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HMS Terror (I03)
Encyclopedia
HMS Terror was an Erebus-class
monitor
built for the Royal Navy
in 1915-16 at the Harland and Wolff
shipyard
in Govan
, Scotland
.
The Erebus-class monitors were of 7200 LT (7,315.6 t) displacement, 405 ft (123.4 m) long, with a maximum speed of 12 kn (14.6 mph; 23.5 km/h) produced by reciprocating engines with two shafts, and a crew of 223. The ship's main armament consisted of two 15 in (381 mm) main guns in a single forward turret
. This turret had been built as a spare for .
The original secondary armament of two 6 in (152.4 mm) mounts was soon replaced by eight 4 in (101.6 mm) guns in single mounts and two 3 in (76.2 mm) anti-aircraft
guns, also in single mounts. Between the wars the 4 in low angle guns were replaced by anti-aircraft mounts and the 3 in guns by eight 0.5 in (12.7 mm) anti-aircraft Vickers machine gun
s in two quadruple
mounts.
The class mostly served in the Naval Gunfire Support
(NGS) role.
in August 1916 and operated against German forces on the coast of occupied Belgium. On 19 October 1917, she was torpedoed by German motor torpedo boats off Dunkirk. There were no casualties and the ship was beached before being towed back to Portsmouth. The damage took three months to repair. In April 1918, Terror was in the Long Range Bombardment force for Zeebrugge raid with her sister ship Erebus and destroyers Termanent, Truculent
, and Manley
. On 27 September, Terror, along with her sister ship Erebus, provided gunnery support for the Fourth Battle of Ypres. In the early 1920s, she was used for gunnery trials against several old warships including and .
, supporting the defences of the major naval base there, and had to be recalled to serve in theatres closer to home. She mainly served in the Mediterranean Theatre
during the Second World War
. After first using her anti-aircraft armament to help defend Malta
against the first Italian
Regia Aeronautica
air attacks
on 11 June 1940, Terror played an important part in Operation Compass
, the British assault against the Italian Tenth Army in Libya
.
During the successful advance by the Western Desert Force
(later to become the 8th Army "Desert Rats"), Terror bombarded Italian land forces and fortification
s, amongst others the fortified port of Bardia
in eastern Libya, firing 660 rounds from her main guns. The ship also served as a water carrier
for the advancing British
and Commonwealth
army.
Terror was subjected to diving attacks by German Junkers Ju 88
bomber
s on 22 February 1941 after leaving Benghazi
. She was badly damaged by near misses and abandoned by her crew. Although taken under tow, she sank off Derna, Libya before reaching the Royal Navy's Mediterranean Fleet
base at Alexandria
, Egypt
.
Erebus class monitor
The Erebus class of monitors of the Royal Navy consisted of two ships: HMS Erebus and HMS Terror.* HMS Erebus was built by Harland and Wolff, Govan. She was laid down 12 October 1915, launched on 19 June 1916 and commissioned in September 1916...
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...
built for 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...
in 1915-16 at the 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....
shipyard
Shipyard
Shipyards and dockyards are places which repair and build ships. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance and basing activities than shipyards, which are sometimes associated more with initial...
in 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....
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
.
The Erebus-class monitors were of 7200 LT (7,315.6 t) displacement, 405 ft (123.4 m) long, with a maximum speed of 12 kn (14.6 mph; 23.5 km/h) produced by reciprocating engines with two shafts, and a crew of 223. The ship's main armament consisted of two 15 in (381 mm) main guns in a single forward turret
Gun turret
A gun turret is a weapon mount that protects the crew or mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon and at the same time lets the weapon be aimed and fired in many directions.The turret is also a rotating weapon platform...
. This turret had been built as a spare for .
The original secondary armament of two 6 in (152.4 mm) mounts was soon replaced by eight 4 in (101.6 mm) guns in single mounts and two 3 in (76.2 mm) 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, also in single mounts. Between the wars the 4 in low angle guns were replaced by anti-aircraft mounts and the 3 in guns by eight 0.5 in (12.7 mm) anti-aircraft Vickers machine gun
Vickers machine gun
Not to be confused with the Vickers light machine gunThe Vickers machine gun or Vickers gun is a name primarily used to refer to the water-cooled .303 inch machine gun produced by Vickers Limited, originally for the British Army...
s in two quadruple
Quadruple
Quadruple may refer to:* Tuple, a mathematical structure* Quadruple, a term for winning four association trophies* Quad , a figure skating jump* Home run in baseball* Quadruple-precision floating-point format in computing...
mounts.
The class mostly served in the Naval Gunfire Support
Naval gunfire support
Naval gunfire support is the use of naval artillery to provide fire support for amphibious assault and other troops operating within their range. NGFS is one of a number of disciplines encompassed by the term Naval Fires...
(NGS) role.
