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HMS Agincourt (1913)
Encyclopedia
HMS Agincourt was a dreadnought
built in the early 1910s. The ship was originally ordered by Brazil
, but the collapse of the rubber boom
plus a lessening of the rivalry with Argentina
led to her resale while still under construction to the Ottoman Empire
who renamed her as Sultan Osman I. Then, with completion just as World War I
began, she was seized for use by the Royal Navy
, an act which contributed to the decision of the Ottoman Empire to support Germany in the war.
Renamed as Agincourt by the British, she joined the Grand Fleet in the North Sea
. The ship spent the bulk of her time during the war on patrols and exercises, although she did participate in the Battle of Jutland
in 1916. Agincourt was put into reserve
in 1919 and sold for scrap
in 1922 to meet the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty
.
Agincourt was ordered in 1911 as part of the South American dreadnought race
between Brazil, Argentina and Chile in the first decade of the Twentieth Century under the name of Rio de Janeiro. The Brazilians wished to purchase a ship that would outclass those ships building for their rivals. The chief designer of Armstrong
, Eustace Tennyson d'Eyncourt
, had travelled to Brazil to settle on a design and sign the contract. He brought with him a variety of options for the government to consider and they chose the one with the 12 inches (305 mm) guns, partially to maintain commonality with their other battleships already in service.
of 89 feet (27.1 m), and a draught of 29 in 10 in (9.09 m) at deep load. She displaced 27850 long tons (28,297 t) at load and 30860 long tons (31,355 t) at deep load. She had a metacentric height
of 4.9 feet (1.5 m) at deep load. She had a large turning circle, but manoeuvered well despite her great length. Agincourt was considered to be a good gun platform.
She was one of the most comfortable ships in the Royal Navy and very well-appointed internally. A knowledge of Portuguese was necessary to work many of the fittings—including those in the heads
—as the original instruction plates had not all been replaced when she was taken over by the British.
direct-drive steam turbine
s, each of which drove one propeller shaft. The high-pressure ahead and astern turbines drove the wing shafts while the low-pressure ahead and astern turbines drove the inner shafts. The three-bladed propellers were 9 in 6 in (2.9 m) in diameter. The turbines were designed to produce a total of 34000 shp, but achieved more than 40000 shp during her sea trial
s, slightly exceeding her designed speed of 22 knots.
The steam plant consisted of twenty-two Babcock and Wilcox
water-tube boiler
s with an operating pressure of 235 pound per square inch. Agincourt normally carried 1500 long tons (1,524.1 t) of coal, but could carry a maximum of 3200 long tons (3,251.4 t), as well as 620 long tons (630 t) of fuel oil
to be sprayed on the coal to increase its burn rate. At full capacity, she could steam for 7000 nautical miles (12,964 km) at a speed of 10 knots (5.4 m/s). Electrical power was provided by four steam-driven reciprocating electrical generator
s.
guns in seven twin hydraulically powered turrets, unofficially called after the days of the week, starting from Sunday, forward to aft. This was the greatest number of turrets and heavy guns ever mounted on a battleship. The guns could be depressed to −3° and elevated to 13.5°. They fired 850 pounds (386 kg) projectiles at a muzzle velocity
of 2725 ft/s (830.6 m/s); at 13.5°, this provided a maximum range of just over 20,000 yards with 4crh armour-piercing (AP)
shells. During the war the turrets were modified to increase their maximum elevation to 16°, but this only extended the range to 20435 yards (18,685.8 m). The rate of fire of these guns was 1.5 rounds per minute. When a full broadside was fired, observers said that: "The resulting sheet of flame was big enough to create the impression that a battle cruiser had blown up; it was awe inspiring." No damage was done to the ship when firing full broadsides, despite the common idea that doing so would break her back, but much of the ship's crockery and glassware would shatter.
As built Agincourt mounted eighteen BL 6-inch Mk XIII 50-calibre guns. Fourteen were placed in armoured casemate
s on the upper deck and two each in the fore and aft superstructures, protected by gun shield
s. Two more were added abreast the bridge in pivot mounts protected by gun shields when the ship was purchased by the British. The guns could be depressed to −7° and elevated to 13°, but this was later increased to 15°. They had a range of 13475 yards (12,321.5 m) at 15° when firing a 100 pounds (45 kg) shell with a muzzle velocity of 2770 ft/s (844.3 m/s). Their rate of fire was about five to seven rounds per minute, but this dropped to about three rounds per minute after the ready ammunition was used up because the ammunition hoists were too slow or few to keep the guns fully supplied. About 150 rounds were carried per gun.
