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HMS Orion (1910)
Encyclopedia
HMS Orion was a dreadnought
battleship
of the Royal Navy
. Launched in 1910, she was the lead ship of her class
; she was the first so-called "super-dreadnought", being the first British dreadnought to mount guns of calibre greater than twelve inches, and the first British dreadnought to have superfiring turrets installed.
Government was pledged by their election manifesto to reduce the scale of spending on armaments. Information from Naval Attachés in Germany produced information suggesting that Germany was building dreadnoughts at a rate which, if not countered, would lead to the German battle fleet approaching the size of the British. At that time there was in existence a policy known as the "two power standard", which called for the British battle-fleet to be at all times at least ten percent stronger than the two next strongest naval powers. The German plans as reported to the Government were seen as clearly breaching this policy. The First Lord of the Admiralty, Reginald McKenna
, was therefore able to force his plans for the Orion class dreadnoughts through Parliament; with the support of the Prime Minister, H.H. Asquith, and over the objections of David Lloyd-George and Winston Churchill
.
and Michigan
, the first anywhere to mount all of her main armament on the centre-line; the decision on disposition of the turrets preceded the decision on the calibre to be employed. It was known that Germany was producing large numbers of naval gun barrels of eleven and twelve inches in calibre; as the British 12-inch 50-calibre gun had reached the end of its development life it was felt necessary to increase the size of the guns of the main armament to 13.5 inches. This in turn led to a significant increase in the size of the ship, as compared to previous dreadnoughts, and an increase in displacement of some 2,500 tons.
The foremast was positioned immediately aft of the fore-funnel, as had been the case in Dreadnought
but which had not been the case in the Bellerophon class
or the St. Vincent
class, although it had been aft of the fore-funnel in the Colossus
class. This led, as in earlier ships with the same disposition, to the control top being rendered virtually uninhabitable by smoke and hot funnel exhaust when steaming into wind. The only reason that can be found for this arrangement is to provide a convenient place to affix the booms to handle the ship's boats.
The height of the topmast was reduced and torpedo nets removed in 1915; the fire control platforms on the foremast were extended after Jutland
, and an aeroplane runway was added to the roof of "B" turret.
of the retention of sighting hoods in turret roofs, firing over "A" turret caused intolerable blast effects in "A" turret, limiting "B" therefore to firing on broadside arcs only. "Q" turret, positioned between the after funnel and the after superstructure and one deck level lower than "A", had an arc of fire of 120 degrees on either beam, with no possibility of fire either ahead or astern. "X" turret was at the same deck level as "A" turret; positioned on the quarterdeck and superfiring over "Y" turret, it possessed a theoretical arc of fire of 300 degrees over the stern, but in practice suffered from the same limitation as did "B" turret in terms of firing over the lower turret. "Y" turret was placed on the quarterdeck at the same height as "Q" turret, and enjoyed an uninterrupted arc of fire over the stern of 300 degrees. Maximum ammunition stowage was one hundred rounds per gun.
Sixteen four-inch (102 mm) 50-calibre Mark VII breech-loading guns were shipped as secondary armament. They were disposed symmetrically, eight being in the forward superstructure with fields of fire forward and on the beam, and eight being in the after superstructure and firing on the beam and aft. The number of guns was reduced to thirteen during the war, and a 4-inch anti-aircraft gun was installed on the quarterdeck.
Four 3-pounder saluting guns were carried high in the superstructure.
There were three 21-inch (533 mm) underwater torpedo tubes; one on each beam and one discharging astern. A total of twenty torpedoes was carried.
The main waterline belt was twelve inches thick, and extended from a point level with the centre of "A" barbette to a point level with the centre of "Y" barbette. The lower edge was three feet four inches below the waterline at normal displacement. Above this belt was an upper belt of eight inches in thickness, which ran for the same length. The belt extended further upwards than in previous dreadnoughts; the upper edge was at the level of the middle deck, giving a total belt height of twenty feet six inches. Forward of "A" barbette the belt was extended by a short length of armour of six inches in thickness tapering to four; and the after end of the belt continued as a short strake two and a half inches thick. The extreme ends of the ships sides were not armoured.
