54, 55, 57, 138.

Reliance, British repair ship 29, 41, 125, 129, 130.

Renown, British battlecruiser 48, 78, 82, 90, 139, 218, 221.

Repulse, British battlecruiser 8, 48, 78, 82, 90, 139, 218, 221.

Requin, French coast defence ship 131, 132.

Resolution, British battleship 81, 82, 159, 121.

Revenge: British predreadnought, see Redoubtable; British battleship 163, 221, 248.

Riviera, British seaplane carrier 54, 55, 57.

Robert E. Lee, see Raglan Roberts (1915), ex-Stonewall Jackson, ex-M.4: armament 16, 17, 17, 41, 42, 229, 234, 235; construction 1722, 23, 43; Dardanelles operations 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 35, 123, 128, 129; deployment 24-6, 2 6; design 12, 13, 14, 15, 1 6; displacement 24, 43, 185; disposal 43; home waters 31, 32, 63, 66; modifications 42, 42; naming 21, 24; performance 40-1; trials and speed 13, 24, 42.

Roberts (1941): armament 177, 178, 179, 185, 185, 210, 213, 219, 221, 222, 232, 239; construction 9, 178-85, 179-85, 186, 187; C.O.s 185, 195; cost 185, 241; damage 194, 205; displacement 177, 184, 185, 210, 213; for Indian Ocean 208, 209; general contribution 76, 184, 243; home waters 166, 171, 195, 202-05, 203, 207-08, 240; machinery 177, 178, 213; modifications 195, 210;

naming 178; North Africa 166, 189, 190, 194, 194, 195; performance 209-10; post-war 211, 213; protection 177, 177, 178, 185, 213; Salerno 198, 199, 200, 201; scrapping 213, 212-16; Sicily 196-8; Soult’s turret transfer 91, 176, 179, 182, 182, 183; trials 186, 209, 213.

Rockets, see Unrotated projectiles Rodney, British battleship 167, 202, 204, 205, 2 0 3, 228.

Romania, possible sale of monitors to 77, 113.

Rommel, General E. 165, 190.

Royal Air Force 171, 196, 205, 240.

Royal Naval Air Service 29, 57, 65, 98, 239.

Royal Oak, British battleship 146, 147, 221.

Royal Sovereign, British battleship and class: 1892 223; 1915 89, 218, 221.

Rufiji, River 98, 99, 103.

Russell, British predreadnought 33, 131.

Russia: see Baltic, Black Sea, White Sea.

S Salamis, Greek battlecruiser (Vassilefs Giorgios) 11, 16, 16, 229, 248.

Salerno landings and operations (“Avalanche”) 167, 198201, 199, 201.

Salonika: front 30, 35, 39, 70, 126, 127, 242; port 36, 40, 69, 70, 123, 117, 131.

Scapa Flow 157, 164, 165, 166, 174, 202.

Schwab, C. M. 11, 12, 21, 22, 29, 44.

Scott, Admiral Sir P. 45, 243.

Scotts, shipbuilders and engineers, Greenock 47, 48, 77.

Searchlights 74, 89, 96, 102, 157, 172, 210, 237.

Severn, ex-Solimões: armament 92, 95, 96, 98, 105, 234, 235; Black Sea 104; Brazilian origin 92; design and construction 92, 92, 93, 105; disposal 43, 104, 105, 105; East African operations 98, 99, 100-01, 103, 1 0 3; home waters 948; naming 94; performance and speed 94, 104, 105.

Sheerness: ships at WW1 54, 68, 83, 85, 90, 94, 98,