Close-range defense against torpedo boat
s was provided by ten 3 inches (7.6 cm) 45-calibre
quick-firing guns. These were mounted in the superstructure in pivot mounts and protected by gun shields. Agincourt also carried three 21 inches (53 cm) submerged torpedo tube
s; one was on each beam and the last was in the stern. The water that entered the torpedo tubes when they were fired was discharged into the torpedo flat to facilitate reloading the tube and then pumped overboard. This meant that the crew would be operating in 3 foot (0.9144 m) of water if rapid fire was required. Ten torpedoes were carried for them.
in the turret roof. In addition another one was mounted on top of the foretop. By the time of the Battle of Jutland
in 1916, Agincourt was possibly the only dreadnought of the Grand Fleet not fitted with a Dreyer fire-control table. A fire-control director was later fitted below the foretop and one turret was modified to control the entire main armament later in the war. A director for the 6 inches (152 mm) guns was added on each side in 1916–17.
was just 9 inches (23 cm) thick, compared with twelve inches or more found in other British dreadnoughts. It ran some 365 feet (111.3 m), from the forward edge of 'Monday' barbette to the middle of 'Friday' barbette. Forward of this the belt thinned to six inches for about 50 feet (15.2 m) before further reducing to 4 inches (10 cm) all the way to the bow. Aft of the midships section the belt reduced to six inches for about 30 feet (9.1 m) and then thinned to four inches (102 mm); it did not reach the stern, but terminated at the rear bulkhead
. The upper belt extended from the main to the upper deck and was six inches thick. It ran from 'Monday' barbette to 'Thursday' barbette. The armour bulkheads at each end of the ship angled inwards from the ends of the midships armoured belts to the end barbettes and were three inches thick. Four of Agincourts decks were armoured with thicknesses varying from 1 to 2.5 in (25.4 to 63.5 mm).
The armour of the barbettes constituted a major weakness in Agincourts protection. They were nine inches thick above the upper deck level, but decreased to three inches between the upper and main decks and had no armour at all below the main deck except for 'Sunday' barbette (which had three inches), and 'Thursday' and 'Saturday' barbettes (which had two inches). The turret armour was twelve inches thick on the face, 8 inches (20 cm) on the side and 10 inches (25 cm) in the rear. The turret roofs were three inches thick at the front and two inches at the rear. The casemates for the secondary armament were protected by six inches of armour and were defended from raking fire
by six-inch thick bulkheads.
The main conning tower
was protected by twelve inches of armor on its sides and it had a four-inch roof. The aft conning tower (sometimes called the torpedo control tower) had nine-inch sides and a three-inch roof. The communications tube down from each position was six-inches thick above the upper deck and two-inches thick below it. Each magazine was protected by two armour plates on each side as torpedo bulkhead
s, the first one inch thick and the second one and a half inches thick.
Agincourt had another weakness in that she was not subdivided to Royal Navy standards as the Brazilians preferred to eliminate all possible watertight bulkheads that might limit the size of the compartments and interfere with the crew's comfort. One example was the officer's wardroom
, which was 85 by in size; much larger than anything in the Grand Fleet.
s. Two 3 inches (76.2 mm) anti-aircraft
guns were added to the quarterdeck in 1917–18. A 9 feet (2.7 m) rangefinder was added to the former searchlight
platform on the foremast at the same time. A high-angle rangefinder was added to the spotting top
in 1918.
in Newcastle upon Tyne
and launched
on 22 January 1913. However, the rubber trade on which Brazil was reliant collapsed shortly afterward and she was put up for sale in October 1913. Brazil sold the vessel to the Ottoman Navy
for £2,750,000 on 28 December 1913. Renamed the Sultan Osman I, she underwent trials in July 1914 and was completed in August, just as World War I
began.
-derived vessel being built by Vickers
—the Reshadiye—which was renamed . Such an action was allowed for in the contracts, as then-First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill did not want to risk the ships being used against the British, but it had consequences.
