HMS Erin was a dreadnought

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...

  battleship

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...

 of 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...

 which was originally built in response to an order placed by the Ottoman government with the British 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 &...

 company. She was intended, when accepted for service in 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:...

, to be named Reshadieh. The Ottoman intention was to procure a battleship which was at least the equal of any other ship currently afloat or building. The design was based on that of King George V

HMS King George V (1911)

The first HMS King George V was a King George V-class of 1911 dreadnought, with a displacement of 23,400 tonnes and an armament of ten 13.5 inch guns in twin gun turrets and a secondary armament of sixteen 4 inch guns and had a crew complement of 870, though this increased...

, but with some features of Iron Duke

HMS Iron Duke (1912)

HMS Iron Duke was a battleship of the Royal Navy, the lead ship of her class, named in honour of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington. She served as the flagship of the Grand Fleet during the First World War, including at the Battle of Jutland...

. In 1914 when the First World War broke out the ship was nearly completed; at the orders of Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...

, the First Lord of the Admiralty, she was seized for use by the Royal Navy.

Design and Appearance

The design was based closely on the design of King George V, but with a number of modifications. British battleships of the period were required by the Admiralty to be of a size that could be accommodated by existing docks, which imposed absolute limitations on beam and on draught. Erin was built with a greater beam and a shorter length than King George V, the greater stability so produced allowing for the installation of a heavier secondary battery and the positioning of "Q" turret one deck higher. She had only a single mast, the foremast, which supported the fighting top and was situated ahead of the forefunnel. The legs of the tripod foremast spread forward rather than the more usual aft orientation; This was to allow the ship's boats to be worked by booms from this mast, in the absence of a mainmast. As a further result of this mast arrangement the charthouse could not be built as part of the conning tower, but was built as a separate structure around the base of the mast.

She was built with a plough bow, a design which cut more cleanly through the water, leading to less water coming on board the forecastle in a heavy sea.

The two funnels were closer together than in any previous British dreadnought, and the appearance of the secondary battery was distinctive, extending as it did from "B" turret to "X" turret.

Armament

The primary armament was ten 13.5 inch (345mm) 45-calibre Mark VI guns, arranged in five double turrets all on the centre-line of the ship. "A" turret was positioned on the forecastle, with an unobstructed arc of fire over the bow of some 300 degrees. "B" turret was situated one deck higher, superfiring over "A" and with a similar arc of fire. "Q" turret was positioned between the after funnel and the after superstructure; it was situated at forecastle deck level, which was one deck level higher than the equivalent turret in the King George V

King 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....

 or the Iron Duke

Iron Duke class battleship

The Iron Duke-class was a group of four dreadnought battleships built for the British Royal Navy before the First World War. The class comprised four ships: , , , and...

 class ships. The arc of fire of this turret was 300 degrees over the stern at full elevation; at lower elevations the after superstructure restricted fire to 120 degrees on either beam. "Y" turret was placed on the quarterdeck, one deck level below forecastle deck level. The arc of fire over the stern was an unobstructed 300 degrees. "X" turret was immediately forward of "Y", and superfired over it with a similar arc of fire. The ammunition carried was 80 rounds per gun.

The secondary battery was more powerful than that carried by earlier or contemporary British battleships, being sixteen 6 inch (152 mm) 50-calibre Mark XVI guns disposed eight on either side in a maindeck battery extending from "B" to "X" turrets. All were twenty feet above water at normal draught. The forward three had arcs of fire from directly ahead to 40 degrees aft of the beam; the two amidships guns bore from 65 degrees ahead to 65 degrees abaft the beam; the after three bore from 40 degrees before the beam to dead astern. The forward three tended to be wet in a heavy sea. Ammunition carried was 150 rounds per gun.

Ten 3 inch (12-pounder) guns were carried high in the superstructure.

Four 21 inch (533 mm)) torpedo tubes were installed, two on either beam. Ten torpedoes were carried.

In 1917 two 3 inch anti-aircraft guns were added on the after superstructure. In 1918 runways for launching aircraft were added on the crowns of "B" and "Q" turrets.

Armour

The main waterline armour belt was twelve inches thick, and stretched from points level with the axes of "A" and "Y" barbettes. It extended to a depth below water of three foot eight inches at normal draught. Above the main belt was a narrow belt of nine-inch armour, and above that a belt of eight-inch thickness which extended up to the level of the upper deck. Both of these strakes extended for the whole length of the main belt. Forward of "A" turret the main belt was continued as a strake of six-inch thickness for about one-third of the distance to the stem, continued further by armour of four-inch thickness for a further third of this distance. The remainder of the bow was not armoured. Aft of the main belt a short extension of four-inch armour ran half-way to the stern; beyond this there was no side armour. The secondary battery was protected by five inches of armour; an anti-torpedo bulkhead of thickness of between one and two inches ran the length of the citadel and extended from the lower deck down to the level of the keel.

