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Post by Triton on Jan 15, 2012 22:22:37 GMT -8
VESSEL LINEAGE/LEGACY OF U.S.S. AUDACIOUSCrest of HMS Audacious on display in the Briefing Room of U.S.S. Audacious NCC-74709
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Post by Triton on Jan 15, 2012 22:23:10 GMT -8
FRENCH SHIP AUDACIEUX (1784)CareerName: Audacieux Namesake: "Audacious" Ordered: February 15, 1782 Builder: Lorient Laid down: July 8, 1782 Launched: August 28, 1784 Commissioned: 1785 Fate: Broken up in Brest in 1803 General charcteristicsClass and type: Téméraire class ship of the line Displacement: 2,966 tonnes 5,260 tonnes fully loaded Length: 55.87 metres (172 French feet) Beam: 14.90 metres (44' 6) Draft: 7.26 metres (22 French feet) Propulsion: Up to 2 485 m² of sails Complement: 678 men Armament: 74 guns: Lower gundeck: 28 x 36-pdr long guns Upper gundeck: 30 x 24-pdr long guns Forecastle and Quarter deck: 16 x 8-pdr long guns 4 x 36-pdr carronades Armor: Timber The Audacieux was a Téméraire-class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy. Between 1791 and 1793, she was decommissioned in Lorient. She joined active service again in 1793, and the next year, she salvaged the Révolutionnaire, dismasted after the Glorious First of June. She was eventually broken up in 1803. Scale model of the Achille , sister-ship of the Audacieux , on display at the Musée de la Marine in Paris.
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Post by Triton on Jan 15, 2012 22:23:46 GMT -8
HMS AUDACIOUS (1785)CareerName: HMS AudaciousBuilder: Randall, Rotherhithe Laid down: August 1783 Launched: July 23, 1785 Honors and awards: Participated in: Battle of the Nile Battle of Algeciras Bay Fate: Broken up, August 1815 General CharacteristicsClass and type: Arrogant class ship of the line Tons burthen: 1624 bm Length: 168 ft (51 m) (gundeck) Beam: 46 ft 9 in (14.25 m) Depth of hold: 19 ft 9 in (6.02 m) Propulsion: Sails Sail plan:Full rigged ship Armament: 74 guns: - Gundeck: 28 × 32 pdrs
- Upper gundeck: 28 × 18 pdrs
- Quarterdeck: 14 × 9 pdrs
- Forecastle: 4 × 9 pdrs
HMS Audacious was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on July 23, 1785 at Rotherhithe, a district in inner southeast London, England. She was the first ship to bear the name. Model of the Arrogant -class HMS Audacious on display in the Briefing Room of U.S.S. Audacious NCC-74709. She took part in the Battle of the Nile August 1-3, 1798, also known as the Battle of Aboukir Bay, under Captain Davidge Gould, where she engaged the French ship Conquérant and helped to force her surrender. Map of ship positions and movements during the Battle of Aboukir Bay, August 1–2, 1798. British ships are in red; French ships are in blue. Intermediate ship positions are shown in pale red/blueAnother map depicting the Battle of Aboukir Bay, August 1, 1798.HMS Audacious was assigned to Admiral George Elphinstone's, 1st Viscount Keith, Mediterranean fleet. She was used by Lord Keith as his flagship for a very short period after the loss of HMS Queen Charlotte, which caught fire and sank on March 17, 1800 while engaging in a reconnoiter of the island of Cabrera. In July 6-12, 1801, under her Captain Shuldham Peard, Audacious fought in both Admiral James Saumarez's, 1st Baron de Saumarez, actions off Gibraltar known as the Battle of Algeciras Bay. Between the two engagements, Admiral Saumarez briefly transferred his flag to her while his more usual ship HMS Caeser, under the command of Captain Jahleel Brenton, underwent emergency repairs. She was finally broken up in August 1815. Arrogant class ship of the lineThe Arrogant-class ships of the line were a class of twelve 74-gun third rate ships designed by Sir Thomas Slade for the Royal Navy. DesignThe Arrogant class ships were designed as a development of Slade's previous Bellona class, sharing the same basic dimensions. During this period, the original armament was the same across all the ships of the common class, of which the Arrogant class ships were members. Two ships were ordered on December 13, 1758 to this design (as the same time as the fourth and fifth units of the Bellona class), and a further ten ships were built to a slightly modified version of the Arrogant design from 1773 onwards.