The takeover caused considerable ill will in the Ottoman Empire
, where public subscriptions had partially funded the ships. When the Ottoman government had been in a financial deadlock over the budget of the battleships, people's donations were solicited. In taverns, cafés, schools and markets many donated some amount of money for the Ottoman Navy. To encourage this campaign, plentiful donations were awarded with a medal called the "Navy Donation Medal". This proved an important factor in turning Ottoman public opinion against Britain
, especially as the Ottoman Navy had been pro-Britain — the Army having been pro-German. It helped bring the Ottoman Empire into the war on the side of Germany
and the Austro-Hungarian Empire against the Triple Entente
of Britain, France
, and Russia
on 29 October 1914.
that had to be replaced. Her name, "Agincourt", was a favourite of Churchill's, and had initially been allocated to a sixth vessel of the Queen Elizabeth-class
ordered under the 1914-15 Naval Estimates, but not yet begun at the war's outbreak. Her nickname, The Gin Palace, came from her luxurious fittings and a corruption of her name (A Gin Court), Pink Gin
having been a popular drink among Royal Navy officers at the time.
The Admiralty was unprepared to man a ship of Agincourts size on such short notice and her crew was drawn "from the highest and lowest echelons of the service: the Royal yachts, and the detention barracks." Agincourts captain and executive officer came from , most of whose crew was also transferred to Agincourt on 3 August 1914. Most of the naval reservists had already been called up by this time and sent to other ships so a number of minor criminals who had had their sentences remitted were received from various naval prisons and detention camps.
until 7 September 1914 when she joined the 4th Battle Squadron
(BS) of the Grand Fleet. The fleet anchorage at Scapa Flow
was not yet secure against submarine attack and much of the fleet was kept at sea where Agincourt spent forty of her first eighty days with the Grand Fleet. This was the beginning of "a year and a half of inaction, only broken by occasional North Sea "sweeps" intended to draw the enemy from his bases."
On 1 January 1915 she was still assigned to the 4th BS, but had been assigned to the 1st Battle Squadron
before the Battle of Jutland
on 31 May 1916. Agincourt was the last ship of the Sixth Division of the 1st BS, along with , and the flagship, , the most heterogeneous group possible as each ship was from a different class. The Sixth Division was the starboardmost column of the Grand Fleet as it headed south to rendezvous with Admiral Beatty
's Battlecruiser Fleet, then engaged with their opposite numbers from the German High Seas Fleet
in the North Sea
. Admiral Jellicoe
, commander of the Grand Fleet, kept it in cruising formation until 6:15 p.m.The times used in this article are in UTC
, which is one hour behind CET
, which is often used in German works. when he ordered it to deploy from column into a single line based on the port division, each ship turning 90° in succession. This turn made the Sixth Division the closest ships in the Grand Fleet to the battleships of the High Seas Fleet and they fired on each ship as they made their turn to port. This concentration of fire later became known as "Windy Corner" to the British as the ships were drenched by German shell splashes although none were hit.
At 6:24 Agincourt opened fire on a German battlecruiser with her main guns. Shortly afterwards her six-inch guns followed suit as German destroyers made torpedo attacks on the British battleships to cover the turn to the south of the High Seas Fleet. Agincourt successfully evaded two torpedoes. Visibility cleared around 7:15 and Agincourt engaged a without result before it was lost in the smoke and haze. Around 8:00 Marlborough was forced to reduce speed because of the strain on her bulkheads from her torpedo damage and her division mates conformed to her speed. In the reduced visibility the division lost sight of the Grand Fleet during the night, passing the badly damaged battlecruiser without opening fire. Dawn found them with only the detritus from the previous day's battle in sight and the division arrived back at Scapa Flow on 2 June. Agincourt fired 144 twelve-inch shells and 111 six-inch shells during the battle although she is not known to have hit anything.
Although the Grand Fleet made several sorties over the next few years it is not known if Agincourt participated in them. On 23 March 1918, Agincourt and Hercules were stationed at Scapa Flow to provide cover for the Scandinavian convoys between Norway and Britain when the High Seas Fleet sortied in an attempt to destroy the convoy. The reports from German Intelligence were slightly off schedule, however, as both the inbound and outbound convoys were in port when the Germans reached their normal route so Admiral Scheer
ordered the fleet to return to Germany without spotting any British ships.
