HMS Queen Mary
Encyclopedia
HMS Queen Mary was a battlecruiser built by the British
Royal Navy
before World War I
, the sole member of her class
. She was similar to the s, though she differed in details from her half-sisters. She was the last battlecruiser completed before the war and participated in the Battle of Heligoland Bight shortly after the war began. As part of the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron, she attempted to intercept a German force that bombarded the North Sea coast of England in December 1914, but was unsuccessful. She was refitting during the Battle of Dogger Bank
in early 1915, but participated in the next major fleet action of the war, the Battle of Jutland
in mid-1916. She was hit twice by the German battlecruiser during the "Run to the South" and exploded shortly afterwards.
Her wreck was discovered in 1991 and rests partly upside-down, on sand, 60 metres (197 ft) down. Queen Mary is designated as a protected place under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986
.
, a beam
of 80 foot, and a draft of 32 in 4 in (9.86 m) at deep load. The ship displaced 26770 long tons (27,200 t) at load and 31650 long tons (32,158 t) at deep load, over 1000 long tons (1,016 t) more than the earlier ships. She had a metacentric height
of 5.92 feet (1.8 m) at deep load.
Following complaints from the Fleet, Queen Mary was the first battlecruiser to place her officers' quarters in their traditional location, the stern of the ship, rather than closer to their action stations amidships as was first done on . In addition she was the first to mount a sternwalk
.
The steam plant consisted of 42 Yarrow
large-tube boiler
s arranged in seven boiler rooms. Maximum bunkerage was 3600 long tons (3,657.8 t) of coal and 1170 long tons (1,188.8 t) of fuel oil
to be sprayed on the coal to increase its burn rate. Range was 5610 nautical miles (10,389.7 km) at a speed of 10 kn (12.2 mph; 19.6 km/h).
s in four twin hydraulically powered turrets, designated 'A', 'B', 'Q' and 'Y' from front to rear. The guns could be depressed to −3° and elevated to 20°, although the director controlling the turrets was limited to 15° 21' until prism
s were installed before the Battle of Jutland in May 1916 to allow full elevation. They fired 1400 pounds (635 kg) projectiles at a muzzle velocity
of 2582 ft/s (787 m/s); at 14.75°, this provided a maximum range of 20000 yd (18,288 m) with armour-piercing (AP)
shells. At 20° elevation, the range was extended to 23740 yd (21,708 m). The rate of fire of these guns was 1.5–2 rounds per minute. The ship carried a total of 880 rounds during wartime for 110 shells per gun.
Her secondary armament consisted of sixteen BL 4-inch Mk VII guns
, most of which were mounted in casemate
s. The guns could depress to −7° and had a maximum elevation of 15°. They fired 31 pounds (14.1 kg) projectiles at a muzzle velocity of 2864 ft/s (872.9 m/s); this gave a maximum range of 11600 yd (10,607 m). Their rate of fire was 6–8 rounds per minute. They were provided with 150 rounds per gun.
Queen Mary was built without any anti-aircraft
guns, but two guns were fitted in October 1914. One was a QF 6-pounder Hotchkiss
gun on a high-angle mounting. This had a maximum depression of 8° and a maximum elevation of 60°. It fired a 6 pounds (2.7 kg) shell at a muzzle velocity of 1765 ft/s (538 m/s) at a rate of fire of 20 rounds per minute. It had a maximum ceiling of 10000 ft (3,048 m), but an effective range of only 1200 yards (1,097.3 m). A QF 3-inch 20 cwt
gun on a high-angle mount was also fitted in October 1914. It had a maximum depression of 10° and a maximum elevation of 90°. It fired a 12.5 pounds (5.7 kg) shell at a muzzle velocity of 2500 ft/s (762 m/s) at a rate of 12–14 rounds per minute. It had a maximum effective ceiling of 23500 ft (7,163 m).
Two 21 inches (53.3 cm) submerged torpedo tube
s were fitted, one on each side. Fourteen Mk II*** torpedoes were carried which had a warhead of 515 pounds (234 kg) of TNT. Range was 4500 yards (4,115 m) at 45 knots or 10750 yards (9,830 m) at 31 knots.
. Data from a 9 feet (2.7 m) Argo rangefinder located on top of the conning tower was input into an Argo Clock Mk IV (a mechanical fire-control computer) located in the Transmitting Station below the conning tower where it was converted into range and deflection data for use by the guns. The target's data was also graphically recorded on a plotting table to assist the gunnery officer in predicting the movement of the target. The aft torpedo director tower was the backup primary gunnery control position. 'B' and 'X' turrets were provided with nine-foot rangefinders and were fitted as secondary control positions.
