HMS General Wolfe
Encyclopedia
HMS General Wolfe, also known as Wolfe, was a Lord Clive class
Lord Clive class monitor
The Lord Clive class, sometimes referred to as the General Wolfe class, of monitors were ships designed for shore bombardment and were constructed for the Royal Navy during the First World War.-Design:...
monitor
Monitor (warship)
A monitor was a class of relatively small warship which was neither fast nor strongly armoured but carried disproportionately large guns. They were used by some navies from the 1860s until the end of World War II, and saw their final use by the United States Navy during the Vietnam War.The monitors...
which was built in 1915 for shore-bombardment duties in the First World War. Her class of eight ships was armed by four obsolete Majestic class
Majestic class battleship
The Majestic class was a class of pre-dreadnought battleships, built under the Spencer Programme of 8 December 1893, that sought to counter the growing naval strength of France and the Russian Empire...
pre-dreadnought
Pre-dreadnought
Pre-dreadnought battleship is the general term for all of the types of sea-going battleships built between the mid-1890s and 1905. Pre-dreadnoughts replaced the ironclad warships of the 1870s and 1880s...
s which had their 12-inch guns and mounts removed, modified and installed in the newly-built monitors. Wolfe spent her entire war service with the Dover Patrol
Dover Patrol
The Dover Patrol was a Royal Navy command of the First World War, notable for its involvement in the Zeebrugge Raid on 22 April 1918. The Dover Patrol formed a discrete unit of the Royal Navy based at Dover and Dunkirk for the duration of the First World War...
, bombarding the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
-occupied Belgian
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
coastline, which had been heavily fortified. In the spring of 1918 she was fitted with an 18 inches (457 mm) gun, with which she made the longest-range firing in the history of the Royal Navy - 36000 yards (20 mi) - on a target at Snaeskerke, Belgium. After the war, she was laid up before being stripped and put up for sale in 1920. She was finally scrapped in 1923.
Background and construction
The outbreak of the First World War and the rapid fall of BelgiumBelgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
into German
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
hands meant that for the first time in decades the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
between the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
would not be wholly surrounded by friendly or neutral powers. In order to harass the Germans occupying the Belgian coast, and to prevent the use of ports by Imperial German Navy warships, vessels were needed which could traverse the shallow coastal waters and bombard the enemy. At this time aircraft were still relatively primitive and therefore orders were placed for shallow-draught vessels with long-range guns, the Abercrombie class monitor
Abercrombie class monitor
The Abercrombie class of monitors served in the Royal Navy during the First World War.-History:The four ships in this class came about when the contracted supplier of the main armament for the Greek battleship being built in Germany was unable to supply due to the British blockade...
.
The speed with which the Abercrombie class
Abercrombie class monitor
The Abercrombie class of monitors served in the Royal Navy during the First World War.-History:The four ships in this class came about when the contracted supplier of the main armament for the Greek battleship being built in Germany was unable to supply due to the British blockade...
of monitor
Monitor (warship)
A monitor was a class of relatively small warship which was neither fast nor strongly armoured but carried disproportionately large guns. They were used by some navies from the 1860s until the end of World War II, and saw their final use by the United States Navy during the Vietnam War.The monitors...
had commenced construction, coupled with the prospect of large-scale shore bombardment presented by the entry of the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
into the First World War led to Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
, First Lord of the Admiralty and political head of the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
writing to First Sea Lord
First Sea Lord
The First Sea Lord is the professional head of the Royal Navy and the whole Naval Service; it was formerly known as First Naval Lord. He also holds the title of Chief of Naval Staff, and is known by the abbreviations 1SL/CNS...
Jacky Fisher 11 December 1914;
There were however no spare usable guns. Three 13.5-inch guns and mountings were free after the sinking of HMS Audacious
HMS Audacious (1912)
HMS Audacious was a King George V-class battleship of the Royal Navy. The vessel did not see any combat in the First World War, being sunk by a German naval mine off the northern coast of Donegal, Ireland in 1914.- Design :...