Agincourt was later transferred to the 2nd Battle Squadron
and she was present at the surrender of the High Seas Fleet on 21 November 1918. She was placed in reserve at Rosyth in March 1919. After unsuccessful attempts to sell her to the Brazilian Government, she was briefly recommissioned for experimental purposes in 1921. She was sold for scrap on 19 Dec 1922 to comply with the tonnage limitations of the Washington Naval Treaty, although she was not actually broken up until the end of 1924.
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...
built in the early 1910s. The ship was originally ordered by Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, but the collapse of the rubber boom
Rubber boom
The rubber boom was an important part of the economic and social history of Brazil and Amazonian regions of neighboring countries, being related with the extraction and commercialization of rubber...
plus a lessening of the rivalry with Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
led to her resale while still under construction to the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
who renamed her as Sultan Osman I. Then, with completion just as 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...
began, she was seized for use by 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...
, an act which contributed to the decision of the Ottoman Empire to support Germany in the war.
Renamed as Agincourt by the British, she joined the Grand Fleet in the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
. The ship spent the bulk of her time during the war on patrols and exercises, although she did participate in 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 1916. Agincourt was put into reserve
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....
in 1919 and sold for scrap
Scrap
Scrap is a term used to describe recyclable and other materials left over from every manner of product consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap has significant monetary value...
in 1922 to meet the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty
Washington Naval Treaty
The Washington Naval Treaty, also known as the Five-Power Treaty, was an attempt to cap and limit, and "prevent 'further' costly escalation" of the naval arms race that had begun after World War I between various International powers, each of which had significant naval fleets. The treaty was...
.
Design
South American dreadnought race
A South American dreadnought race between Argentina, Brazil, and Chile was kindled in 1907 when the Brazilian government announced their intention to purchase three dreadnoughts—powerful battleships whose capabilities far outstripped older vessels in the world's navies—from the British company...
between Brazil, Argentina and Chile in the first decade of the Twentieth Century under the name of Rio de Janeiro. The Brazilians wished to purchase a ship that would outclass those ships building for their rivals. The chief designer of Armstrong
Armstrong Whitworth
Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd was a major British manufacturing company of the early years of the 20th century. Headquartered in Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne, Armstrong Whitworth engaged in the construction of armaments, ships, locomotives, automobiles, and aircraft.-History:In 1847,...
, Eustace Tennyson d'Eyncourt
Eustace Tennyson d'Eyncourt
Sir Eustace Henry William Tennyson-d'Eyncourt, 1st Baronet, KCB, FRS was a British naval architect and engineer. As Director of Naval Construction for the Royal Navy, 1912-24, he was responsible for the design and construction of some of the most famous British warships...
, had travelled to Brazil to settle on a design and sign the contract. He brought with him a variety of options for the government to consider and they chose the one with the 12 inches (305 mm) guns, partially to maintain commonality with their other battleships already in service.
General characteristics
Agincourt had an overall length of 671 in 6 in (204.67 m), a beamBeam (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 89 feet (27.1 m), and a draught of 29 in 10 in (9.09 m) at deep load. She displaced 27850 long tons (28,297 t) at load and 30860 long tons (31,355 t) at deep load. 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 4.9 feet (1.5 m) at deep load. She had a large turning circle, but manoeuvered well despite her great length. Agincourt was considered to be a good gun platform.
She was one of the most comfortable ships in the Royal Navy and very well-appointed internally. A knowledge of Portuguese was necessary to work many of the fittings—including those in the heads
Head (watercraft)
The head is a ship's toilet. The name derives from sailing ships in which the toilet area for the regular sailors was placed at the head or bow of the ship.-Design:In sailing ships the toilet was placed in the bow for two reasons...
—as the original instruction plates had not all been replaced when she was taken over by the British.
Propulsion
Agincourt had 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...
direct-drive steam turbine
Steam turbine
A steam turbine is a mechanical device that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam, and converts it into rotary motion. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Parsons in 1884....
s, each of which drove one propeller shaft. The high-pressure ahead and astern turbines drove the wing shafts while the low-pressure ahead and astern turbines drove the inner shafts. The three-bladed propellers were 9 in 6 in (2.9 m) in diameter. The turbines were designed to produce a total of 34000 shp, but achieved more than 40000 shp during her sea trial
Sea trial
A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft . It is also referred to as a "shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and can last from a few hours to many days.Sea trials are conducted to measure a vessel’s...
s, slightly exceeding her designed speed of 22 knots.