Fire-control technology advanced quickly during the years immediately preceding World War I, and the development of the director firing system was a major advance. This consisted of a fire-control director mounted high in the ship which electrically provided elevation and training angles to the turrets via pointers, which the turret crewmen only had to follow. The guns were fired simultaneously, which aided in spotting the shell splashes and minimized the effects of the roll on the dispersion of the shells. Queen Mary received her main battery director before the Battle of Jutland in 1916.
of Krupp Cemented Armour
was also 9 inches (229 mm) thick between 'B' and 'X' turrets. It thinned to four inches towards the ships' ends, but did not reach either the bow or the stern. In addition the ship was given an upper armour belt with a maximum thickness of six inches over the same length as the thickest part of the waterline armour, thinning to 5 inches (127 mm) abreast the end turrets. Four-inch transverse bulkhead
s closed off the ends of the armoured citadel. High-tensile steel plating, cheaper than nickel-steel but equally as effective, was used for the protective decks. The lower armoured deck was generally only 1 inches (2.5 cm) thick except outside the citadel where it was 2.5 inches (6 cm). The upper armoured deck was situated at the top of the upper armour belt and was also only one inch thick. The forecastle deck ranged from 1 to 1.5 in (2.5 to 3.8 ).
The gun turrets had 9-inch fronts and sides, while their roofs were 2.5 to 3.25 in (63.5 to 82.6 mm) thick. The barbette
s were protected by 9 inches of armour above the deck, but it thinned to 8 inches (203 mm) above the upper armour deck and 3 inches (8 cm) below it. The forward 4-inch guns were protected by three-inch sides and a two-inch high-tensile steel deck overhead. The conning tower sides were 10 inches (25 cm) thick, with three-inch roofs and communication tubes. Her aft torpedo director tower was protected by six-inch walls and a three-inch cast steel roof. High-tensile steel torpedo bulkhead
s 2.5 inches (64 mm) thick were fitted abreast the magazines
and shell rooms. Her funnel uptakes were protected by high-tensile steel splinter armour 1.5 inches (4 cm) thick on the sides and one inch thick on the ends between the upper and forecastle decks.
Queen Mary was laid down at Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company
, Jarrow
, on 6 March 1911. She was launched on 20 March 1912 and was completed in August 1913 at a total cost of £2,078,491 (including guns). Commanded by Captain
Reginald Hall
, who was appointed on 1 July, she was assigned to the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron
(BCS), under command of Rear Admiral
David Beatty
, upon commissioning on 4 September 1913. Queen Mary, along with the rest of the 1st BCS, made a port visit to Brest
in February 1914 and the squadron visited Russia in June.
sortied in response to the British attacks. They turned south at full speed at 11:35The times used in this article are in Greenwich Mean Time
, which was one hour behind CET
, which is often used in German works. when the British light forces failed to disengage on schedule, and the rising tide meant that German capital ships would be able to clear the bar at the mouth of the Jade Estuary. The brand-new light cruiser had been crippled earlier in the battle and was under fire from the German light cruisers and when Beatty's battlecruisers loomed out of the mist at 12:37. Strassburg was able to duck into the mists and evade fire, but Köln remained visible and was quickly crippled by fire from the squadron. Beatty, however, was distracted from the task of finishing her off by the sudden appearance of the elderly light cruiser directly to his front. He turned in pursuit and reduced her to a flaming hulk in only three salvos at close range (under 6000 yd or 5.5 km). At 13:10 Beatty turned north and made a general signal to retire. Beatty's main body encountered the crippled Köln shortly after turning north, and she was sunk by two salvos from . Later, on 13 October, Captain C. I. Prowse took command.
. An earlier Raid on Yarmouth
on 3 November had been partially successful, but a larger-scale operation was devised by Admiral Franz von Hipper
afterwards. The fast battlecruisers were to conduct the bombardment, while the entire High Seas Fleet was to station itself east of Dogger Bank
to provide cover for their return and to destroy any elements of the Royal Navy that responded to the raid. But what the Germans did not know was that the British were reading the German naval codes and were planning to catch the raiding force on its return journey, although they were not aware that the High Seas Fleet would be at sea as well. Beatty's 1st BCS, now reduced to four ships, including Lion, as well as the 2nd Battle Squadron with six dreadnoughts, was detached from the Grand Fleet in an attempt to intercept the Germans near Dogger Bank
.
Hipper set sail on 15 December 1914 for another such raid and successfully bombarded several English towns, but British destroyers escorting the 1st BCS had already encountered German destroyers of the High Seas Fleet at 05:15 and fought an inconclusive action with them. Vice-Admiral Sir George Warrender, commanding the 2nd Battle Squadron, had received a signal at 5:40 that the destroyer was engaging enemy destroyers although Beatty had not. The destroyer spotted the German armoured cruiser and her escorts at about 07:00, but could not transmit the message until 07:25. Warrender received the signal, as did the battlecruiser , but Beatty did not, despite the fact that New Zealand had been specifically tasked to relay messages between the destroyers and Beatty. Warrender attempted to pass on Sharks message to Beatty at 7:36, but did not manage to make contact until 07:55. Beatty reversed course when he got the message and dispatched New Zealand to search for Roon. She was being overhauled by New Zealand when Beatty received messages that Scarborough was being shelled at 09:00. Beatty ordered New Zealand to rejoin the squadron and turned west for Scarborough.