, but there were no turrets available. Although 15-inch guns and turrets would later be re-allocated to monitors, at this time it was not thought to be a feasible option while the Queen Elizabeth class
Queen Elizabeth class battleship
The Queen Elizabeth-class battleships were a class of five super-dreadnoughts of the Royal Navy. The lead ship was named after Elizabeth I of England...
and Revenge class battleships
Revenge class battleship
The Revenge class battleships were five battleships of the Royal Navy, ordered as World War I loomed on the horizon, and launched in 1914–1916...
were being completed. It was then suggested that the 12 inches (305 mm) guns and barbettes of the obsolete pre-dreadnought
Pre-dreadnought
Pre-dreadnought battleship is the general term for all of the types of sea-going battleships built between the mid-1890s and 1905. Pre-dreadnoughts replaced the ironclad warships of the 1870s and 1880s...
Majestic class battleship
Majestic class battleship
The Majestic class was a class of pre-dreadnought battleships, built under the Spencer Programme of 8 December 1893, that sought to counter the growing naval strength of France and the Russian Empire...
be removed and placed in the monitors while the older ships were utilised as transports and hulks. Admiral Percy Scott
Percy Scott
Admiral Sir Percy Moreton Scott, 1st Baronet GCB KCVO was a British Royal Navy officer and a pioneer in modern naval gunnery.-Early years:...
, the foremost gunnery expert in the navy was consulted, who recommended that if the elevation of the guns was increased from their then limit of 13½.5° to 30° then a comfortable range of 21000 yards (19 km) could be reached.
Five of the monitors were allocated to the firm of Harland and Wolff
Harland and Wolff
Harland and Wolff Heavy Industries is a Northern Irish heavy industrial company, specialising in shipbuilding and offshore construction, located in Belfast, Northern Ireland....
, to be constructed at their Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
and Govan
Govan
Govan is a district and former burgh now part of southwest City of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the south bank of the River Clyde, opposite the mouth of the River Kelvin and the district of Partick....
yards. Another, which became HMS Prince Rupert
HMS Prince Rupert
HMS Prince Rupert was a First World War Royal Navy Lord Clive-class monitor named for Prince Rupert of the Rhine, an important Royalist cavalry commander of the English Civil War. Although she is the only ship of the Royal Navy to have ever had this precise name, other ships have been named for...
was built at William Hamilton & Company of Port Glasgow
Port Glasgow
Port Glasgow is the second largest town in the Inverclyde council area of Scotland. The population according to the 1991 census for Port Glasgow was 19426 persons and in the 2001 census was 16617 persons...
and another at Scotts' shipyard at Greenock
Greenock
Greenock is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council area in United Kingdom, and a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland...
. This left the monitor provisionally named M.9. Initially the order for her went to Fairfield's on 23 December 1914. Due to a mass re-allocation of resources caused by the halting of capital ship construction, the construction of the former battleship
Battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
, now the battle cruiser HMS Renown
HMS Renown (1916)
HMS Renown was the lead ship of her class of battlecruisers of the Royal Navy built during the First World War. She was originally laid down as an improved version of the s. Her construction was suspended on the outbreak of war on the grounds she would not be ready in a timely manner...
building at Fairfield was speeded up, while capacity at Palmer's in the North of England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
had been increased by the transfer of HMS Repulse
HMS Repulse (1916)
HMS Repulse was a Renown-class battlecruiser of the Royal Navy built during the First World War. She was originally laid down as an improved version of the s. Her construction was suspended on the outbreak of war on the grounds she would not be ready in a timely manner...
to Clydebank
Clydebank
Clydebank is a town in West Dunbartonshire, in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, Clydebank borders Dumbarton, the town with which it was combined to form West Dunbartonshire, as well as the town of Milngavie in East Dunbartonshire, and the Yoker and...
. The order for M.9 was therefore given to Palmer's Hebburn-on-Tyne yard on 6 January 1916 who also received the order for its two 4-cylinder triple-expansion engines.
