HMS Agincourt (1913)
| | Career | |
|---|
| Ordered: |
| Laid down: | September 1911 |
| Launched: | January 1913 |
| Commissioned: | August 1914 |
| Decommissioned: | 1921 |
| Fate: | Scrapped 1924 |
| Struck: |
| General Characteristics |
|---|
| Displacement: | 27,500 tons normal
30,250 tons full load |
| Length: | 671 ft 6 in (205 m) |
| Beam: | 89 ft (27.1 m) |
| Draught: | 27 ft (8.2 m) |
| Propulsion: | Parsons 4-shaft steam turbines,
22 Babcock boilers,
40270 hp (30 MW) |
| Speed: | 22.4 knots (41 km/h) |
| Range: |
| Complement: | 1267 |
| Armament: | 14 x 12 inch (305 mm) guns
(7 twin turrets)
20 x 6 inch (152 mm) guns
10 x 3 inch (76 mm) guns
2 x 3 inch (76 mm) anti-aircraft guns
3 x 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes |
| Armour: | 9 inch (229 mm) main belt,
6 inch (152 mm) upper belt,
8-12 inch (203-305 mm) over turrets |
| Aircraft: | 0 |
HMS Agincourt was a
World War One Dreadnought battleship of the
Royal Navy.
She was a unique vessel, laid down by
Armstrongs at
Newcastle upon Tyne as the
Brazilian Rio de Janeiro in September
1911. The chief designer of Armstrongs,
Eustace Tennyson d'Eyncourt, produced her outline design in his hotel bedroom in Brazil during the negotiations. As a result of a collapse in the rubber trade, Brazil cancelled the order in
1912, and sold the vessel on to the
Turkish navy for £2,750,000 in January
1914. Renamed the
Sultan Osman I, she underwent trials in July
1914 and was completed in August, just as the
First World War began. She was among the first British battleships with completely centreline distributed superfiring turrets (a necessity given the number carried), nearly five years after such a layout had been shown on the
USS South Carolina.
The war broke out before delivery during the trials. Even though the Turkish 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 Turkish battleship, also being built by Armstrongs - The
Reshadieh which was renamed
HMS Erin. Such an action was allowed for in the contracts but it had consequences. The takeover caused considerable ill-feeling in Turkey, where public subscriptions had partially funded the ships. This proved an important factor in turning Turkish public opinion against
Britain, especially as the Turkish Navy had been pro-Britain - the Army having been pro-German. It helped put Turkey (and its
Ottoman Empire) into the war on the side of
Germany and the
Austro-Hungarian Empire against the
Triple Entente of Britain,
France and
Russia (29 October 1914). As an act of generosity to secure their allies, Germany made a gift to Turkey of the
battlecruiser SMS Goeben and of the
light cruiser SMS Breslau.
Agincourt was an unusual ship in having seven main turrets. This gave her a broadside of 14 main guns - a commentator remarked that when firing a broadside it looked like a battlecruiser blowing up. Normally ship turrets are lettered A,B,Q etc; hers were named after the days of the week. Popular belief at the time held that firing a full broadside would have capsized her; this was proven wrong by her Gunnery Officer at Jutland, who fired fourteen full broadsides at the High Seas Fleet, without causing any problem except a number of popped rivets.
She had poor armour in comparison with her armament, having just 9 inches (229 mm) maximum belt thickness compared with 12 inches (305 mm) or more that existed in contemporary Dreadnoughts. Added to this her internal layout was poor, with fewer bulkheads and more open spaces than would have been acceptable for a ship designed for the Royal Navy. She would have ranked as a
battlecruiser but for her low speed. By her completion, her 12-inch (305 mm) guns had started to become obsolete - most
capital ships under construction having larger
calibres.
The Royal Navy made modifications before commissioning its prize: in particular they removed a flying-off deck for
seaplanes. They failed, however, to modify a number of written labels, causing problems for seamen who could not distinguish, for example, hot taps from cold.
The luxurious fittings, that may have led to the original high cost to the Brazilians, gave her the nickname 'Gin Palace'. The other explanation to this nickname was A Gin Court, replace the court by the simular meaning palace and the rumors gin was the favorite pastime of some naval officers of noble descent on board.
Battle honours
HMS
Agincourt formed part of the First Battle Squadron at the
Battle of Jutland, which she survived unscathed firing several broadsides without damage.
 |
Crew members - 1914 |
She was reallocated to the Second Battle Squadron in
1918 and decommissioned in
1919. After unsuccessful attempts to sell her to the Brazilian Government she was recommissioned as a depot ship before being decommissioned again in
1921 and scrapped in
1924.
See
HMS Agincourt for other ships of this name.
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Maritimequest HMS Agincourt Photo Gallery