The steam plant consisted of twenty-two 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...
water-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 with an operating pressure of 235 pound per square inch. Agincourt normally carried 1500 long tons (1,524.1 t) of coal, but could carry a maximum of 3200 long tons (3,251.4 t), as well as 620 long tons (630 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. At full capacity, she could steam for 7000 nautical miles (12,964 km) at a speed of 10 knots (5.4 m/s). Electrical power was provided by four steam-driven reciprocating electrical generator
Electrical generator
In electricity generation, an electric generator is a device that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy. A generator forces electric charge to flow through an external electrical circuit. It is analogous to a water pump, which causes water to flow...
s.
Armament
Agincourt mounted fourteen BL 12-inch Mk XIII 45-calibreCaliber (artillery)
In artillery, caliber or calibredifference in British English and American English spelling is the internal diameter of a gun barrel, or by extension a relative measure of the length....
guns in seven twin hydraulically powered turrets, unofficially called after the days of the week, starting from Sunday, forward to aft. This was the greatest number of turrets and heavy guns ever mounted on a battleship. The guns could be depressed to −3° and elevated to 13.5°. They fired 850 pounds (386 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 2725 ft/s (830.6 m/s); at 13.5°, this provided a maximum range of just over 20,000 yards with 4crh 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. During the war the turrets were modified to increase their maximum elevation to 16°, but this only extended the range to 20435 yards (18,685.8 m). The rate of fire of these guns was 1.5 rounds per minute. When a full broadside was fired, observers said that: "The resulting sheet of flame was big enough to create the impression that a battle cruiser had blown up; it was awe inspiring." No damage was done to the ship when firing full broadsides, despite the common idea that doing so would break her back, but much of the ship's crockery and glassware would shatter.
As built Agincourt mounted eighteen BL 6-inch Mk XIII 50-calibre guns. Fourteen were placed in armoured 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 on the upper deck and two each in the fore and aft superstructures, protected by gun shield
Gun shield
thumb|A [[United States Marine Corps|U.S. Marine]] manning an [[M240 machine gun]] equipped with a gun shieldA gun shield is a flat piece or section of armor designed to be mounted on a crew-served weapon such as a machine gun or artillery piece, or, more rarely, to be used with an assault rifle...
s. Two more were added abreast the bridge in pivot mounts protected by gun shields when the ship was purchased by the British. The guns could be depressed to −7° and elevated to 13°, but this was later increased to 15°. They had a range of 13475 yards (12,321.5 m) at 15° when firing a 100 pounds (45 kg) shell with a muzzle velocity of 2770 ft/s (844.3 m/s). Their rate of fire was about five to seven rounds per minute, but this dropped to about three rounds per minute after the ready ammunition was used up because the ammunition hoists were too slow or few to keep the guns fully supplied. About 150 rounds were carried per gun.
Close-range defense against torpedo boat
Torpedo boat
A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval vessel designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs rammed enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes, and later designs launched self-propelled Whitehead torpedoes. They were created to counter battleships and other large, slow and...
s was provided by ten 3 inches (7.6 cm) 45-calibre
Caliber (artillery)
In artillery, caliber or calibredifference in British English and American English spelling is the internal diameter of a gun barrel, or by extension a relative measure of the length....
quick-firing guns. These were mounted in the superstructure in pivot mounts and protected by gun shields. Agincourt also carried three 21 inches (53 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; one was on each beam and the last was in the stern. The water that entered the torpedo tubes when they were fired was discharged into the torpedo flat to facilitate reloading the tube and then pumped overboard. This meant that the crew would be operating in 3 foot (0.9144 m) of water if rapid fire was required. Ten torpedoes were carried for them.
Fire control
Each turret was fitted with an armoured rangefinderRangefinder
A rangefinder is a device that measures distance from the observer to a target, for the purposes of surveying, determining focus in photography, or accurately aiming a weapon. Some devices use active methods to measure ; others measure distance using trigonometry...
in the turret roof. In addition another one was mounted on top of the foretop. By the time of 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 1916, Agincourt was possibly the only dreadnought of the Grand Fleet not fitted with a Dreyer fire-control table. A fire-control director was later fitted below the foretop and one turret was modified to control the entire main armament later in the war. A director for the 6 inches (152 mm) guns was added on each side in 1916–17.
