HMS Prince George (1895)

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HMS Prince George (1895) 1

HMS Prince George (1895)

HMSPrince George

Career

Name: HMSPrince George

Namesake: Prince George, the future King George V

Builder: Portsmouth Dockyard

Laid down: 10 September 1894

Launched: 22 August 1895

Commissioned: 26 November 1896

Decommissioned: 21 February 1920

Renamed: HMS Victorious IIin July or September 1918; name reverted toPrince George in February 1919

Fate: Sold for scrapping 22 September 1921

General characteristics

Class & type: Majestic-classpre-dreadnoughtbattleship

Displacement: 16,060 t (15,810 long tons; 17,700 short tons)

Length: 421 ft (128 m)

Beam: 75 ft (23 m)

Draught: 27 ft (8.2 m)

Propulsion: 2 3-cylinder triple expansion steam engines, twin screws

Speed: 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)

Complement: 672

Armament: 4 BL 12-inch (304.8 mm) 35-caliber Mk VIII guns

12 QF 6-inch (152.4 mm) 40-caliber guns

16 12 pounder (76-mm) guns

12 3 pounder (47-mm) quick-firing guns

5 x 18-inch (450-mm) torpedo tubes (four submerged, one above water)

Armour: Belt armor: 9 in (230 mm)

Deck: 2.5 to 4.5 in (64 to 110 mm)

Barbettes: 14 in (360 mm)

Conning tower: 14 inches
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HMS Prince George was a Majestic-class pre-dreadnought battleship launched in 1895. She was named after the

future George V of the United Kingdom and was the fourth and final ship to bear that name. Commissioned in 1896,

she initially served with the Channel Fleet until 1904. She was involved in a collision with her sister ship,Hannibal,

and the resulting damage meant that much of the latter part of 1903 was spent being repaired. After a refit in 1904,

she was assigned to the Atlantic Fleet and then from 1907, she was part of the Home Fleet. In 1912, she was

assigned to the 7th Battle Squadron.

When World War I broke out Prince George, together with the rest of the squadron, was attached to the Channel

Fleet during the early stages of the war. In early 1915, she was dispatched to the Mediterranean for service in the

Dardanelles Campaign. She participated in bombardments of Turkish forts and supported the Allied operations at

Gallipoli, including the evacuation from the peninsula late in 1915. She spent the remainder of the war back in the

United Kingdom, initially as an accommodation ship before being converted to a depot ship for destroyers in 1918

and stationed at Scapa Flow. For this latter role, she was renamed Victorious IIbefore reverting to her original name

in 1919. Decommissioned in 1920, she was sold for scrapping to a German company but sank off the Netherlands

during transit to Germany.

Design

Right elevation, deck plan, and hull section asdepicted in Brassey's Naval Annual 1902

Prince George was laid down at the Portsmouth Dockyard on 10

September 1894. She was launched less than a year later, on 22 August

1895, after which fitting-out work commenced. She was commissioned

into the Royal Navy on 26 November 1896.[1]

The ship was 421 feet

(128 m) long overall and had a beam of 75 ft (23 m) and a draft of 27 ft

(8.2 m). She displaced up to 16,060 t (15,810 long tons; 17,700 short

tons) at full combat load. Her propulsion system consisted of two

3-cylinder triple expansion engines powered by eight coal-fired

cylindrical boilers. By 19071908, she was re-boilered with oil-fired

models.[2]

Her engines provided a top speed of 16 knots (30 km/h;

18 mph) at 10,000 indicated horsepower (7,500 kW). TheMajestics were considered good seaboats with an easy roll

and good steamers, although they suffered from high fuel consumption. She had a crew of 672 officers and enlisted

men.[3]

Prince George was armed with four BL 12-inch Mk VIII guns in twin turrets, one forward and one aft. The turrets

were placed on pear-shaped barbettes; six of her sisters had the same arrangement, but her sisters Caesar and

Illustrious and all future British battleship classes had circular barbettes.[2][3]

Prince George also carried twelve QF

6-inch /40 guns. They were mounted in casemates in two gun decks amidships. She also carried sixteen QF

12-pounder guns and twelve QF 2-pounder guns. She was also equipped with five 18 in (460 mm) torpedo tubes,four of which were submerged in the ship's hull, with the last in a deck-mounted launcher.