A torpedo defence screen ran from "A" barbette to "Y" barbette, and extended from the lower deck to the bottom of the ship. It was of varying thickness, from one to one and three quarter inches, and was intended to prevent mine or torpedo detonation from causing magazine explosion.
An armoured bulkhead ten inches thick ran from the after end of the armour belt around "Y" barbette, and there was a further bulkhead mid-way between this barbette and the stern composed of two and a half inch armour. Both bulkheads extended from lower deck to upper deck level. The forward bulkhead, which ran from the forward end of the main belt on either beam to the forward aspect of "A" barbette, was eight inches thick between the forecastle deck and maindeck levels, and six inches thick from maindeck to lower deck. A further bulkhead of four inches thickness was situated in the bow, one third of the distance from the stem to the forward barbette.
There were four armoured decks. The upper and main decks were of one and a half inch armour, the middle deck was one inch thick, and the lower deck was two and a half inches tapering to one inch forward, and four inches tapering to three aft. The greater thickness was over the magazines and machinery.
The faces of the main armament turrets were eleven inches thick, the turret crowns being four inches tapering to three. The barbettes were ten inches thick at their maximum, tapering to seven, five or three inches in areas where adjacent armoured structures or armoured decks afforded some protection.
The conning tower was protected by eleven inches of armour, tapering to three in less vulnerable areas.
turbines drove four screws, and were provided with steam by eighteen Babcock and Wilcox
boilers. The designed shaft horse power (SHP) was 27,000 and the design maximum speed was 21 knots. Normal fuel load was 900 tons, but up to 3,300 tons could be stowed, together with 800 tons of fuel oil. Radius of action was 6730 nautical miles (12,464 km) at ten knots, or 4110 nautical miles (7,611.7 km) at nineteen knots. In her trials on completion she achieved 29,108 SHP, which produced a measured speed of 21.02 knots; her best measured speed was 22.3 knots.
Dockyard on 29 November 1909. She was launched on 20 August 1910, ran her sea trials starting in September 1911 and was commissioned on 2 January 1912. She joined the second division of the Home Fleet as second flag-ship, in which rôle she relieved the pre-dreadnought battleship Hibernia
. On 7 January 1912 she was damaged when Revenge
broke loose from her moorings and collided with Orion, causing minor damage to the port side.
At Jutland
on 31 May 1916 she carried the flag of Rear-Admiral Arthur Leveson
, the second in command of the 2nd Battle Squadron of the Grand Fleet. She took part in the general battleship action, claiming no hits and receiving none. In the later part of the action she claimed four hits on the German battlecruiser
Lützow
. As this battlecruiser did not survive the action confirmation was not possible.
She remained with the Grand Fleet, seeing, in common with the rest of the battle-fleet, no more action during the remainder of the war. On 3 October 1919 she became flagship of the Reserve Fleet
at Portsmouth
, and in June 1921 she became a seagoing gunnery training ship at Portland
.
On 12 April 1922 she was paid off onto the disposal list under the terms of the Washington Treaty
. On 19 December she was sold to shipbreakers Cox and Danks, and from February 1923 she was broken up at Upnor
.
Dreadnought
The dreadnought was the predominant type of 20th-century battleship. The first of the kind, the Royal Navy's had such an impact when launched in 1906 that similar battleships built after her were referred to as "dreadnoughts", and earlier battleships became known as pre-dreadnoughts...
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...
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...
. Launched in 1910, she was the lead ship of her class
Orion class battleship
The Orion class battleships were four super-dreadnoughts — the first ships of that type — of the Royal Navy. The lead ship, , was launched in 1910. They were the first Royal Navy dreadnoughts to have all their main guns in the centreline, although the U.S. South Carolina class had this advanced...
; she was the first so-called "super-dreadnought", being the first British dreadnought to mount guns of calibre greater than twelve inches, and the first British dreadnought to have superfiring turrets installed.
