HMS General Wolfe was one of eight 12-inch gun monitors built for the Royal Navy in 1915. These ships were constructed using spare 12-inch guns from older pre-dreadnoughts, made possible by the influence of Winston Churchill, the First Lord of the Admiralty, and Admiral Jackie Fisher, the First Sea Lord. Churchill's campaigns, such as the bombardment of the Dardanelles, and Fisher's Baltic Project, necessitated the use of such specialized vessels. Upon completion in 1915, General Wolfe was assigned to various bombardment roles as part of the Dover Patrol, participating in raids on Ostend and Zeebrugge. However, she is best known for her significant modification: the addition of a single 18-inch gun, one of the largest ever fitted to a Royal Navy warship.
The concept of a small ship with a large gun and shallow draft dates back to the age of sail, when bomb vessels were used to bombard forts. These vessels, called bomb ketches, were small, shallow-draft ships equipped with large-bore mortars. In the iron and steam age, similar concepts were revived during the Crimean War and the American Civil War. By November 1914, during the First World War, the Admiralty sought to break the stalemate on the Western Front by using monitors equipped with heavy guns to bombard German positions.
The idea for British monitors began when Charles Schwab, president of Bethlehem Steel Works, offered to sell 14-inch guns to Churchill. This led to the construction of the first British monitors, which were armed with these guns. Encouraged by their rapid construction, Churchill and Fisher planned further monitors using 12-inch guns from obsolete pre-dreadnoughts. Thus, the Lord Clive-class monitors, including General Wolfe, were conceived. The class was armed with modified 12-inch guns capable of firing over 21,000 yards.
These monitors had a draft of 10 feet and were powered by steam reciprocating engines, giving them a top speed of around 10 knots. The displacement was 5,600 tons, and they featured increased armor thickness. The ships were designed with an open upper deck to accommodate observation seaplanes, making them among the first to be designed to carry aircraft. They had a crew of about 200 men and were relatively sparsely equipped.
General Wolfe joined the Dover Patrol in November 1915, and after some initial operations, including attempts to intercept German airships, she participated in bombardments along the Belgian coast. These operations were quite effective, demonstrating the utility of air spotting procedures for correcting artillery fire. The monitors also engaged in anti-destroyer patrols, proving capable of deterring German naval forces.
In December 1917, General Wolfe underwent significant modifications to mount an 18-inch gun originally from the battlecruiser HMS Furious. This gun, weighing 149 tons, required extensive strengthening of the forecastle deck and resulted in increased draft and reduced freeboard. Despite these challenges, the modification was completed, and General Wolfe returned to service in August 1918, unlike her sister ships Lord Clive and Prince Eugene, which did not receive their 18-inch guns.
After the war, General Wolfe was laid up and eventually scrapped in 1923. The development and deployment of these monitors illustrate the Royal Navy's innovative approach to naval warfare, adapting older technologies to meet the strategic demands of World War I.
Intro 0:00
Background 0:26
Service 12:16
18 Inch Gun 15:30
Conclusion 21:50
Sources/Other Reading:
www.amazon.com/Big-Gun-Monito...
www.amazon.com/Monitors-Royal....
www.amazon.com/Castles-Steel-...
Video Information:
Copyright fair use notice. All media used in this video is used for the purpose of education under the terms of fair use. All footage and images used belong to their copyright holders, when applicable.
Негізгі бет HMS General Wolfe: A Tiny Ship With the LARGEST Gun in Royal Navy Service Ever
Пікірлер: 29