World War I
Terror joined the Dover PatrolDover 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...
in August 1916 and operated against German forces on the coast of occupied Belgium. On 19 October 1917, she was torpedoed by German motor torpedo boats off Dunkirk. There were no casualties and the ship was beached before being towed back to Portsmouth. The damage took three months to repair. In April 1918, Terror was in the Long Range Bombardment force for Zeebrugge raid with her sister ship Erebus and destroyers Termanent, Truculent
Yarrow Later M class destroyer
The Yarrow Later M class were a class of seven destroyers built for the Royal Navy that saw service during World War I. They were based on the preceding and successful Yarrow M class with minor alterations; notably reduced beam to compensate for increased displacement and a sloping stern...
, and Manley
Yarrow M class destroyer
The Yarrow M class was a class of ten destroyers built for the Royal Navy that saw service during World War I. They were generally similar to the standard Admiralty M class, but were instead designed by the builder, Yarrow & Company. Generally, they had two instead of three shafts, as well as two...
. On 27 September, Terror, along with her sister ship Erebus, provided gunnery support for the Fourth Battle of Ypres. In the early 1920s, she was used for gunnery trials against several old warships including and .
World War II
At the outbreak of war in 1939, Terror was based at SingaporeSingapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, supporting the defences of the major naval base there, and had to be recalled to serve in theatres closer to home. She mainly served in the Mediterranean Theatre
Mediterranean Theatre of World War II
The African, Mediterranean and Middle East theatres encompassed the naval, land, and air campaigns fought between the Allied and Axis forces in the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and Africa...
during the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. After first using her anti-aircraft armament to help defend Malta
Siege of Malta (1940)
The Siege of Malta was a military campaign in the Mediterranean Theatre of the Second World War. From 1940-1942, the fight for the control of the strategically important island of Malta pitted the air forces and navies of Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany against the Royal Air Force and the Royal...
against the first Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
Regia Aeronautica
Regia Aeronautica
The Italian Royal Air Force was the name of the air force of the Kingdom of Italy. It was established as a service independent of the Royal Italian Army from 1923 until 1946...
air attacks
Airstrike
An air strike is an attack on a specific objective by military aircraft during an offensive mission. Air strikes are commonly delivered from aircraft such as fighters, bombers, ground attack aircraft, attack helicopters, and others...
on 11 June 1940, Terror played an important part in Operation Compass
Operation Compass
Operation Compass was the first major Allied military operation of the Western Desert Campaign during World War II. British and Commonwealth forces attacked Italian forces in western Egypt and eastern Libya in December 1940 to February 1941. The attack was a complete success...
, the British assault against the Italian Tenth Army in Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
.
During the successful advance by the Western Desert Force
Western Desert Force
The Western Desert Force, during World War II, was a British Commonwealth army formation stationed in Egypt.On 17 June 1940, the headquarters of the British 6th Infantry Division was designated as the Western Desert Force. The unit consisted of the 7th Armoured Division and the Indian 4th Infantry...
(later to become the 8th Army "Desert Rats"), Terror bombarded Italian land forces and fortification
Fortification
Fortifications are military constructions and buildings designed for defence in warfare and military bases. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs...
s, amongst others the fortified port of Bardia
Bardia
Bardia is a geographic region in the Democratic Republic of Nepal.Bardia comprises a portion of the Terai, or lowland hills and valleys of southern Nepal. The Terai is over 1,000 feet in elevation, and extends all along the Indian border...
in eastern Libya, firing 660 rounds from her main guns. The ship also served as a water carrier
Water transportation
Water transportation is the intentional movement of water over large distances. Methods of transportation fall into three categories:* Aqueducts, which include pipelines, canals, and tunnels,...
for the advancing British
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 Commonwealth
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...
army.
Terror was subjected to diving attacks by German Junkers Ju 88
Junkers Ju 88
The Junkers Ju 88 was a World War II German Luftwaffe twin-engine, multi-role aircraft. Designed by Hugo Junkers' company through the services of two American aviation engineers in the mid-1930s, it suffered from a number of technical problems during the later stages of its development and early...
bomber
Bomber
A bomber is a military aircraft designed to attack ground and sea targets, by dropping bombs on them, or – in recent years – by launching cruise missiles at them.-Classifications of bombers:...
s on 22 February 1941 after leaving Benghazi
Benghazi
Benghazi is the second largest city in Libya, the main city of the Cyrenaica region , and the former provisional capital of the National Transitional Council. The wider metropolitan area is also a district of Libya...
. She was badly damaged by near misses and abandoned by her crew. Although taken under tow, she sank off Derna, Libya before reaching the Royal Navy's Mediterranean Fleet
Mediterranean Fleet (Royal Navy)
The British Mediterranean Fleet was part of the Royal Navy. The Fleet was one of the most prestigious commands in the navy for the majority of its history, defending the vital sea link between the United Kingdom and the majority of the British Empire in the Eastern Hemisphere...
base at Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
.
External links
- Uboat.net - HMS Terror
- navalhistory.flixco.info - HMS Terror
- Bob's Ship Collection: HMS Terror