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Post by Triton on Jan 15, 2012 22:24:44 GMT -8
FRENCH FRIGATE AUDACIEUSE (1856)CareerName: AudacieuseNamesake: "Audacious" Builder: Brest Laid down: 1854 Launched: January 22, 1856 Decommissioned: September 1864 Out of service: April 11, 1879 Reinstated: December 1864 Fate: Deleted in 1872 General characteristicsClass and type: Ardente class frigate Displacement: 1960 tonnes Length: 74 metres Beam: 14.7 metres Draught: 3.9 metres Installed power: 2,650 ihp (1,980 kW) Propulsion: steam engine, one propeller Speed: 8.5 knots Complement: 530 men Armament: - 5x 30-pounder long guns
- 6x 30-pounder howitzers
The Audacieuse was an Ardente class frigate of the French Navy. She served between France and the Far East, notable ferrying ambassador Jean-Baptiste Louis Gros to China in 1857 and bringing guns from the Taku Forts to France. French frigate Audacieuse drawn by F. Roux
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Post by Triton on Jan 15, 2012 22:25:26 GMT -8
HMS AUDACIOUS (1869)CareerName: HMS AudaciousOrdered: April 29, 1867 Builder: Robert Napier, Govan Cost: £256,291 Laid down: June 26, 1867 Launched: February 27, 1869 Completed:September 10, 1870 Commissioned: October 1870 Decommissioned:1894 Renamed: Fisgard in 1904 Imperieuse in 1914 Victorious in 1919 Reclassified: Training hulk in 1902 Receiving ship in 1914 Fate: Sold for scrap March 15, 1929 Motto: " Audaces Fortuna Juvat" "Fortune Favors the Audacious" General characteristicsClass and type: Audacious-class ironclad Displacement: 6,034 long tons (6,131 t) Length: 280 ft (85.3 m) Beam: 54 ft (16.5 m) Draft: 23 ft (7.0 m) Installed power: 4,021 ihp (2,998 kW) Propulsion: 1 shaft, 1 horizontal return connecting rod steam engine Sail plan: Full rigged ship, later converted to barque-rig Speed: 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) Range: 1,260 nmi (2,330 km; 1,450 mi) at 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph) Complement:450 Armament: - 10 × 9-inch rifled muzzle-loading guns
- 4 × rifled muzzle-loading 64-pounder guns
Armor: Armor: Belt: 6–8 in (152–203 mm) Bulkheads: 4–5 in (102–127 mm) Battery: 4–6 in (102–152 mm) Lithograph of Audacious -class HMS Audacious circa 1870 as published in the London Illustrated News November 20, 1870. Reproduction on display in the Briefing Room of U.S.S. Audacious NCC-74709. Right elevation, plan and cross-section of the Audacious- class ironcladsA 9-inch (229 mm) muzzle-loading rifle aboard HMS Audacious in the 1870s. Hanging from the deckhead above the gun are its ramming staff and its sponging-out staff. One of the gun's shells, partially obscured by the glare from outside, is hanging in the gunport in front of the gun.
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Post by Triton on Jan 15, 2012 22:26:14 GMT -8
HMS AUDACIOUS (1869) -- continued Photograph of HMS Audacious at anchor circa 1875 with the later barque rig.Photograph of officers of HMS Audacious taken March 28, 1878 in Hong Kong.Photograph of HMS Audacious in Nagasaki Harbor taken April 12, 1878.Undated color lithograph of HMS Audacious from the National Maritime Museum Greenwich collectionUndated watercolor of HMS Audacious from the National Maritime Museum Greenwich collectionPlate from HMS Audacious from the National Maritime Museum Greenwich collection
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Post by Triton on Jan 15, 2012 22:26:50 GMT -8
HMS AUDACIOUS (1869) -- continued
Audacious class ironclad
The Audacious-class battleships were designed by Sir Edward Reed at the request of the Board of Admiralty to serve as second-class battleships on distant foreign stations.
Background and design
The principal motivation driving the Admiralty was the French policy, already well advanced, of dispatching their own small ironclads to these same distant stations. HMS Monarch was under construction, and HMS Captain had been authorized. Both of these were turret-armed ships, and the press agitated for a turret-mounted armament in these newly ordered ships. The Admiralty, however, decided that as there had been built a long succession of successful broadside ironclads, and no turret-armed ships had been produced other than some coast-defence ships of low displacement and limited range, it would be better to await the assessment of Monarch and Captain before departing from the broadside principle.