The British forces split going around the shallow Southwest Patch of the Dogger Bank; Beatty's ships passed to the north, while Warrender passed to the south as they headed west to block the main route through the minefields defending the English coast. This left a 15 nautical miles (27.8 km) gap between them through which the German light forces began to move. At 12:25, the light cruisers of the II Scouting Group began to pass the British forces searching for Hipper. The light cruiser spotted the light cruiser and signalled a report to Beatty. At 12:30 Beatty turned his battlecruisers towards the German ships. Beatty presumed that the German cruisers were the advance screen for Hipper's ships, however, those were some 50 km (31 mi) behind. The 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron, which had been screening for Beatty's ships, detached to pursue the German cruisers, but a misinterpreted signal from the British battlecruisers sent them back to their screening positions.Beatty had intended on retaining only the two rearmost light cruisers from Goodenough's
squadron; however, s signalman misinterpreted the signal, thinking that it was intended for the whole squadron, and thus transmitted it to Goodenough, who ordered his ships back into their screening positions ahead of Beatty's battlecruisers. — Massie, pp. 342–43 This confusion allowed the German light cruisers to escape, and alerted Hipper to the location of the British battlecruisers. The German battlecruisers wheeled to the northeast of the British forces and made good their escape.
Queen Mary was refitting in January and February 1915 and did not participate in the Battle of Dogger Bank
.
This began what was to be called the "Run to the South" as Beatty changed course to steer east-southeast at 15:45, paralleling Hipper's course, now that the range closed to under 18000 yards (16,459.2 m). The Germans opened fire first at 15:48, followed by the British. The British ships were still in the process of making their turn, as only the two leading ships, Lion and Princess Royal, had steadied on their course when the Germans opened fire. The German fire was accurate from the beginning, but the British overestimated the range, as the German ships blended into the haze. Queen Mary opened fire about 15:50 on , using only her forward turrets. By 15:54 the range was down to 12900 yards (11,795.8 m), and Beatty ordered a course change two points
to starboard to open up the range at 15:57. During this period Queen Mary made two hits on Seydlitz, at 15:55 and 15:57, one of which caused a massive cordite fire that burnt out her aft superfiring
turret.
The range had grown too far for accurate shooting, so Beatty altered course four points to port to close the range again between 16:12 and 16:15. This manoeuvre exposed Lion to the fire of the German battlecruisers, and she was hit several times. The smoke and fumes from these hits caused to lose sight of Princess Royal and to switch her fire to Queen Mary at 16:16. Queen Mary hit Seydlitz again at 16:17 and knocked out one gun of her secondary armament. In return, Queen Mary had been hit twice by Seydlitz before 16:21 with unknown effects, but the German battlecruiser hit the turret face of 'Q' turret at that time and knocked out the right-hand gun in the turret. By 16:25 the range was down to 14400 yards (13,167.4 m), and Beatty turned two points to starboard to open the range again. This move came too late however for Queen Mary, as Derfflingers fire began to take effect, hitting her twice before 16:26. One shell hit forward and detonated one or both of the forward magazine
s, which broke the ship in two near the foremast. Midshipman Storey stationed inside 'Q' turret survived and reported that there was a large explosion forward which rocked the turret, breaking the left gun in half, the gun breech falling into the working chamber and the right gun coming off its trunions. Cordite in the working chamber caught fire producing poisonous fumes. It is doubtfull that an explosion forward could have done this, so 'Q' turret may have been struck by the second shell. A further explosion, possibly from shells breaking loose, shook the aft end of the ship as it began to roll over and sink. The battlecruiser behind her, , was showered with debris from the explosion and forced to steer to port to avoid her remains. 1,266 crew were lost; eighteen survivors were picked up by the destroyers and , two by the Germans, and one by .
Her aft end is now upside-down and intact except for her propellers, which have been salvaged. Surveys of this site conducted by nautical archaeologist Innes McCartney in 2001-2003 have shown the wreck is actually in two halves, with the bow section being heavily damaged and in pieces. Consideration of the damage to the ship has suggested that the initial explosion was not in the magazine of 'A' or 'B' forward main turrets but instead in the magazine of the forward 4in battery. An explosion of the quantity of cordite in the main magazine would have been sufficient to also ignite 'Q' magazine, destroying much more of the ship. The smaller magazine would have been sufficient to break the ship in two, the blast then spreading to the forward magazine and ripping apart the forward section.
Queen Mary, along with the other Jutland wrecks, has belatedly been declared a protected place under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 to discourage further damage to the resting place of 1,257 officers and men.
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...
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...
before World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, the sole member of her class
Ship class
A ship class is a group of ships of a similar design. This is distinct from a ship-type, which might reflect a similarity of tonnage or intended use. For example, the is a nuclear aircraft carrier of the Nimitz class....