Origin
Orion and her sisters were laid down at a time when the British LiberalLiberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
Government was pledged by their election manifesto to reduce the scale of spending on armaments. Information from Naval Attachés in Germany produced information suggesting that Germany was building dreadnoughts at a rate which, if not countered, would lead to the German battle fleet approaching the size of the British. At that time there was in existence a policy known as the "two power standard", which called for the British battle-fleet to be at all times at least ten percent stronger than the two next strongest naval powers. The German plans as reported to the Government were seen as clearly breaching this policy. The First Lord of the Admiralty, Reginald McKenna
Reginald McKenna
Reginald McKenna was a British banker and Liberal politician. He notably served as Home Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer during the premiership of H. H. Asquith.-Background and education:...
, was therefore able to force his plans for the Orion class dreadnoughts through Parliament; with the support of the Prime Minister, H.H. Asquith, and over the objections of David Lloyd-George and 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...
.
Design and Appearance
Orion was the first British dreadnought, and with the exceptions of the American South CarolinaUSS South Carolina
Five ships of the United States Navy have been named USS South Carolina in honor of the eighth state.*The first was a schooner built for the Revenue Cutter Service.*The second was a coastal patrol vessel....
and Michigan
USS Michigan
Three ships of the United States Navy have been named USS Michigan in honor of the 26th state. was the U.S. Navy's first iron-hulled warship. Launched in 1843, she operated on the Great Lakes for her entire career, was later renamed Wolverine and was decommissioned in 1912. was a that saw action...
, the first anywhere to mount all of her main armament on the centre-line; the decision on disposition of the turrets preceded the decision on the calibre to be employed. It was known that Germany was producing large numbers of naval gun barrels of eleven and twelve inches in calibre; as the British 12-inch 50-calibre gun had reached the end of its development life it was felt necessary to increase the size of the guns of the main armament to 13.5 inches. This in turn led to a significant increase in the size of the ship, as compared to previous dreadnoughts, and an increase in displacement of some 2,500 tons.
The foremast was positioned immediately aft of the fore-funnel, as had been the case in Dreadnought
Dreadnought
The dreadnought was the predominant type of 20th-century battleship. The first of the kind, the Royal Navy's had such an impact when launched in 1906 that similar battleships built after her were referred to as "dreadnoughts", and earlier battleships became known as pre-dreadnoughts...
but which had not been the case in the Bellerophon class
Bellerophon class battleship
The Bellerophon class was a class of three dreadnought battleships that were built in the United Kingdom prior to World War I, and served in the Royal Navy during the war. The Bellerophons were near carbon copies of the previous , with the exception of a second tripod mast...
or the St. Vincent
St. Vincent class battleship
The St. Vincent class battleships consisted of three ships of the Royal Navy laid down in 1908, and completed between May 1909 and April 1910. They were St. Vincent, Collingwood, and Vanguard. Vanguard was destroyed in an ammunition explosion, probably due to bagged cordite.Visually, they were very...
class, although it had been aft of the fore-funnel in the Colossus
Colossus class battleship (1910)
The Colossus class of two battleships - Colossus and Hercules of the British Royal Navy were among the first battleships following the original of 1906. Originally intended to be part of the Neptune class, the two ships had thicker armour and other differences from , and so Neptune is...
class. This led, as in earlier ships with the same disposition, to the control top being rendered virtually uninhabitable by smoke and hot funnel exhaust when steaming into wind. The only reason that can be found for this arrangement is to provide a convenient place to affix the booms to handle the ship's boats.
The height of the topmast was reduced and torpedo nets removed in 1915; the fire control platforms on the foremast were extended after Jutland
Battle of Jutland
The Battle of Jutland was a naval battle between the British Royal Navy's Grand Fleet and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet during the First World War. The battle was fought on 31 May and 1 June 1916 in the North Sea near Jutland, Denmark. It was the largest naval battle and the only...
, and an aeroplane runway was added to the roof of "B" turret.