Before M.9 was laid down at Hebburn, it was decided from which ship she would receive her main-armament. On 1 January 1915 it was decided that HMS Victorious
HMS Victorious (1895)
HMS Victorious was one of nine Majestic-class predreadnought battleships of the British Royal Navy.-Technical characteristics:HMS Victorious was laid down at Chatham Dockyard on 28 May 1894 and launched on 19 October 1895...
would surrender one of her two 12-inch turrets, which was converted in situ
In situ
In situ is a Latin phrase which translated literally as 'In position'. It is used in many different contexts.-Aerospace:In the aerospace industry, equipment on board aircraft must be tested in situ, or in place, to confirm everything functions properly as a system. Individually, each piece may...
by the Elswick Ordnance Company on Tyneside
Tyneside
Tyneside is a conurbation in North East England, defined by the Office of National Statistics, which is home to over 80% of the population of Tyne and Wear. It includes the city of Newcastle upon Tyne and the Metropolitan Boroughs of Gateshead, North Tyneside and South Tyneside — all settlements on...
and then removed by crane - waiting dockside at Elswick
Elswick, Tyne and Wear
Elswick is a ward of the city of Newcastle upon Tyne, England, in the western part of the city, bordering the river Tyne. One of the earliest references to the coal mining industry of the north east occurs in 1330, when it was recorded that the Prior of Tynemouth let a colliery, called Heygrove, at...
until the monitor was launched and ready to have it fitted. The hull form was similar to the Abercrombie class, except that due to the lighter main armament the hull could be made slighter narrower and shorter, which meant that even with 15 feet (5 m) bulges she would be able to berth in most docks - a severe handicap for most monitors.
M.9, so named as it was the ninth monitor laid down for the Royal Navy, was originally intended to be named simply Wolfe after the legendary victor of the Battle of the Plains of Abraham
Battle of the Plains of Abraham
The Battle of the Plains of Abraham, also known as the Battle of Quebec, was a pivotal battle in the Seven Years' War...
, James Wolfe
James Wolfe
Major General James P. Wolfe was a British Army officer, known for his training reforms but remembered chiefly for his victory over the French in Canada...
. On 15 February 1915 she was renamed Sir James Wolfe before receiving the name she would be launched under, General Wolfe, on 8 March. In common with all her sister-ships, which were named for famous British soldiers, the title was most often dropped leaving the name only, hence "Wolfe".
Early career
Wolfe was launched at Hebburn on 9 September 1915, and commissioned for service on 9 November under Commander Neston William Diggle, who had been appointed to her on 27 October. She was the last of her class to complete, and arrived at DoverDover
Dover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...
for service with The Dover Patrol on 12 November. Her sister-ships had already performed a number of shore bombardments, and Wolfe had to wait until 25 January 1916, when Marshal Foch
Ferdinand Foch
Ferdinand Foch , GCB, OM, DSO was a French soldier, war hero, military theorist, and writer credited with possessing "the most original and subtle mind in the French army" in the early 20th century. He served as general in the French army during World War I and was made Marshal of France in its...
of the French Army
French Army
The French Army, officially the Armée de Terre , is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces.As of 2010, the army employs 123,100 regulars, 18,350 part-time reservists and 7,700 Legionnaires. All soldiers are professionals, following the suspension of conscription, voted in...
requested a demonstration of the monitors. Wolfe went to sea under Captain John Alfred Moreton
John Alfred Moreton
Captain John Alfred Moreton, CMG, DSO, Royal Navy was an officer of the Royal Navy active in the First World War. Promoted to Captain on 1 January 1916 he commanded the monitors General Wolfe and Erebus. He took a leading rôle in the British Campaign in the Baltic 1918-19 as part of the Allied...
, and flew the flag of Vice-Admiral Reginald Bacon
Reginald Bacon
Admiral Sir Reginald Hugh Spencer Bacon, KCB, KCVO, DSO was an officer in the Royal Navy noted for his technical abilities who was described by the First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Jacky Fisher, as the man "acknowledged to be the cleverest officer in the Navy".-Family:Reginald was born at Wiggonholt in...
, the patrol's commander-in-chief who had served with Moreton in the submarine service. Anchored off the Belgian coast in the afternoon of the 26th, Wolfe and six other monitors bombarded the German artillery batteries at Westende
Westende
Westende is a town in Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium, and in the Flemish province of West-Flanders. It lies on the Belgian coast, also called Flemish coast. It used to be the far west of the island Testerep which lay along the Belgian coast....