[3]Prince George and the

other ships of her class had 9 inches (229 mm) of Harvey armour, which allowed equal protection with less cost in

weight compared to previous types of armour. This allowed Prince George and her sisters to have a deeper and

lighter belt than previous battleships without any loss in protection.[2]

The barbettes for the main battery were

protected with 14 in (360 mm) of armor, and the conning tower had the same thickness of steel on the sides. The

ship's armored deck was 2.5 to 4.5 in (64 to 110 mm) thick.[3]
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Operational history

Pre-World War I

HMSPrince George was commissioned at Portsmouth Dockyard on 26 November 1896 to serve with the Channel

Fleet. She was present at both the Fleet Review at Spithead for the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria on 26 June

1897 and the Coronation Fleet Review for King Edward VII on 16 August 1902. On 17 October 1903, PrinceGeorge was badly damaged when her sister shipHannibal rammed her in heavy seas at a speed of 9 knots (17 km/h;

10 mph) off Spain, punching a large hole below the waterline on Prince George''s starboard quarter. Prince George

was in danger of sinking for several hours, but managed to make it to Ferrol, steering with her engines and with her

sternwalk awash. After temporary repairs at Ferrol, she departed on 24 October 1903 for Portsmouth, where her

repairs were completed.[4]

Prince George after her 1904 refit.

Prince George ended her Channel Fleet

service in July 1904, and began a refit at

Portsmouth. Upon its completion, she was

commissioned into the reserve there on 3

January 1905. On 14 February 1905, she

was commissioned for service with the

Atlantic Fleet, which had been the Channel

Fleet until a fleet reorganization on 1

January 1905. On 3 March 1905 she

collided with the German armored cruiser

SMSFriedrich Carl at Gibraltar without serious damage. On 17 July 1905, Prince George was transferred to the

new Channel Fleet, ending this service on 4 March 1907 when she was paid off at Portsmouth.[4]

Prince George was recommissioned on 5 March 1907 to serve as the flagship of the Commander-in-Chief,

Portsmouth Division of the new Home Fleet which had been organized in January 1907. On 5 December 1907 shecollided with the armored cruiser Shannon at Portsmouth, sustaining significant damage to her deck plating and boat

davits.[5]

She was relieved as flagship in February 1909, and from March to December she underwent a refit at

Portsmouth,[4]

during which she had radio installed.Prince George was reduced to a nucleus crew and placed in the

commissioned reserve in December 1910. She moved to Devonport in 1911.[6]

In June 1912,Prince George became

part of the 7th Battle Squadron, 3rd Fleet.[4]

World War I

Upon the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, Prince George returned to full commission on 8

August,[6]

and briefly was the squadron's first flagship, until relieved in this role by the battleship Vengeance on 15

August. On 25 August, Prince George covered the passage of the Plymouth Marine Division to Ostend, Belgium,

and in September she covered the movement of the British Expeditionary Force from England to France. Prince

George's Channel Fleet service ended in February 1915 when she transferred to the Dardanelles for service in the

Dardanelles campaign[4]

as a "mine-bumper".[6]

She arrived at Tenedos on 1 March 1915, which would be her base

until February 1916. She took part in attacks on Ottoman Turkish forts covering the Turkish Straits on 5 and 18

March. On 3 May, while firing on Turkish batteries, she took a 6-inch (152-mm) hit below the waterline, and

returned to Malta for repairs.[4]

Prince George was back in action on 12 and 13 July, supporting French troops with gunfire support from off of

Krithia and Achi Baba. On 18 and 19 December she covered the evacuation of Allied troops from Suvla Bay, and the

evacuation from West Beach on 8 and 9 January 1916; she was hit by a torpedo off Cape Helles on 9 January, but it

failed to explode and she suffered no damage. She was at Salonika in January and February.[4]Prince George left the

Mediterranean at the end of February and paid off at Chatham Dockyard in March to provide crews for
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antisubmarine vessels. She remained at Chatham in a care and maintenance status through February 1918, serving as

an auxiliary sickbay and in other subsidiary duties,[6]

then served as an accommodation ship there from March 1916

to May 1918.[4][6]

In May 1918, Prince George began a refit a Chatham for conversion to a destroyer depot ship. She was renamed

Victorious IIin September 1918,[4][7]

and emerged from refit in October 1918. She was then attached to repair ship

(her sister ship and former battleship) Victorious at Scapa Flow, where she served as a depot ship to destroyers of theGrand Fleet. She reverted to the namePrince George in February 1919,

[6]and in March transferred to Sheerness to

serve as depot ship to destroyers based on the Medway.[4]

Prince George was placed on the disposal list at Sheerness

on 21 February 1920, and was sold for scrapping to a British firm on 22 September 1921. She was resold to a

German firm in December 1921, and departed for Germany for scrapping. During the voyage, Prince George was

wrecked on 30 December 1921 off Camperduin, the Netherlands.[4]

She subsequently was stripped of valuable

materials and left as a breakwater, remaining there to this day.[8]

Footnotes

Notes

[1][1] Burt, p. 114.