Armament
The main armament was ten 13.5 inch (343 mm) 45-calibre Mark V guns, disposed in five double turrets all positioned on the centre-line of the ship. "A" turret was positioned on the forecastle deck, and had an uninterrupted arc of fire over the deck of some 300 degrees. "B" turret was placed immediately aft of "A", one deck higher. In theory the arc of fire of "B" turret was also 300 degrees; in practice, because of the insistence by the AdmiraltyAdmiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
of the retention of sighting hoods in turret roofs, firing over "A" turret caused intolerable blast effects in "A" turret, limiting "B" therefore to firing on broadside arcs only. "Q" turret, positioned between the after funnel and the after superstructure and one deck level lower than "A", had an arc of fire of 120 degrees on either beam, with no possibility of fire either ahead or astern. "X" turret was at the same deck level as "A" turret; positioned on the quarterdeck and superfiring over "Y" turret, it possessed a theoretical arc of fire of 300 degrees over the stern, but in practice suffered from the same limitation as did "B" turret in terms of firing over the lower turret. "Y" turret was placed on the quarterdeck at the same height as "Q" turret, and enjoyed an uninterrupted arc of fire over the stern of 300 degrees. Maximum ammunition stowage was one hundred rounds per gun.
Sixteen four-inch (102 mm) 50-calibre Mark VII breech-loading guns were shipped as secondary armament. They were disposed symmetrically, eight being in the forward superstructure with fields of fire forward and on the beam, and eight being in the after superstructure and firing on the beam and aft. The number of guns was reduced to thirteen during the war, and a 4-inch anti-aircraft gun was installed on the quarterdeck.
Four 3-pounder saluting guns were carried high in the superstructure.
There were three 21-inch (533 mm) underwater torpedo tubes; one on each beam and one discharging astern. A total of twenty torpedoes was carried.
Armour
At the time of the design of Orion, the largest calibre of gun carried by battleships of other nations was twelve inches. It was believed, however, that as part of the continuing trend to increasing size in this class of warship, calibres would inevitably rise. Orion and her sisters therefore received heavier and more extensive armour than had been carried by earlier British dreadnoughts.The main waterline belt was twelve inches thick, and extended from a point level with the centre of "A" barbette to a point level with the centre of "Y" barbette. The lower edge was three feet four inches below the waterline at normal displacement. Above this belt was an upper belt of eight inches in thickness, which ran for the same length. The belt extended further upwards than in previous dreadnoughts; the upper edge was at the level of the middle deck, giving a total belt height of twenty feet six inches. Forward of "A" barbette the belt was extended by a short length of armour of six inches in thickness tapering to four; and the after end of the belt continued as a short strake two and a half inches thick. The extreme ends of the ships sides were not armoured.
A torpedo defence screen ran from "A" barbette to "Y" barbette, and extended from the lower deck to the bottom of the ship. It was of varying thickness, from one to one and three quarter inches, and was intended to prevent mine or torpedo detonation from causing magazine explosion.
An armoured bulkhead ten inches thick ran from the after end of the armour belt around "Y" barbette, and there was a further bulkhead mid-way between this barbette and the stern composed of two and a half inch armour. Both bulkheads extended from lower deck to upper deck level. The forward bulkhead, which ran from the forward end of the main belt on either beam to the forward aspect of "A" barbette, was eight inches thick between the forecastle deck and maindeck levels, and six inches thick from maindeck to lower deck. A further bulkhead of four inches thickness was situated in the bow, one third of the distance from the stem to the forward barbette.
There were four armoured decks. The upper and main decks were of one and a half inch armour, the middle deck was one inch thick, and the lower deck was two and a half inches tapering to one inch forward, and four inches tapering to three aft. The greater thickness was over the magazines and machinery.
The faces of the main armament turrets were eleven inches thick, the turret crowns being four inches tapering to three. The barbettes were ten inches thick at their maximum, tapering to seven, five or three inches in areas where adjacent armoured structures or armoured decks afforded some protection.
The conning tower was protected by eleven inches of armour, tapering to three in less vulnerable areas.
Machinery
Four ParsonsParsons Marine Steam Turbine Company
Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company was a British engineering company based in Wallsend, North England, on the River Tyne.-History:The company was founded by Charles Algernon Parsons in 1897 with £500,000 of capital, and specialised in building the steam turbine engines that he had invented for...
turbines drove four screws, and were provided with steam by eighteen Babcock and Wilcox
Babcock and Wilcox
The Babcock & Wilcox Company is a U.S.-based company that provides design, engineering, manufacturing, construction and facilities management services to nuclear, renewable, fossil power, industrial and government customers worldwide. B&W's boilers supply more than 300,000 megawatts of installed...
boilers. The designed shaft horse power (SHP) was 27,000 and the design maximum speed was 21 knots. Normal fuel load was 900 tons, but up to 3,300 tons could be stowed, together with 800 tons of fuel oil. Radius of action was 6730 nautical miles (12,464 km) at ten knots, or 4110 nautical miles (7,611.7 km) at nineteen knots. In her trials on completion she achieved 29,108 SHP, which produced a measured speed of 21.02 knots; her best measured speed was 22.3 knots.