. She was similar to the s, though she differed in details from her half-sisters. She was the last battlecruiser completed before the war and participated in the Battle of Heligoland Bight shortly after the war began. As part of the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron, she attempted to intercept a German force that bombarded the North Sea coast of England in December 1914, but was unsuccessful. She was refitting during the Battle of Dogger Bank
Battle of Dogger Bank (1915)
The Battle of Dogger Bank was a naval battle fought near the Dogger Bank in the North Sea on 24 January 1915, during the First World War, between squadrons of the British Grand Fleet and the German High Seas Fleet....
in early 1915, but participated in the next major fleet action of the war, the Battle of 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...
in mid-1916. She was hit twice by the German battlecruiser during the "Run to the South" and exploded shortly afterwards.
Her wreck was discovered in 1991 and rests partly upside-down, on sand, 60 metres (197 ft) down. Queen Mary is designated as a protected place under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986
Protection of Military Remains Act 1986
The Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom which provides protection for the wreckage of military aircraft and designated military vessels. The Act provides for two types of protection: protected places and controlled sites. Military aircraft are...
.
General characteristics
Queen Mary was slightly larger than her predecessors of the . She had an overall length of 703 in 6 in (214.43 m), including her sternwalkSternwalk
A sternwalk is a balcony on the outside of the hull on the stern of a ship, usually reserved for the highest-ranking officer onboard. They became less common on warships in the twentieth century....
, a beam
Beam (nautical)
The beam of a ship is its width at the widest point. Generally speaking, the wider the beam of a ship , the more initial stability it has, at expense of reserve stability in the event of a capsize, where more energy is required to right the vessel from its inverted position...
of 80 foot, and a draft of 32 in 4 in (9.86 m) at deep load. The ship displaced 26770 long tons (27,200 t) at load and 31650 long tons (32,158 t) at deep load, over 1000 long tons (1,016 t) more than the earlier ships. She had a metacentric height
Metacentric height
The metacentric height is a measurement of the static stability of a floating body. It is calculated as the distance between the centre of gravity of a ship and its metacentre . A larger metacentric height implies greater stability against overturning...
of 5.92 feet (1.8 m) at deep load.
Following complaints from the Fleet, Queen Mary was the first battlecruiser to place her officers' quarters in their traditional location, the stern of the ship, rather than closer to their action stations amidships as was first done on . In addition she was the first to mount a sternwalk
Sternwalk
A sternwalk is a balcony on the outside of the hull on the stern of a ship, usually reserved for the highest-ranking officer onboard. They became less common on warships in the twentieth century....
.
Propulsion
Queen Mary had two paired sets of Parsons direct-drive steam turbines housed in separate engine-rooms. Each set consisted of a high-pressure ahead and astern turbine driving an outboard shaft and a low-pressure ahead and astern turbine driving an inner shaft. A cruising stage was built into the casing of each high-pressure ahead turbine for economical steaming at low speeds. The turbines had a designed output of 75000 shp. On trials in May and June 1913, Queen Mary achieved more than 83000 shp, although she barely exceeded her designed speed of 28 kn (34.1 mph; 54.9 km/h).The steam plant consisted of 42 Yarrow
Yarrow Shipbuilders
Yarrow Limited , often styled as simply Yarrows, was a major shipbuilding firm based in the Scotstoun district of Glasgow on the River Clyde...
large-tube boiler
Water-tube boiler
A water tube boiler is a type of boiler in which water circulates in tubes heated externally by the fire. Fuel is burned inside the furnace, creating hot gas which heats water in the steam-generating tubes...
s arranged in seven boiler rooms. Maximum bunkerage was 3600 long tons (3,657.8 t) of coal and 1170 long tons (1,188.8 t) of fuel oil
Fuel oil
Fuel oil is a fraction obtained from petroleum distillation, either as a distillate or a residue. Broadly speaking, fuel oil is any liquid petroleum product that is burned in a furnace or boiler for the generation of heat or used in an engine for the generation of power, except oils having a flash...
to be sprayed on the coal to increase its burn rate. Range was 5610 nautical miles (10,389.7 km) at a speed of 10 kn (12.2 mph; 19.6 km/h).
Armament
Queen Mary mounted eight BL 13.5-inch Mk (Mark) V gunBL 13.5 inch /45 naval gun
The BL 13.5 inch Mk V gun was a British heavy naval gun, introduced in 1912 as the main armament for the new super-dreadnought battleships of the Orion class. The calibre was 13.5 inches and the barrels were 45 calibres long i.e. 607.5 inches...
s in four twin hydraulically powered turrets, designated 'A', 'B', 'Q' and 'Y' from front to rear. The guns could be depressed to −3° and elevated to 20°, although the director controlling the turrets was limited to 15° 21' until prism
Prism (optics)
In optics, a prism is a transparent optical element with flat, polished surfaces that refract light. The exact angles between the surfaces depend on the application. The traditional geometrical shape is that of a triangular prism with a triangular base and rectangular sides, and in colloquial use...
s were installed before the Battle of Jutland in May 1916 to allow full elevation. They fired 1400 pounds (635 kg) projectiles at a muzzle velocity
Muzzle velocity
Muzzle velocity is the speed a projectile has at the moment it leaves the muzzle of the gun. Muzzle velocities range from approximately to in black powder muskets , to more than in modern rifles with high-performance cartridges such as the .220 Swift and .204 Ruger, all the way to for tank guns...