As the ships were intended for service in waters far distant from Britain, and given the limited efficiency of the steam engines of the period, it was necessary to equip them with a full sailing rig. Reed never wavered from his belief that in a fully rigged ship armament carried in a central broadside battery was the superior method, being unobstructed by masts and rigging. Both the designer and the Admiralty were therefore in total agreement that these ships should not be armed with turret-mounted artillery. The rig was later converted to a barque-rig, which required fewer hands to manage.
The ships were designed following the lines of HMS Defence, by then more than five years old. Reed found that, on the dimensions of the older ship, the armament, armor, and machinery would all be insufficient for the stated requirements, and asked for an increase in tonnage, which was granted by the Board only with reluctance.
Although four ships were required, initially only two, HMS Audacious and HMS Invincible were laid down. The Admiralty, following a commitment made to Parliament by the First Lord of the Admiralty, put the other two ships out to tender. Submissions of various designs were received: a broadside and turret ship from Mare & Company, a broadside ship from Palmers, a different broadside ship from Thames Ironworks, and turret ships from Napiers, Samudas and Lairds Co & Sons. All were determined to be in some way inadequate, and ultimately the third and fourth ships were built, with some delay, to the Admiralty design.
This class was the first homogeneous class of battleships to be launched since the Prince Consort class, and the last until the Admiral class battleships.
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Post by Triton on Jan 15, 2012 22:27:31 GMT -8
HMS AUDACIOUS (1869) -- continued
HMS Audacious was the lead ship of the Audacious-class ironclads built for the Royal Navy in the late 1860s. They were designed as second-class ironclads suitable for use on foreign stations and the ship spent the bulk of her career on the China Station. She was decommissioned in 1894 and hulked in 1902 for use as a training ship. The ship was towed to Scapa Flow after the beginning of the First World War to be used as a receiving ship and then to Rosyth after the war ended. Audacious was sold for scrap in 1929.
Design and description
The Audacious-class ironclads were laid out as central battery ironclads with the armament concentrated amidships. They were the first British ironclads to have a two-deck battery with the upper deck guns sponsoned out over the sides of the hull. The ships were fitted with a short, plow-shaped ram and their crew numbered 450 officers and men.
HMS Audacious was 280 feet (85.3 m) long between perpendiculars. She had a beam of 54 feet (16.5 m) and a draft of 23 feet (7.0 m). The ship was first British ironclad to be completed below her designed displacement; this meant that she was top heavy and required 360 long tons (370 t) of cement ballast to raise her meta-centric height. Audacious, and her sisters, were the steadiest gun platforms among the large British ironclads of their era. Audacious was given an experimental zinc sheath for her hull in an attempt to reduce bio-fouling that proved unsuccessful.
Audacious had two 2-cylinder horizontal return connecting rod steam engines made by Ravenhill, each driving a single 16-foot-2-inch (4.9 m) propeller. The bronze four-bladed Mangin propellers were not arranged in the usual radial cross shape, but rather in two pairs, one behind the other, on an elongated boss in an attempt to reduce their drag (physics) when the ship used her sails. They were later replaced by two-bladed Griffiths propellers. Six rectangular boilers provided steam to the engine at a working pressure of 31 psi (214 kPa; 2 kgf/cm2). The engines produced a total of 4,021 indicated horsepower (2,998 kW) during sea trials on October 21, 1870 and Audacious reached a maximum speed of 12.83 knots (23.76 km/h; 14.76 mph). The ship carried 460 long tons (470 t) of coal, enough to steam 1,260 nautical miles (2,330 km; 1,450 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).
Propulsion
The Audacious-class ironclads were initially ship rigged and had a sail area of 25,054 square feet (2,328 m2). After the loss of HMS Captain in a storm in 1870, the ships were modified with a barque rig which reduced their sail area to 23,700 square feet (2,202 m2). They were slow under sail, only 6.5 knots (12.0 km/h; 7.5 mph), partly due to the drag of the twin screws, and their shallow draft and flat bottom meant that they were leewardly when close-hauled. The three ships, Audacious, Vanguard, and Invincible, with balanced rudders were described as unmanageable under sail alone.