Career
Orion was laid down in PortsmouthPortsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
Dockyard on 29 November 1909. She was launched on 20 August 1910, ran her sea trials starting in September 1911 and was commissioned on 2 January 1912. She joined the second division of the Home Fleet as second flag-ship, in which rôle she relieved the pre-dreadnought battleship Hibernia
HMS Hibernia (1905)
HMS Hibernia was a King Edward VII-class predreadnought battleship of Britain's Royal Navy. Like all ships of the class she was named after an important part of the British Empire, namely Ireland....
. On 7 January 1912 she was damaged when Revenge
HMS Revenge (1892)
HMS Revenge was a pre-dreadnought battleship of the Royal Sovereign class of the British Royal Navy. She was renamed HMS Redoubtable in 1915. HMS Revenge notably served as the flagship of the Flying Squadron and bombarding the coast of Flanders during World War I before being refitted as an...
broke loose from her moorings and collided with Orion, causing minor damage to the port side.
At Jutland
Battle of Jutland
The Battle of Jutland was a naval battle between the British Royal Navy's Grand Fleet and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet during the First World War. The battle was fought on 31 May and 1 June 1916 in the North Sea near Jutland, Denmark. It was the largest naval battle and the only...
on 31 May 1916 she carried the flag of Rear-Admiral Arthur Leveson
Arthur Leveson
Admiral Sir Arthur Cavenagh Leveson GCB was a senior officer in the Royal Navy. He was the Rear Admiral Commanding His Majesty's Australian Fleet between 9 January 1917 and 3 September 1918 and later Commander in Chief, China Station between 10 September 1922 and 22 April 1925.-Biography:Born on...
, the second in command of the 2nd Battle Squadron of the Grand Fleet. She took part in the general battleship action, claiming no hits and receiving none. In the later part of the action she claimed four hits on the German battlecruiser
Battlecruiser
Battlecruisers were large capital ships built in the first half of the 20th century. They were developed in the first decade of the century as the successor to the armoured cruiser, but their evolution was more closely linked to that of the dreadnought battleship...
Lützow
SMS Lützow
SMS Lützow"SMS" stands for "Seiner Majestät Schiff", or "His Majesty's Ship" in German. was the second built by the German Kaiserliche Marine before World War I. Ordered as a replacement for the old protected cruiser , Lützow was launched on 29 November 1913, but not completed until 1916...
. As this battlecruiser did not survive the action confirmation was not possible.
She remained with the Grand Fleet, seeing, in common with the rest of the battle-fleet, no more action during the remainder of the war. On 3 October 1919 she became flagship of the Reserve Fleet
Reserve fleet
A reserve fleet is a collection of naval vessels of all types that are fully equipped for service but are not currently needed, and thus partially or fully decommissioned. A reserve fleet is informally said to be "in mothballs" or "mothballed"; an equivalent expression in unofficial modern U.S....
at Portsmouth
Portsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
, and in June 1921 she became a seagoing gunnery training ship at Portland
Portland Harbour
Portland Harbour is located beside the Isle of Portland, off Dorset, on the south coast of England. It is one of the largest man-made harbours in the world. Grid reference: .-History:...
.
On 12 April 1922 she was paid off onto the disposal list under the terms of the Washington Treaty
Washington Treaty
The Treaty of Washington may refer to:* Treaty of Washington , between the U.S. and the Creek National Council * Treaty of Washington , two Indian nation treaties, between the U.S. and the Sac and Meskwaki , and the Iowa * Treaty of Washington , between the U.S...
. On 19 December she was sold to shipbreakers Cox and Danks, and from February 1923 she was broken up at Upnor
Upnor
Lower Upnor and Upper Upnor are two small villages in Medway, Kent, England. They are in the parish of Frindsbury Extra on the western bank of the River Medway...
.