of 2582 ft/s (787 m/s); at 14.75°, this provided a maximum range of 20000 yd (18,288 m) with armour-piercing (AP)
Armor-piercing shot and shell
An armor-piercing shell is a type of ammunition designed to penetrate armor. From the 1860s to 1950s, a major application of armor-piercing projectiles was to defeat the thick armor carried on many warships. From the 1920s onwards, armor-piercing weapons were required for anti-tank missions...
shells. At 20° elevation, the range was extended to 23740 yd (21,708 m). The rate of fire of these guns was 1.5–2 rounds per minute. The ship carried a total of 880 rounds during wartime for 110 shells per gun.
Her secondary armament consisted of sixteen BL 4-inch Mk VII guns
BL 4 inch naval gun Mk VII
The BL 4-inch gun Mk VII was a British high-velocity naval gun introduced in 1908 as an anti-torpedo boat gun in large ships, and in the main armament of smaller ships...
, most of which were mounted in casemate
Casemate
A casemate, sometimes rendered casement, is a fortified gun emplacement or armored structure from which guns are fired. originally a vaulted chamber in a fortress.-Origin of the term:...
s. The guns could depress to −7° and had a maximum elevation of 15°. They fired 31 pounds (14.1 kg) projectiles at a muzzle velocity of 2864 ft/s (872.9 m/s); this gave a maximum range of 11600 yd (10,607 m). Their rate of fire was 6–8 rounds per minute. They were provided with 150 rounds per gun.
Queen Mary was built without any anti-aircraft
Anti-aircraft warfare
NATO defines air defence as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action." They include ground and air based weapon systems, associated sensor systems, command and control arrangements and passive measures. It may be to protect naval, ground and air forces...
guns, but two guns were fitted in October 1914. One was a QF 6-pounder Hotchkiss
QF 6 pounder Hotchkiss
The QF 6 pounder Hotchkiss was a light 57 mm naval gun and coast defence gun of the late 19th century used by many countries, and was adapted for use in the early British tanks in World War I.- Canada History :...
gun on a high-angle mounting. This had a maximum depression of 8° and a maximum elevation of 60°. It fired a 6 pounds (2.7 kg) shell at a muzzle velocity of 1765 ft/s (538 m/s) at a rate of fire of 20 rounds per minute. It had a maximum ceiling of 10000 ft (3,048 m), but an effective range of only 1200 yards (1,097.3 m). A QF 3-inch 20 cwt
QF 3 inch 20 cwt
The QF 3 inch 20 cwt anti-aircraft gun became the standard anti-aircraft gun used in the home defence of the United Kingdom against German airships and bombers and on the Western Front in World War I. It was also common on British warships in World War I and submarines in World War II...
gun on a high-angle mount was also fitted in October 1914. It had a maximum depression of 10° and a maximum elevation of 90°. It fired a 12.5 pounds (5.7 kg) shell at a muzzle velocity of 2500 ft/s (762 m/s) at a rate of 12–14 rounds per minute. It had a maximum effective ceiling of 23500 ft (7,163 m).
Two 21 inches (53.3 cm) submerged torpedo tube
Torpedo tube
A torpedo tube is a device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units installed aboard surface vessels...
s were fitted, one on each side. Fourteen Mk II*** torpedoes were carried which had a warhead of 515 pounds (234 kg) of TNT. Range was 4500 yards (4,115 m) at 45 knots or 10750 yards (9,830 m) at 31 knots.
Fire-control
The main guns of the Queen Mary were controlled from the conning towerConning tower
A conning tower is a raised platform on a ship or submarine, often armored, from which an officer can con the vessel; i.e., give directions to the helmsman. It is usually located as high on the ship as practical, to give the conning team good visibility....
. Data from a 9 feet (2.7 m) Argo rangefinder located on top of the conning tower was input into an Argo Clock Mk IV (a mechanical fire-control computer) located in the Transmitting Station below the conning tower where it was converted into range and deflection data for use by the guns. The target's data was also graphically recorded on a plotting table to assist the gunnery officer in predicting the movement of the target. The aft torpedo director tower was the backup primary gunnery control position. 'B' and 'X' turrets were provided with nine-foot rangefinders and were fitted as secondary control positions.
Fire-control technology advanced quickly during the years immediately preceding World War I, and the development of the director firing system was a major advance. This consisted of a fire-control director mounted high in the ship which electrically provided elevation and training angles to the turrets via pointers, which the turret crewmen only had to follow. The guns were fired simultaneously, which aided in spotting the shell splashes and minimized the effects of the roll on the dispersion of the shells. Queen Mary received her main battery director before the Battle of Jutland in 1916.