[2][2] Gibbons, p. 137.

[3][3] Gardiner, p. 34.

[4][4] Burt, p. 133.

[5] According to Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 19061921, this collision occurred in December 1909. See Gardiner & Gray, p. 7.

[6] Gardiner & Gray, p. 7.

[7] Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 19061921 puts the name change in July 1918. See Gardiner & Gray, p. 7.

[8][8] Wrecksite, "HMS Prince George".

Citations

References

Burt, R. A. (1988).British Battleships 18891904. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press.

ISBN 978-0-87021-061-7.

Gardiner, Robert, ed. (1979). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 18601905. Greenwich, UK: Conway

Maritime Press. ISBN 978-0-8317-0302-8.

Gardiner, Robert; Gray, Randal, eds. (1985). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 19061921. Annapolis,

MD: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-87021-907-8. OCLC 12119866 (http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/

12119866).

Gibbons, Tony (1983). The Complete Encyclopedia of Battleships and Battlecruisers: A Technical Directory of

All the World's Capital Ships From 1860 to the Present Day. London, UK: Salamander Books.

ISBN 978-0-86101-142-1.

Online sources

Nico, Vleggeert (18 December 2007). "HMS Prince George" (http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?4512).

wrecksite.eu. The Wreck Site. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?4512http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:BookSources/978-0-86101-142-1http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://www.worldcat.org/oclc/12119866http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/12119866http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=OCLChttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:BookSources/978-0-87021-907-8http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:BookSources/978-0-8317-0302-8http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:BookSources/978-0-87021-061-7http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=International_Standard_Book_Numberhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Netherlandshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Camperduinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Germanyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Medwayhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sheernesshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Grand_Fleethttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Scapa_Flowhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=HMS_Victorious_%281895%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Depot_shiphttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Destroyerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Antisubmarine


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Further reading

Dittmar, F. J.; Colledge, J. J. (1972).British Warships 19141919. London, UK: Ian Allen.

ISBN 978-0-7110-0380-4.

Media related to HMS Prince George (1895) at Wikimedia Commons

External links

battleships-cruisers.co.uk HMSPrince George (http://www.battleships-cruisers.co.uk/hms_prince_george.

htm)
http://www.battleships-cruisers.co.uk/hms_prince_george.htmhttp://www.battleships-cruisers.co.uk/hms_prince_george.htmhttp://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/category:Majestic_class_battleshiphttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Commons-logo.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:BookSources/978-0-7110-0380-4http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=International_Standard_Book_Number


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Article Sources and ContributorsHMS Prince George (1895) Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=564417506 Contributors: Ala.foum, Bellhalla, Benea, Br'er Rabbit, Brenont, Bunnyhop11, Davehi1,

Derekbridges, Eumolpo, Fry1989, Haus, Jackyd101, Lightmouse, MBK004, Mdnavman, MilborneOne, Neddyseagoon, Parsecboy, Pkoz, Rcbutcher, Rich Farmbrough, Rjwilmsi, ScottMHoward,

TomTheHand, Woohookitty, Zawed, 1 anonymous edits

Image Sources, Licenses and ContributorsFile:HMSPrinceGeorge1897.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:HMSPrinceGeorge1897.jpgLicense: Public Domain Contributors: photographer not identified. British

government.

File:Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Naval_Ensign_of_the_United_Kingdom.svgLicense: Public Domain Contributors:

AnonMoos, Avicennasis, Bender235, Cycn, Dancingwombatsrule, Ec.Domnowall, Fry1989, Homo lupus, Pumbaa80, Stunteltje, Xiengyod, Yaddah, 3 anonymous edits

File:Majestic class diagrams Brasseys 1902.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Majestic_class_diagrams_Brasseys_1902.jpgLicense: Public Domain Contributors: S

W Barnaby

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