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Colossus class battleship (1910)
Encyclopedia
The Colossus class of two battleship
s - Colossus
and Hercules
of the British Royal Navy
were among the first battleship
s 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 traditionally left as its own class. They were the last 12 inches (305 mm) gunned dreadnought battleships built for the Royal Navy, and were followed by the first "super-dreadnoughts", the Orion class
battleships with 13.5 inches (343 mm) guns.
finally took note of the vulnerability of British capital ships in view of the general move to 12 inches (305 mm) guns by the German navy. Thus the main belt reverted to the 11 inches (279.4 mm) thickness of Dreadnought, with the unfortunate corollary of necessitating a reduction in internal protection to compensate. The design was also influenced by the American Delaware-class battleship
's ability to mount a ten-gun broadside. To save 50 tons of topweight, the mainmast was suppressed. Besides the weight, the mainmast was considered to be of limited value. Meanwhile Dreadnoughts major flaw of positioning the foremast just behind the fore funnel was inexplicably repeated. In the Colossus class, this situation was aggravated by the far greater power of the boiler installation served by the funnel.
Machinery was for the first time divided into three compartments instead of two. This was thought to provide resistance to flooding to balance the loss of screening bulkheads. Machinery was otherwise identical to that fitted previously, except apparently the new internal arrangements allowed the center engine room to operate independently during cruising conditions to conserve fuel.
Main armament remained the same as Neptune, except the stagger of the wing turrets was reduced to conserve deck space, allowing the forward superstructure to be lengthened and the layout of the secondary armament to be improved.
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...
s - Colossus
HMS Colossus (1910)
HMS Colossus of the British Royal Navy was the nameship of her class of dreadnought battleships.She was launched on 9 April 1910 and commissioned in 1911. Although very similar to Neptune she was not part of Neptunes class as Colossus and her sister-ship, Hercules, had greater armour...
and Hercules
HMS Hercules (1910)
HMS Hercules was a Colossus-class battleship built by Palmers, launched on 10 May 1910, and commissioned on 31 July 1911 at Portsmouth. She was a 20,000-ton dreadnought, mounting ten 12 inch guns in five twin gun turrets, sixteen 4 inch , four 3 pounders, and three 21 inch ...
of the British 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...
were among the first battleship
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...
s 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 traditionally left as its own class. They were the last 12 inches (305 mm) gunned dreadnought battleships built for the Royal Navy, and were followed by the first "super-dreadnoughts", the Orion 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...
battleships with 13.5 inches (343 mm) guns.
Design
In designing this class, their Lordships of 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...
finally took note of the vulnerability of British capital ships in view of the general move to 12 inches (305 mm) guns by the German navy. Thus the main belt reverted to the 11 inches (279.4 mm) thickness of Dreadnought, with the unfortunate corollary of necessitating a reduction in internal protection to compensate. The design was also influenced by the American Delaware-class battleship
Delaware class battleship
The Delaware-class battleships of the United States Navy were the second class of American dreadnoughts. They carried a battery of ten 12"/45 caliber Mark 5 guns in five turrets, an increase of two guns over the preceding . They were also larger, displacing 25% more than the South Carolinas...
's ability to mount a ten-gun broadside. To save 50 tons of topweight, the mainmast was suppressed. Besides the weight, the mainmast was considered to be of limited value. Meanwhile Dreadnoughts major flaw of positioning the foremast just behind the fore funnel was inexplicably repeated. In the Colossus class, this situation was aggravated by the far greater power of the boiler installation served by the funnel.
Machinery was for the first time divided into three compartments instead of two. This was thought to provide resistance to flooding to balance the loss of screening bulkheads. Machinery was otherwise identical to that fitted previously, except apparently the new internal arrangements allowed the center engine room to operate independently during cruising conditions to conserve fuel.
Main armament remained the same as Neptune, except the stagger of the wing turrets was reduced to conserve deck space, allowing the forward superstructure to be lengthened and the layout of the secondary armament to be improved.
External Sources
- Dreadnought Project Technical material on the weaponry and fire control for the ships