Armour
The armour protection given to the Queen Mary was similar than that of the Lions; her waterline beltBelt armor
Belt armor is a layer of heavy metal armor plated on to or within outer hulls of warships, typically on battleships, battlecruisers and cruisers, and on aircraft carriers converted from those types of ships....
of Krupp Cemented Armour
Krupp armour
Krupp armour was a type of steel armour used in the construction of capital ships starting shortly before the end of the 19th century. It was developed by Germany's Krupp Arms Works in 1893 and quickly replaced Harvey armour as the primary method of protecting naval ships.The initial manufacturing...
was also 9 inches (229 mm) thick between 'B' and 'X' turrets. It thinned to four inches towards the ships' ends, but did not reach either the bow or the stern. In addition the ship was given an upper armour belt with a maximum thickness of six inches over the same length as the thickest part of the waterline armour, thinning to 5 inches (127 mm) abreast the end turrets. Four-inch transverse bulkhead
Bulkhead (partition)
A bulkhead is an upright wall within the hull of a ship or within the fuselage of an airplane. Other kinds of partition elements within a ship are decks and deckheads.-Etymology:...
s closed off the ends of the armoured citadel. High-tensile steel plating, cheaper than nickel-steel but equally as effective, was used for the protective decks. The lower armoured deck was generally only 1 inches (2.5 cm) thick except outside the citadel where it was 2.5 inches (6 cm). The upper armoured deck was situated at the top of the upper armour belt and was also only one inch thick. The forecastle deck ranged from 1 to 1.5 in (2.5 to 3.8 ).
The gun turrets had 9-inch fronts and sides, while their roofs were 2.5 to 3.25 in (63.5 to 82.6 mm) thick. The barbette
Barbette
A barbette is a protective circular armour feature around a cannon or heavy artillery gun. The name comes from the French phrase en barbette referring to the practice of firing a field gun over a parapet rather than through an opening . The former gives better angles of fire but less protection...
s were protected by 9 inches of armour above the deck, but it thinned to 8 inches (203 mm) above the upper armour deck and 3 inches (8 cm) below it. The forward 4-inch guns were protected by three-inch sides and a two-inch high-tensile steel deck overhead. The conning tower sides were 10 inches (25 cm) thick, with three-inch roofs and communication tubes. Her aft torpedo director tower was protected by six-inch walls and a three-inch cast steel roof. High-tensile steel torpedo bulkhead
Torpedo bulkhead
A torpedo bulkhead is a type of armor common on the more heavily armored warships, especially battleships and battlecruisers of the early 20th century. It is designed to keep the ship afloat even if the hull was struck underneath the belt armor by a shell or by a torpedo...
s 2.5 inches (64 mm) thick were fitted abreast the magazines
Magazine (artillery)
Magazine is the name for an item or place within which ammunition is stored. It is taken from the Arabic word "makahazin" meaning "warehouse".-Ammunition storage areas:...
and shell rooms. Her funnel uptakes were protected by high-tensile steel splinter armour 1.5 inches (4 cm) thick on the sides and one inch thick on the ends between the upper and forecastle decks.
Pre-war career
Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company
Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company Limited, often referred to simply as Palmers, was a British shipbuilding company. The Company was based in Jarrow, in Northeast England and also had operations in Hebburn and Willington Quay on the River Tyne....
, Jarrow
Jarrow
Jarrow is a town in Tyne and Wear, England, located on the River Tyne, with a population of 27,526. From the middle of the 19th century until 1935, Jarrow was a centre for shipbuilding, and was the starting point of the Jarrow March against unemployment in 1936.-Foundation:The Angles re-occupied...
, on 6 March 1911. She was launched on 20 March 1912 and was completed in August 1913 at a total cost of £2,078,491 (including guns). Commanded by Captain
Captain (Royal Navy)
Captain is a senior officer rank of the Royal Navy. It ranks above Commander and below Commodore and has a NATO ranking code of OF-5. The rank is equivalent to a Colonel in the British Army or Royal Marines and to a Group Captain in the Royal Air Force. The rank of Group Captain is based on the...
Reginald Hall
William Reginald Hall
Admiral Sir William Reginald Hall, KCMG, CB, RN was the British Director of Naval Intelligence from 1914 to 1919...
, who was appointed on 1 July, she was assigned to the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron
1st Battlecruiser Squadron (United Kingdom)
The First Battlecruiser Squadron was a Royal Navy squadron of battlecruisers that saw service as part of the Grand Fleet during the First World War. It was created in 1909 as the First Cruiser Squadron and was renamed in 1913 to First Battle Cruiser Squadron. It participated in the battles of...
(BCS), under command of Rear Admiral
Rear Admiral
Rear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. It is generally regarded as the lowest of the "admiral" ranks, which are also sometimes referred to as "flag officers" or "flag ranks"...
David Beatty
David Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty
Admiral of the Fleet David Richard Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty, GCB, OM, GCVO, DSO was an admiral in the Royal Navy...
, upon commissioning on 4 September 1913. Queen Mary, along with the rest of the 1st BCS, made a port visit to Brest
Brest, France
Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...
in February 1914 and the squadron visited Russia in June.