, between Nieuport
Nieuport
Nieuport, later Nieuport-Delage, was a French aeroplane company that primarily built racing aircraft before World War I and fighter aircraft during World War I and between the wars.-Beginnings:...
and Ostend
Ostend
Ostend is a Belgian city and municipality located in the Flemish province of West Flanders. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerke , Stene and Zandvoorde, and the city of Ostend proper – the largest on the Belgian coast....
, each of the larger monitors firing about eleven rounds with spotting (observation of the fall of shot) provided by aircraft.
On 24 April 1916, Wolfe and her sister-ship Prince Eugene
HMS Prince Eugene
HMS Prince Eugene was a First World War Royal Navy Lord Clive-class monitor named after Prince Eugene of Savoy, an important commander of the War of the Spanish Succession who fought with the Duke of Marlborough. She is the only ship of the Royal Navy to be named after the general...
were detailed to cover the laying of a net barrage twelve miles off the Belgian coast, stretching twenty miles from Nieuport to Zeebrugge
Zeebrugge
Zeebrugge is a village on the coast of Belgium and a subdivision of Bruges, for which it is the modern port. Zeebrugge serves as both the international port of Bruges-Zeebrugge and a seafront resort with hotels, cafés, a marina and a beach.-Location:...
. Wolfe was spotted by the Tirpitz battery (four 11 inches (279 mm) guns) and straddled at a range of 32000 yards (18 mi). She steamed out of range, only to be ineffectively attacked by German aircraft, which Wolfe responded to with shrapnel shell. She then provided cover for British destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
s when the Germans attempted to press home a torpedo-boat attack. Afterwards, up until September when the weather turned wintry, Wolfe and the other 12-inch monitors patrolled the Belgian coast along with other monitors, destroyers and drifters to prevent the Germans breaking out or laying more mines, or sweeping up British minefields. By dint of their enormous beam and large guns, the 12-inch monitors were thought to be invulnerable to all warships but cruisers.
During the build-up to the reopening of the Somme offensive
Battle of the Somme (1916)
The Battle of the Somme , also known as the Somme Offensive, took place during the First World War between 1 July and 14 November 1916 in the Somme department of France, on both banks of the river of the same name...
on 15 September 1916, the Dover Patrol was asked to tie-down the enemy forces on the coast of Belgium. From 8 September to 15 September all the monitors of the patrol were engaged, and the 12-inch monitors, including Wolfe, fired two hundred of the three hundred heavy rounds fired in this period. They also acted as aiming marks for the larger 15-inch gunned monitors. For the next twelve months, weather permitting, the monitors continued the unglamorous task of patrolling. In July 1917, Wolfe with a number of her sister-ships was taken off patrolling in preparation for Operation Hush
Operation Hush
Operation Hush was a plan to make amphibious landings on the Belgian coast during World War I, supported by a breakout attack from Nieuwpoort and the Yser bridgehead. The operation would begin when the main offensive at Ypres advanced to Roulers-Thourout, linked by advances by the French and...
a planned landing on the Belgian coast by the 1st Division. She and General Craufurd would have been tasked with towing one of three 540 feet (164.6 m) pontoons each of which would have been capable of landing hundreds of men as well as tanks, guns and transport. The landing had been designed to coincide with Allied success at the 3rd Battle of Ypres which opened on 31 July 1917. The offensive faltered and it was deemed too dangerous to attempt an assault on the coast. The monitors, which had been training at South West Reach in the River Thames
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
without leave since July, were ordered to Portsmouth on 2 October. Wolfe arrived on 4 October and was dry-docked for maintenance.
18-inch monitor
BL 18 inch / 40 naval gun
The BL 18-inch Mk I naval gun was a breech-loading naval gun used by the Royal Navy during World War I. It was the largest and heaviest gun ever used by the British. Only the Second-World-War Japanese 40 cm/45 Type 94 had a larger calibre, , but the British shell was heavier...
gun along with Lord Clive and Prince Eugene. The mounting for the gun, the largest in service with any navy, was named the "15-inch B C.D.". "15-inch B" was the code name for the 18-inch gun itself, and C.D., for "Coast Defence" reflected the possible usage of the mount on land. The mounting was designed and produced by the Elswick Ordnance Company and due to labour troubles, although ordered in October 1917, it was not completed until May, and finally arrived in Portsmouth for installation on Wolfe on 20 June 1918. Wolfe had been taken in hand by Portsmouth Dockyard on 5 April for the structural modifications required to take the weight of the 18-inch gun and mounting on her quarterdeck. The total weight of the mounting was 384 tons, not including the weight of sixty shells and seventy-two full charges of cordite. The gun itself, which was fixed to starboard, had been intended for "A" turret of the large light cruiser HMS Furious and was fitted on 9 July. Wolfe was ready for gun trials on 7 August, which took place off the Isle of Wight and were successful. The mounting, with its large box-shaped shield so disfigured the stern of the ship that it earned Wolfe the nickname of "Elephant and Castle".
