HMS Centurion (1911): Difference between revisions
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'''HMS ''Centurion''''' was |
'''HMS ''Centurion''''' was a [[battleship]] of the [[Royal Navy]] and the second of the [[King George V-class battleship (1911)|''King George V'' class]], built at HM Dockyard, Devonport. The ''King George V''-class were a series of four [[super-dreadnought|super-dreadnoughts]] built just prior to and serving in the First World War. The ''King George V'' class immediately followed the [[Orion-class battleship|''Orion'' class]] upon which they were based. Her sister ships were: [[HMS King George V (1911)|HMS ''King George V'']], [[HMS Audacious (1912)|HMS ''Audacious'']] and [[HMS Ajax (1912)|HMS ''Ajax'']]. In World War one she saw action in the [[Battle of Jutland]] and in 1919 she was invovled in the [[Allied Intervention in the Russian Civil War]]. By World War two she had been decommissioned and was used as a [[Fleet tender]] and was eventually sunk as part of a temporary habour built after the D-Day landings. |
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* [[HMS King George V (1911)|HMS ''King George V'']] |
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* [[HMS Audacious (1912)|HMS ''Audacious'']] |
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* [[HMS Ajax (1912)|HMS ''Ajax'']] |
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==The Great War== |
==The Great War== |
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''Centurion'' was attached upon completion to the [[2nd Battle Squadron (United Kingdom)|2nd Battle Squadron]], led by sister ship {{HMS|King George V|1911|6}}. She was present at the |
''Centurion'' was attached upon completion to the [[2nd Battle Squadron (United Kingdom)|2nd Battle Squadron]], led by sister ship {{HMS|King George V|1911|6}}. She was present at the Battle of Jutland as part of the main body of the [[British Grand Fleet|Grand Fleet]] under the command of Captain [[Sir Michael Culme-Seymour, 4th Baronet|Michael Culme-Seymour]]. She was third in line in the First Division of the Fleet behind HMS ''King George V'' and {{HMS|Ajax|1912|6}}.<ref name="Jellicoe p320,466">Jellicoe 1919, pp. 320, 466.</ref> ''Centurion'' was only lightly engaged at Jutland, firing four [[salvo]]s of her main armament at the German [[Battlecruiser]] [[SMS Lützow|''Lützow'']] before [[HMS Orion (1910)|HMS ''Orion'']] blocked ''Centurion''{{'}}s line of fire. She took no hits.<ref name="Campbell p209">Campbell 1998, p. 209.</ref> |
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After duty in the North Sea (where she was commanded for a time by [[Roger Keyes]]) she was sent to the Eastern Mediterranean in 1918 with {{HMS|Superb|1907|6}} to oversee the capitulation of the [[Ottoman Empire]]. In 1919, ''Centurion'' was dispatched to the [[Black Sea]] in the |
After duty in the North Sea (where she was commanded for a time by [[Roger Keyes]]) she was sent to the Eastern Mediterranean in 1918 with {{HMS|Superb|1907|6}} to oversee the capitulation of the [[Ottoman Empire]]. In 1919, ''Centurion'' was dispatched to the [[Black Sea]] in the Allied Intervention in the Russian Civil War. |
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==Interwar, World War II== |
==Interwar, World War II== |
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Revision as of 13:04, 20 March 2016
 HMS Centurion 1918
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| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | HMS Centurion |
| Laid down | 16 January 1911 |
| Launched | 18 November 1911 |
| Commissioned | May 1913 |
| Decommissioned | 1924 |
| Fate | 7 June 1944 Sunk as a Mulberry harbour blockship off Normandy, |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | King George V-class battleship |
| Displacement | 25,500 tons (25,900 tonnes) |
| Length | 597 ft 6 in (182.12 m) |
| Beam | 89 ft (27 m) |
| Draft | 28 ft 8 in (8.74 m) |
| Speed | 21 knots (38.9 km/h) |
| Complement | 782 officers and men |
| Armament |
|
HMS Centurion was a battleship of the Royal Navy and the second of the King George V class, built at HM Dockyard, Devonport. The King George V-class were a series of four super-dreadnoughts built just prior to and serving in the First World War. The King George V class immediately followed the Orion class upon which they were based. Her sister ships were: HMS King George V, HMS Audacious and HMS Ajax. In World War one she saw action in the Battle of Jutland and in 1919 she was invovled in the Allied Intervention in the Russian Civil War. By World War two she had been decommissioned and was used as a Fleet tender and was eventually sunk as part of a temporary habour built after the D-Day landings.
The Great War
Centurion was attached upon completion to the 2nd Battle Squadron, led by sister ship HMS King George V. She was present at the Battle of Jutland as part of the main body of the Grand Fleet under the command of Captain Michael Culme-Seymour. She was third in line in the First Division of the Fleet behind HMS King George V and HMS Ajax.[1] Centurion was only lightly engaged at Jutland, firing four salvos of her main armament at the German Battlecruiser Lützow before HMS Orion blocked Centurion's line of fire. She took no hits.[2]
After duty in the North Sea (where she was commanded for a time by Roger Keyes) she was sent to the Eastern Mediterranean in 1918 with HMS Superb to oversee the capitulation of the Ottoman Empire. In 1919, Centurion was dispatched to the Black Sea in the Allied Intervention in the Russian Civil War.
Interwar, World War II
With the signing of the Washington Naval Treaty Centurion was decommissioned and made a target ship to replace HMS Agamemnon in 1924. She remained in this role at Portsmouth Harbour until April 1941, where she was fitted with a false superstructure so as to resemble the battleship HMS Anson then building at HM Dockyard, Portsmouth.
On 4 April 1941, the Admiralty suggested that a heavy naval bombardment of the Libyan city of Tripoli should be made by the Mediterranean Fleet and followed up by blocking the port with a block ship, the Centurion. Admiral Andrew Cunningham declined the offer due to her slow speeds and heavy enemy air cover, so this idea was shelved.
In June 1942, she sailed with Operation Vigorous in the eastern Mediterranean to simulate an operational battleship. Between 1942 and 1944 Centurion was stationed off Suez as an anti-aircraft ship and to give pause to Regia Marina action in the area—the Italians thought that her false wooden 13.5-inch guns were real and kept their superdreadnoughts away. Her final act after a long and somewhat understated career was to be sunk as a breakwater off the Normandy beaches after D-Day. Reportedly the Germans thought that the old vessel had been sunk by shore batteries of the German 352nd Division with great loss of life when only 70 crewmen were observed leaving the sinking vessel; in fact the 70 men were the entire crew.
See also
References
Sources
- Campbell, John. Jutland: An Analysis of the Fighting. London: Conway Maritime Press, 1998. ISBN 0-85177-750-3.
- Gardiner, Robert and Randal Gray. Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1906–1922. London: Conway Maritime Press, 1985. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
- Robert Gardiner: Conway’s All the World’s Fighting Ships 1922–1946, Conway Maritime Press London 1980.
- Jellicoe, Viscount. The Grand Fleet 1914–1916: Its Creation, Development and Work. London: Cassell and Company, 1919.
External links
- Use dmy dates from September 2013
- King George V-class battleships (1911)
- Plymouth-built ships
- 1911 ships
- World War I battleships of the United Kingdom
- World War II battleships of the United Kingdom
- World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean
- Shipwrecks of France
- Scuttled vessels of the United Kingdom
- Maritime incidents in June 1944