Battle of Heligoland Bight
Queen Marys first action was as part of the battlecruiser force under the command of Beatty during the Battle of Heligoland Bight on 28 August 1914. Beatty's ships had originally been intended as distant support of the British cruisers and destroyers closer to the German coast in case the large ships of the High Seas FleetHigh Seas Fleet
The High Seas Fleet was the battle fleet of the German Empire and saw action during World War I. The formation was created in February 1907, when the Home Fleet was renamed as the High Seas Fleet. Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz was the architect of the fleet; he envisioned a force powerful enough to...
sortied in response to the British attacks. They turned south at full speed at 11:35The times used in this article are in Greenwich Mean Time
Greenwich Mean Time
Greenwich Mean Time is a term originally referring to mean solar time at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London. It is arguably the same as Coordinated Universal Time and when this is viewed as a time zone the name Greenwich Mean Time is especially used by bodies connected with the United...
, which was one hour behind CET
Central European Time
Central European Time , used in most parts of the European Union, is a standard time that is 1 hour ahead of Coordinated Universal Time . The time offset from UTC can be written as +01:00...
, which is often used in German works. when the British light forces failed to disengage on schedule, and the rising tide meant that German capital ships would be able to clear the bar at the mouth of the Jade Estuary. The brand-new light cruiser had been crippled earlier in the battle and was under fire from the German light cruisers and when Beatty's battlecruisers loomed out of the mist at 12:37. Strassburg was able to duck into the mists and evade fire, but Köln remained visible and was quickly crippled by fire from the squadron. Beatty, however, was distracted from the task of finishing her off by the sudden appearance of the elderly light cruiser directly to his front. He turned in pursuit and reduced her to a flaming hulk in only three salvos at close range (under 6000 yd or 5.5 km). At 13:10 Beatty turned north and made a general signal to retire. Beatty's main body encountered the crippled Köln shortly after turning north, and she was sunk by two salvos from . Later, on 13 October, Captain C. I. Prowse took command.
Raid on Scarborough
The German Navy had decided on a strategy of bombarding British towns on the North Sea coast in an attempt to draw out the Royal Navy and destroy elements of it in detailDefeat in detail
Defeat in detail is a military phrase referring to the tactic of bringing a large portion of one's own force to bear on small enemy units in sequence, rather than engaging the bulk of the enemy force all at once...
. An earlier Raid on Yarmouth
Raid on Yarmouth
The Raid on Yarmouth, which took place on 3 November 1914, was an attack by the German Navy on the British North Sea port and town of Great Yarmouth. Little damage was done to the town since shells only landed on the beach after German ships laying mines offshore were interrupted by British...
on 3 November had been partially successful, but a larger-scale operation was devised by Admiral Franz von Hipper
Franz von Hipper
Franz Ritter von Hipper was an admiral in the German Imperial Navy . Franz von Hipper joined the German Navy in 1881 as an officer cadet. He commanded several torpedo boat units and served as watch officer aboard several warships, as well as Kaiser Wilhelm II's yacht Hohenzollern...
afterwards. The fast battlecruisers were to conduct the bombardment, while the entire High Seas Fleet was to station itself east of Dogger Bank
Dogger Bank
Dogger Bank is a large sandbank in a shallow area of the North Sea about off the east coast of England. It extends over approximately , with its dimensions being about long and up to broad. The water depth ranges from 15 to 36 metres , about shallower than the surrounding sea. It is a...
to provide cover for their return and to destroy any elements of the Royal Navy that responded to the raid. But what the Germans did not know was that the British were reading the German naval codes and were planning to catch the raiding force on its return journey, although they were not aware that the High Seas Fleet would be at sea as well. Beatty's 1st BCS, now reduced to four ships, including Lion, as well as the 2nd Battle Squadron with six dreadnoughts, was detached from the Grand Fleet in an attempt to intercept the Germans near Dogger Bank
Dogger Bank
Dogger Bank is a large sandbank in a shallow area of the North Sea about off the east coast of England. It extends over approximately , with its dimensions being about long and up to broad. The water depth ranges from 15 to 36 metres , about shallower than the surrounding sea. It is a...
.
Hipper set sail on 15 December 1914 for another such raid and successfully bombarded several English towns, but British destroyers escorting the 1st BCS had already encountered German destroyers of the High Seas Fleet at 05:15 and fought an inconclusive action with them. Vice-Admiral Sir George Warrender, commanding the 2nd Battle Squadron, had received a signal at 5:40 that the destroyer was engaging enemy destroyers although Beatty had not. The destroyer spotted the German armoured cruiser and her escorts at about 07:00, but could not transmit the message until 07:25. Warrender received the signal, as did the battlecruiser , but Beatty did not, despite the fact that New Zealand had been specifically tasked to relay messages between the destroyers and Beatty. Warrender attempted to pass on Sharks message to Beatty at 7:36, but did not manage to make contact until 07:55. Beatty reversed course when he got the message and dispatched New Zealand to search for Roon. She was being overhauled by New Zealand when Beatty received messages that Scarborough was being shelled at 09:00. Beatty ordered New Zealand to rejoin the squadron and turned west for Scarborough.