Armour
So much weight had been devoted to Agincourts armament that little remained for her armour. 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....
was just 9 inches (23 cm) thick, compared with twelve inches or more found in other British dreadnoughts. It ran some 365 feet (111.3 m), from the forward edge of 'Monday' barbette to the middle of 'Friday' barbette. Forward of this the belt thinned to six inches for about 50 feet (15.2 m) before further reducing to 4 inches (10 cm) all the way to the bow. Aft of the midships section the belt reduced to six inches for about 30 feet (9.1 m) and then thinned to four inches (102 mm); it did not reach the stern, but terminated at the rear 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:...
. The upper belt extended from the main to the upper deck and was six inches thick. It ran from 'Monday' barbette to 'Thursday' barbette. The armour bulkheads at each end of the ship angled inwards from the ends of the midships armoured belts to the end barbettes and were three inches thick. Four of Agincourts decks were armoured with thicknesses varying from 1 to 2.5 in (25.4 to 63.5 mm).
The armour of the barbettes constituted a major weakness in Agincourts protection. They were nine inches thick above the upper deck level, but decreased to three inches between the upper and main decks and had no armour at all below the main deck except for 'Sunday' barbette (which had three inches), and 'Thursday' and 'Saturday' barbettes (which had two inches). The turret armour was twelve inches thick on the face, 8 inches (20 cm) on the side and 10 inches (25 cm) in the rear. The turret roofs were three inches thick at the front and two inches at the rear. The casemates for the secondary armament were protected by six inches of armour and were defended from raking fire
Raking fire
In naval warfare, raking fire is fire directed parallel to the long axis of an enemy ship. Although each shot is directed against a smaller target profile than by shooting broadside and thus more likely to miss the target ship to one side or the other, an individual cannon shot that hits will pass...
by six-inch thick bulkheads.
The main conning tower
Conning 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....
was protected by twelve inches of armor on its sides and it had a four-inch roof. The aft conning tower (sometimes called the torpedo control tower) had nine-inch sides and a three-inch roof. The communications tube down from each position was six-inches thick above the upper deck and two-inches thick below it. Each magazine was protected by two armour plates on each side as 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, the first one inch thick and the second one and a half inches thick.
Agincourt had another weakness in that she was not subdivided to Royal Navy standards as the Brazilians preferred to eliminate all possible watertight bulkheads that might limit the size of the compartments and interfere with the crew's comfort. One example was the officer's wardroom
Wardroom
The wardroom is the mess-cabin of naval commissioned officers above the rank of Midshipman. The term the wardroom is also used to refer to those individuals with the right to occupy that wardroom, meaning "the officers of the wardroom"....
, which was 85 by in size; much larger than anything in the Grand Fleet.
Wartime modifications
Approximately 70 long tons (71.1 t) of high-tensile steel to the main deck was added after the Battle of Jutland to protect the magazineMagazine (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. Two 3 inches (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 were added to the quarterdeck in 1917–18. A 9 feet (2.7 m) rangefinder was added to the former searchlight
Searchlight
A searchlight is an apparatus that combines a bright light source with some form of curved reflector or other optics to project a powerful beam of light of approximately parallel rays in a particular direction, usually constructed so that it can be swiveled about.-Military use:The Royal Navy used...
platform on the foremast at the same time. A high-angle rangefinder was added to the spotting top
Top (sailing ship)
On a traditional square rigged ship, the top is the platform at the upper end of each mast. This is not the masthead "crow's nest" of the popular imagination – above the mainmast is the main-topmast, main-topgallant-mast and main-royal-mast, so that the top is actually about 1/4 to 1/3 of the way...
in 1918.
Construction
Rio de Janeiro, as Agincourt was named by her first owners, was laid down on 14 September 1911 by ArmstrongsArmstrong Whitworth
Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd was a major British manufacturing company of the early years of the 20th century. Headquartered in Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne, Armstrong Whitworth engaged in the construction of armaments, ships, locomotives, automobiles, and aircraft.-History:In 1847,...
in Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
and launched
Ship naming and launching
The ceremonies involved in naming and launching naval ships are based in traditions thousands of years old.-Methods of launch:There are three principal methods of conveying a new ship from building site to water, only two of which are called "launching." The oldest, most familiar, and most widely...
on 22 January 1913. However, the rubber trade on which Brazil was reliant collapsed shortly afterward and she was put up for sale in October 1913. Brazil sold the vessel to the Ottoman Navy
Ottoman Navy
The Ottoman Navy was established in the early 14th century. During its long existence it was involved in many conflicts; refer to list of Ottoman sieges and landings and list of Admirals in the Ottoman Empire for a brief chronology.- Pre-Ottoman:...
for £2,750,000 on 28 December 1913. Renamed the Sultan Osman I, she underwent trials in July 1914 and was completed in August, just as 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...
began.