Four of the decks were armoured. The forecastle deck, upper deck and maindeck were all of one and a half inch armour and the middle deck was of one inch increasing to three over the machinery and magazines.

The forward bulkhead ran from the end of the main belt across the ship to the forward aspect of "A" barbette. It was eight inches thick above the maindeck, and five inches thick down to its lower limit on the lower deck. The after bulkhead was similar, running as an eight-inch thickness from the after ends of the main belt to "Y" barbette above the maindeck, and extending in five inch thickness down to the lower deck.

The turret faces were of eleven inch armour; the roofs were four inch and the turret sides three inches thick.

The armour of the barbettes was ten inches thick at the most exposed points, tapering down through nine inches and five inches to three inches (76 mm) , according to the degree of protection afforded by adjacent armoured structures; deck, side armour or neighbouring turret.

The conning tower received twelve inches of armour on its exposed sides, and four inches where it was shielded by the foremast structure.

The total weight of armour applied was 4,207 tons.

Machinery

Four propellers were driven directly by four Parsons

Parsons 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...

 turbines. Steam to drive the turbines was produced in fifteen 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...

 boilers with a normal working pressure of 235 pounds per square inch (PSI). The designed shaft horse power (SHP) was 26,500, and the expected maximum speed with this power was 21 knots (41.2 km/h). She could carry up to 2,120 tons of coal and 710 tons of fuel oil; her maximum range was 3400 nautical miles (6,296.8 km) at ten knots using coal only, and 5300 nautical miles (9,815.6 km) at ten knots using both coal and oil. This radius of action was significantly less than that of contemporary British battleships, but was wholly adequate for operations 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...

, where any action against 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...

 would be anticipated.

Career

Erin was ordered by the Ottoman Empire originally under the name of Reshad, but was renamed Reshadieh during construction. She was laid down at 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 &...

 shipyard on 6 December 1911, launched on 3 September 1913 and completed in August 1914. She was taken over for the Royal Navy on 22 August 1914 and renamed Erin. It has been claimed that the seizing of Erin, and the Sultan Osman

HMS Agincourt (1913)

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...

 (renamed Agincourt), was instrumental in bringing the Ottoman Empire into the war on the side of the Central Powers

Central Powers

The Central Powers were one of the two warring factions in World War I , composed of the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulgaria...

, but this is disputed given that the Ottomans and Germans had concluded a secret alliance on 2 August. An attempt by the British to compensate the Ottomans for the loss of their battleships was ignored.

On 5 September 1914 she joined the Grand Fleet at its principal war base 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...

 in Orkney. She was briefly part of the fourth 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...

, being transferred to the second 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...

 in October 1914. On 31 May 1916 she was present at 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...

. After the deployment of the battle fleet the second battle squadron formed the head of the line; its first division consisted of King George V (the flagship of Vice-Admiral Sir T. H. Martyn Jerram

Martyn Jerram

Admiral Sir Martyn Jerram GCMG KCB was a Royal Navy officer who went on to be Commander-in-Chief, China Station.-Naval career:Jerram joined the Royal Navy in 1871....

), Ajax, Centurion and Erin, which was therefore the fourth ship in the line.

She remained with the Grand Fleet for the remainder of the war, seeing no further enemy action. In October 1919 she was placed in Reserve at the Nore

Nore

The Nore is a sandbank at the mouth of the Thames Estuary, England. It marks the point where the River Thames meets the North Sea, roughly halfway between Havengore Creek in Essex and Warden Point in Kent....

. From December 1919 she was used at Chatham Dockyard

Chatham Dockyard

Chatham Dockyard, located on the River Medway and of which two-thirds is in Gillingham and one third in Chatham, Kent, England, came into existence at the time when, following the Reformation, relations with the Catholic countries of Europe had worsened, leading to a requirement for additional...

 as a turret drill ship. In July and August 1920 she underwent a refit at Devonport Dockyard

HMNB Devonport

Her Majesty's Naval Base Devonport , is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy . HMNB Devonport is located in Devonport, in the west of the city of Plymouth in Devon, England...

. It had been intended that under the terms of the Washington 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...

 of 1921 she should be retained as a training ship, but a change of plan meant that this rôle was filled by Thunderer. In May 1922 she was placed on the disposal list, on 19 December 1922 she was sold to the shipbreaking firm of Cox and Danks, and in 1923 she was broken up at Queenborough

Queenborough

Queenborough is a small town on the Isle of Sheppey in the Swale borough of Kent in South East England.Queenborough is two miles south of Sheerness. It grew as a port near the Thames Estuary at the westward entrance to The Swale where it joins the River Medway...

.

External links

• Dreadnought Project Technical material on the weaponry and fire control for the ships
• Maritimequest HMS Erin Photo Gallery
• "Requisitioned Dreadnoughts: Sultan Osman I and Reshadieh"