HMS DEFENCE was a Minotaur-class armoured cruiser of the Royal Navy, launched in 1907. She was the last armoured cruiser built for the Royal Navy.
HMS DEFENCE served with the 1st Cruiser Squadron from July 1909, as an escort for the Royal Yacht Medina in November–December 1912, and on the China station in early 1913, before rejoining the 1st Cruiser Squadron as flagship. She was stationed in the Mediterranean in early 1914. At the start of World War I, she was involved in the pursuit of Goeben and Breslau. She then spent September outside the Dardanelles. She was ordered to the South Atlantic to take part in the hunt for Admiral Graf von Spee's squadron, but the squadron was destroyed on 8 December before she could reach the area. She was then diverted to the Cape of Good Hope, prior to the Battle of Coronel.
She was the flagship of Rear Admiral Sir Robert Arbuthnot, leading the First Cruiser Squadron at the Battle of Jutland on 31 May 1916. The other ships of the squadron (HMS Warrior, HMS Duke of Edinburgh, and HMS Black Prince) were of a similar outmoded class.
On 31 May, the squadron formed the starboard flank of the cruiser screen, sailing sixteen miles ahead of the main battle fleet. HMS DEFENCE was just to the right of the centre of the line. On the evening of 31 May the Battlecruiser Squadron under Admiral Beatty was being chased by the main German High Seas Fleet, back towards the Grand Fleet, steaming at full speed towards the battle. Part of the First Cruiser Squadron became entangled in the fighting around HMS Lion, Beatty’s flagship.
A German cruiser, the SMS Wiesbaden, had been badly damaged in a clash ahead of the British battle-cruisers. While closing for the kill at high speed with the Wiesbaden, drifting and crippled between the German and British fleets, HMS DEFENCE presented a target for the combined firepower of the German battle-cruisers, whose proximity was hidden by smoke and mist. After initial damage she was struck by a salvo which blew up her after magazine, triggering explosions on the ammunition rails leading to the broadside 7.5 inch guns. Within seconds, another salvo immediately hit forward, and she blew up in a spectacular explosion, sinking with the loss of Arbuthnot and her entire complement of 54 officers, 845 men and 4 civilians for a total of 903 lives lost.
At the time, it was believed that HMS DEFENCE had been reduced to fragments by the explosion, but the wreck was discovered in 2001 by a diving team and found to be largely intact, despite the incredible violence of her sinking. It lies in around 45m of water upright on an even keel. The cordite had been hit, causing immense smoke and heat, the heat melting her hull. The wreck was designated in 2006 as a protected place under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986.
Arbuthnot's actions, initially seen as entirely heroic, have remained a matter of historical debate. Admiral of the Fleet Lord Fisher described the event as "a glorious but not a justifiable death and Arbuthnot's judgement has been questioned over his manoeuvre prior to the sinking of HMS DEFENCE: to turn his squadron across the path of the Grand Fleet. This blocked the fire of more powerful British ships, and required Beatty's flagship HMS Lion to change course to avoid collision with HMS Warrior, the two passing each other at under 200 yards.
Name: HMS DEFENCE
Ordered: 1904-05 Naval Programme
Builder: Pembroke Dockyard, Wales
Laid down: 25 February 1905
Launched: 24 April 1907
Commissioned: 9 February 1909
Fate: Sunk at Battle of Jutland, 31 May 1916
General characteristics
Displacement: 14,600 tons
Length: 490 ft (150 m) between perpendiculars
519 ft (158 m) overall
Beam: 74.5 ft (22.7 m)
Draught: 26 ft (7.9 m)
Propulsion: 24 Yarrow boilers
4 Cylinder Triple-expansion engines
2 shafts, 3-bladed propellers
27,000 hp
Speed: 22.9 knots
Complement: 54 officers
849 enlisted
903 total
Armament: 4 × BL 9.2-inch (233.7 mm) Mk XI guns (2 × 2)
10 × BL 7.5-inch (190.5 mm) Mk V guns (10 × 1)
16 × QF 12 pounder 18 cwt guns (16 × 1)
5 × 18 in (457 mm) torpedo tubes, submerged
Armour: Belt 6 inch, deck 0.75 to 1.5 inch, barbettes 7in-3in, ammo tubes 3in-2in, turrets 8in-4.5in, conning tower 10in
Honours and awards: Jutland
Delandre label
Sources and links: Wikipedia.
http://www.divernetxtra.com/news/items/ships290601.htm
http://www.northeastmedals.co.uk/britis ... t_1916.htm
Peter Crichton
__._,_.___