Seizure
The war broke out during her sea trials before delivery. Even though the Ottoman crew had arrived to collect her, the British Government took over the vessel for incorporation into the Royal Navy. At the same time the British also took over a second Ottoman battleship, a King George V classKing George V class battleship (1911)
The King George V class battleships were a series of four Royal Navy super-dreadnought battleships 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....
-derived vessel being built by Vickers
Vickers
Vickers was a famous name in British engineering that existed through many companies from 1828 until 1999.-Early history:Vickers was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by the miller Edward Vickers and his father-in-law George Naylor in 1828. Naylor was a partner in the foundry Naylor &...
—the Reshadiye—which was renamed . Such an action was allowed for in the contracts, as then-First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill did not want to risk the ships being used against the British, but it had consequences.
The takeover caused considerable ill will in the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
, where public subscriptions had partially funded the ships. When the Ottoman government had been in a financial deadlock over the budget of the battleships, people's donations were solicited. In taverns, cafés, schools and markets many donated some amount of money for the Ottoman Navy. To encourage this campaign, plentiful donations were awarded with a medal called the "Navy Donation Medal". This proved an important factor in turning Ottoman public opinion against Britain
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...
, especially as the Ottoman Navy had been pro-Britain — the Army having been pro-German. It helped bring the Ottoman Empire into the war on the side of Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and the Austro-Hungarian Empire against the Triple Entente
Triple Entente
The Triple Entente was the name given to the alliance among Britain, France and Russia after the signing of the Anglo-Russian Entente in 1907....
of Britain, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, and Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
on 29 October 1914.
Modifications for the Royal Navy
The Royal Navy made modifications before commissioning her: in particular they removed the flying deck over the two centre turrets. The ship was also initially fitted with Turkish-style lavatoriesSquat toilet
A squat toilet is a toilet used by squatting, rather than sitting. There are several types of squat toilets, but they all consist essentially of a hole in the ground...
that had to be replaced. Her name, "Agincourt", was a favourite of Churchill's, and had initially been allocated to a sixth vessel of the Queen Elizabeth-class
Queen Elizabeth class battleship
The Queen Elizabeth-class battleships were a class of five super-dreadnoughts of the Royal Navy. The lead ship was named after Elizabeth I of England...
ordered under the 1914-15 Naval Estimates, but not yet begun at the war's outbreak. Her nickname, The Gin Palace, came from her luxurious fittings and a corruption of her name (A Gin Court), Pink Gin
Pink Gin
Pink Gin is a cocktail made fashionable in the United Kingdom in the mid-19th century, consisting of Plymouth gin and a dash of 'pink' Angostura bitters, a dark red extract of gentian and spices, known from the 1820s at Angostura, Venezuela but now made in Trinidad and Tobago...
having been a popular drink among Royal Navy officers at the time.
The Admiralty was unprepared to man a ship of Agincourts size on such short notice and her crew was drawn "from the highest and lowest echelons of the service: the Royal yachts, and the detention barracks." Agincourts captain and executive officer came from , most of whose crew was also transferred to Agincourt on 3 August 1914. Most of the naval reservists had already been called up by this time and sent to other ships so a number of minor criminals who had had their sentences remitted were received from various naval prisons and detention camps.
Service
Agincourt was shaking downShakedown (testing)
A shakedown is a period of testing or a trial journey undergone by a ship, aircraft or other craft and its crew before being declared operational. Statistically, a proportion of the components will fail after a relatively short period of use, and those that survive this period can be expected to...
until 7 September 1914 when she joined the 4th Battle Squadron
4th Battle Squadron (United Kingdom)
The British Royal Navy 4th Battle Squadron was a squadron consisting of battleships. The 4th Battle Squadron was initially part of the Royal Navy's Home Fleet. During World War I the Home Fleet was renamed the Grand Fleet...