William Goodenough
Admiral Sir William Edmund Goodenough GCB, MVO was a senior Royal Navy officer of World War I.-Naval career:Goodenough joined the Royal Navy in 1882. He was appointed Commander of the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth in 1905...
squadron; however, s signalman misinterpreted the signal, thinking that it was intended for the whole squadron, and thus transmitted it to Goodenough, who ordered his ships back into their screening positions ahead of Beatty's battlecruisers. — Massie, pp. 342–43 This confusion allowed the German light cruisers to escape, and alerted Hipper to the location of the British battlecruisers. The German battlecruisers wheeled to the northeast of the British forces and made good their escape.
Queen Mary was refitting in January and February 1915 and did not participate in the Battle of Dogger Bank
Battle of Dogger Bank (1915)
The Battle of Dogger Bank was a naval battle fought near the Dogger Bank in the North Sea on 24 January 1915, during the First World War, between squadrons of the British Grand Fleet and the German High Seas Fleet....
.
Battle of Jutland
On 31 May 1916 Queen Mary put to sea with the rest of the Battlecruiser Fleet to intercept a sortie by the High Seas Fleet into the North Sea. The British were able to decode the German radio messages and left their bases before the Germans put to sea. Hipper's battlecruisers spotted the Battlecruiser Fleet to their west at 15:20, but Beatty's ships did not spot the Germans to their east until 15:30. Two minutes later, he ordered a course change to east south-east to position himself astride the German's line of retreat and called his ships' crews to action stations. Hipper ordered his ships to turn to starboard, away from the British, almost 180 degrees, to assume a south-easterly course, and reduced speed to 18 knots (9.8 m/s) to allow three light cruisers of the 2nd Scouting Group to catch up. With this turn Hipper was falling back on the High Seas Fleet, then about 60 miles (96.6 km) behind him. Around this time Beatty altered course to the east, as it was quickly apparent that he was still too far north to cut off Hipper.This began what was to be called the "Run to the South" as Beatty changed course to steer east-southeast at 15:45, paralleling Hipper's course, now that the range closed to under 18000 yards (16,459.2 m). The Germans opened fire first at 15:48, followed by the British. The British ships were still in the process of making their turn, as only the two leading ships, Lion and Princess Royal, had steadied on their course when the Germans opened fire. The German fire was accurate from the beginning, but the British overestimated the range, as the German ships blended into the haze. Queen Mary opened fire about 15:50 on , using only her forward turrets. By 15:54 the range was down to 12900 yards (11,795.8 m), and Beatty ordered a course change two points
Boxing the compass
Boxing the compass is the action of naming all thirty-two points of the compass in clockwise order. Such names are formed by the initials of the cardinal directions and their intermediate ordinal directions, and are very handy to refer to a heading in a general or colloquial fashion, without...
to starboard to open up the range at 15:57. During this period Queen Mary made two hits on Seydlitz, at 15:55 and 15:57, one of which caused a massive cordite fire that burnt out her aft superfiring
Superfire
The idea of superfire is to locate two turrets in a row, one behind the other, but with the second turret located above the one in front so that the second turret could fire over the first...
turret.
Magazine (artillery)
Magazine is the name for an item or place within which ammunition is stored. It is taken from the Arabic word "makahazin" meaning "warehouse".-Ammunition storage areas:...
s, which broke the ship in two near the foremast. Midshipman Storey stationed inside 'Q' turret survived and reported that there was a large explosion forward which rocked the turret, breaking the left gun in half, the gun breech falling into the working chamber and the right gun coming off its trunions. Cordite in the working chamber caught fire producing poisonous fumes. It is doubtfull that an explosion forward could have done this, so 'Q' turret may have been struck by the second shell. A further explosion, possibly from shells breaking loose, shook the aft end of the ship as it began to roll over and sink. The battlecruiser behind her, , was showered with debris from the explosion and forced to steer to port to avoid her remains. 1,266 crew were lost; eighteen survivors were picked up by the destroyers and , two by the Germans, and one by .
Her aft end is now upside-down and intact except for her propellers, which have been salvaged. Surveys of this site conducted by nautical archaeologist Innes McCartney in 2001-2003 have shown the wreck is actually in two halves, with the bow section being heavily damaged and in pieces. Consideration of the damage to the ship has suggested that the initial explosion was not in the magazine of 'A' or 'B' forward main turrets but instead in the magazine of the forward 4in battery. An explosion of the quantity of cordite in the main magazine would have been sufficient to also ignite 'Q' magazine, destroying much more of the ship. The smaller magazine would have been sufficient to break the ship in two, the blast then spreading to the forward magazine and ripping apart the forward section.
Queen Mary, along with the other Jutland wrecks, has belatedly been declared a protected place under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 to discourage further damage to the resting place of 1,257 officers and men.
External links
- Dreadnought Project Technical material on the weaponry and fire control for the ships
- Maritimequest HMS Queen Mary Photo Gallery. Includes a striking photo of her explosion at Jutland.
- High precision 3D model at Dreadnought Project Model page
- Information page at worldwar1.co.uk