On 15 August the monitor returned to the Dover Patrol, the first of the 18-inch monitors to re-enter service. She had a new commanding officer, Commander S.B. Boyd-Richardson. The rest of August and most of September she saw no action.
In cooperation with Allied forces attacking on the coast of Belgium, the monitors were used on a protracted shore bombardment. In the night of 27/28 September, the seven monitors available to the Patrol bombarded targets near Ostend and Zeebruge, using their sub-calibre (smaller) guns, to trick the Germans into thinking that a night landing by Allied forces might be made there (following the earlier Ostend
First Ostend Raid
The First Ostend Raid was the first of two attacks by the Royal Navy on the German-held port of Ostend during the late spring of 1918 during the First World War...
and Zeebrugge Raid
Zeebrugge Raid
The Zeebrugge Raid, which took place on 23 April 1918, was an attempt by the British Royal Navy to neutralize the key Belgian port of Bruges-Zeebrugge...
s in April).
By dawn the monitors had arranged themselves in three divisions off the West Deep, where they could harass German lines of communication far inland. Wolfe was in Division III with the new-completed coast defence ship HMS Gorgon
HMS Gorgon (1914)
HMS Gorgon and her sister ship were two monitors originally built as coastal defence ships for the Royal Norwegian Navy, as HNoMS Nidaros and Bjørgvin respectively, by Armstrong Whitworth at Elswick. She was purchased from Norway at the beginning of the First World War, but was not completed until...
. Wolfe was anchored parallel to the coastline, and at 0732 opened fire on the railway bridge at Snaeskerke (four miles south of Ostend) at a range of 36000 yards (32,918 m) away. She therefore fired the heaviest shell from the largest gun at the longest range up to that time, and at the longest range any Royal Navy ship has fired in action. During the rest of the day Wolfe fired fifty-two 18-inch shells out of her supply of sixty at Snaeskerke, all landing close to the target.
For the next two weeks, Wolfe and the other monitors of the patrol kept up an intermittent bombardment of the Belgian coast, interrupted by bad weather or lack of air support for spotting the fall of shot. In Mid-October the Germans evacuated the Belgian coast and the monitors returned to Sheerness when the Armistice
Armistice
An armistice is a situation in a war where the warring parties agree to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, but may be just a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace...
was signed. Wolfe paid off on 19 November 1918.
Post-war
General Wolfe was placed on the sale list by Admiralty order on 7 April 1920. It had been announced on the 6th that she, in company with the other monitors lying at ImminghamImmingham
Immingham is a town in North East Lincolnshire, located on the south bank of the Humber Estuary...
being tended by care and maintenance parties, would travel singly to the Portsmouth Royal Dockyard
HMNB Portsmouth
Her Majesty's Naval Base Portsmouth is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the British Royal Navy...
to have guns and other useful fittings removed, after which they would then return to the Humber. In December of 1920 her 18-inch gun was removed, placed into storage and scrapped in 1933. She was sold to Messrs. T.W. Ward, Limited on 9 May 1921 and broken up at Hayle
Hayle
Hayle is a small town, civil parish and cargo port in west Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated at the mouth of the Hayle River and is approximately seven miles northeast of Penzance...
in 1923.
In command
- Commander N.W. Diggle
- Captain J.A. MoretonJohn Alfred MoretonCaptain John Alfred Moreton, CMG, DSO, Royal Navy was an officer of the Royal Navy active in the First World War. Promoted to Captain on 1 January 1916 he commanded the monitors General Wolfe and Erebus. He took a leading rôle in the British Campaign in the Baltic 1918-19 as part of the Allied...
- Commander Sydney Boyd Boyd-Richardson