(BS) of the Grand Fleet. The fleet anchorage at Scapa Flow
Scapa Flow
right|thumb|Scapa Flow viewed from its eastern endScapa Flow is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, United Kingdom, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray, South Ronaldsay and Hoy. It is about...
was not yet secure against submarine attack and much of the fleet was kept at sea where Agincourt spent forty of her first eighty days with the Grand Fleet. This was the beginning of "a year and a half of inaction, only broken by occasional North Sea "sweeps" intended to draw the enemy from his bases."
On 1 January 1915 she was still assigned to the 4th BS, but had been assigned to the 1st Battle Squadron
1st Battle Squadron (United Kingdom)
The British 1st Battle Squadron was a squadron of battleships, initially part of the Royal Navy's Home Fleet, renamed the Grand Fleet during World War I...
before 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...
on 31 May 1916. Agincourt was the last ship of the Sixth Division of the 1st BS, along with , and the flagship, , the most heterogeneous group possible as each ship was from a different class. The Sixth Division was the starboardmost column of the Grand Fleet as it headed south to rendezvous with Admiral 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...
's Battlecruiser Fleet, then engaged with their opposite numbers from the German High Seas Fleet
High 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...
in the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
. Admiral Jellicoe
John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe
Admiral of the Fleet John Rushworth Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe, GCB, OM, GCVO was a British Royal Navy admiral who commanded the Grand Fleet at the Battle of Jutland in World War I...
, commander of the Grand Fleet, kept it in cruising formation until 6:15 p.m.The times used in this article are in UTC
Coordinated Universal Time
Coordinated Universal Time is the primary time standard by which the world regulates clocks and time. It is one of several closely related successors to Greenwich Mean Time. Computer servers, online services and other entities that rely on having a universally accepted time use UTC for that purpose...
, which is 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 he ordered it to deploy from column into a single line based on the port division, each ship turning 90° in succession. This turn made the Sixth Division the closest ships in the Grand Fleet to the battleships of the High Seas Fleet and they fired on each ship as they made their turn to port. This concentration of fire later became known as "Windy Corner" to the British as the ships were drenched by German shell splashes although none were hit.
At 6:24 Agincourt opened fire on a German battlecruiser with her main guns. Shortly afterwards her six-inch guns followed suit as German destroyers made torpedo attacks on the British battleships to cover the turn to the south of the High Seas Fleet. Agincourt successfully evaded two torpedoes. Visibility cleared around 7:15 and Agincourt engaged a without result before it was lost in the smoke and haze. Around 8:00 Marlborough was forced to reduce speed because of the strain on her bulkheads from her torpedo damage and her division mates conformed to her speed. In the reduced visibility the division lost sight of the Grand Fleet during the night, passing the badly damaged battlecruiser without opening fire. Dawn found them with only the detritus from the previous day's battle in sight and the division arrived back at Scapa Flow on 2 June. Agincourt fired 144 twelve-inch shells and 111 six-inch shells during the battle although she is not known to have hit anything.
Reinhard Scheer
Reinhard Scheer was an Admiral in the German Kaiserliche Marine. Scheer joined the navy in 1879 as an officer cadet; he progressed through the ranks, commanding cruisers and battleships, as well as major staff positions on land. At the outbreak of World War I, Scheer was the commander of the II...
ordered the fleet to return to Germany without spotting any British ships.
Agincourt was later transferred to the 2nd Battle Squadron
2nd Battle Squadron (United Kingdom)
The British Royal Navy 2nd Battle Squadron was a naval squadron consisting of battleships. The 2nd Battle Squadron was initially part of the Royal Navy's Grand Fleet. After World War I the Grand Fleet was reverted back to its original name, the Atlantic Fleet...
and she was present at the surrender of the High Seas Fleet on 21 November 1918. She was placed in reserve at Rosyth in March 1919. After unsuccessful attempts to sell her to the Brazilian Government, she was briefly recommissioned for experimental purposes in 1921. She was sold for scrap on 19 Dec 1922 to comply with the tonnage limitations of the Washington Naval Treaty, although she was not actually broken up until the end of 1924.
External links
- Dreadnought Project Technical material on the weaponry and fire control for the ships
- Maritimequest HMS Agincourt Photo Gallery
- Agincourt Class Battleship - includes a diagram of her layout
- Navypedia - Agincourt battleship