Armament
HMS Audacious was armed with ten 9-inch and four 64-pounder rifled muzzle-loading guns. Six of the 9-inch (229 mm) guns were mounted on the main deck, three on each side, while the other four guns were fitted above them on the upper deck. Their gun ports were in each corner of the upper battery and could be worked in all weathers, unlike like the guns on the main deck below them. The 64-pounder guns were mounted on the upper deck, outside the battery, as chase guns. The ship also had six 20-pounder Armstrong guns for use as saluting guns.
The shell of the 14-calibre 9-inch gun weighed 254 pounds (115.2 kg) while the gun itself weighed 12 long tons (12 t). It had a muzzle velocity of 1,420 ft/s (430 m/s) and was credited with the ability to penetrate a nominal 11.3 inches (287 mm) of wrought iron armor at the muzzle. The 16-calibre 64-pounder gun weighed 3.2 long tons (3.3 t) and fired a 6.3-inch (160 mm), 64-pound (29.0 kg) shell that had a muzzle velocity of 1,125 ft/s (343 m/s).
In 1878 Audacious received four 14-inch (356 mm) torpedo launchers that were carried on the main deck, outside the armored battery. When the ship was refitted in 1889–90, she received eight 4-inch breech-loading guns as well as four quick-firing 6-pounder Hotchkiss and six 3-pounder Hotchkiss guns for defense against torpedo boats.
Armor
Audacious had a complete waterline belt of wrought iron that was 8 inches (203 mm) thick amidships and tapered to 6 inches (152 mm) thick at the bow and stern. It only protected the main deck and reached 3 feet (1 m) above the waterline at full load and 5 feet (1.5 m) below. The guns were protected by a section of 8-inch armor, 59 feet (18.0 m) long, with a 5-inch (127 mm) transverse bulkhead forward and a 8-inch (203 mm) bulkhead to the rear. The armor was backed by 8–10 inches (200–250 mm) of teak. The total weight of her armor was 924 long tons (939 t).
HMS Audacious was 280 feet (85.3 m) long between perpendiculars. She had a beam of 54 feet (16.5 m) and a draught of 23 feet (7.0 m). The ship was first British ironclad to be completed below her designed displacement; this meant that she was top heavy and required 360 long tons (370 t) of cement ballast to raise her meta-centric height. Audacious, and her sisters, were the steadiest gun platforms among the large British ironclads of their era. Audacious was given an experimental zinc sheath for her hull in an attempt to reduce bio-fouling that proved unsuccessful.
Service
HMS Audacious was ordered on 29 April 1867 from Robert Napier in Govan, Glasgow. She was laid down on June 26, 1867 and launched on February 27, 1869 in a gale. The winds caught the rear of the ship as she was about halfway down the slipway and twisted her enough that some plates and frames of her bottom were damaged. The ship was completed on September 10, 1870 and commissioned the following month. She cost £256,291 to build.
Upon completion she became guard ship of the First Reserve at Kingstown, Ireland (modern Dún Laoghaire), but was transferred the following year to Hull where she remained until 1874. The ship was ordered to the Far East that year to serve as the flagship for the China Station under the flag of Vice-Admiral Sir Alfred Phillips Ryder. Despite the presence of escorting tugs, Audacious grounded twice while she was transiting through the Suez Canal. She relieved her sister Iron Duke in Singapore, and later collided with a merchant ship during a typhoon in Yokohama. Iron Duke relieved her in turn in 1878. Audacious returned to her previous post in Hull in 1879, relieving HMS Endymion. She served there until she began a lengthy refit which included new boilers and the addition of a poop deck.
The ship's refit was complete in March 1883 and she again relieved Iron Duke as flagship of the China Station later that year. Audacious remained there until 1889 when she returned to Chatham where she was refitted, rearmed and replaced her masts and rigging with simple pole masts fitted with fighting tops. Upon the completion of her refit in 1890 she returned to Hull for the third time until the ship was decommissioned in 1894. Audacious was relegated to 4th class reserve until her engines were removed and she was hulked as a boy's training ship in 1902 in Plymouth. In April 1904 she was renamed Fisgard (after the French translation of the Welsh town Fishguard). The ship was towed to Scapa Flow in 1914 after the start of the First World War to be used as a receiving ship and was renamed Imperieuse. In 1919 she was towed to Rosyth and renamed Victorious. On March 15, 1929 the ship was sold to Ward of Inverkeithing for scrap.
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Post by Triton on Jan 15, 2012 22:28:28 GMT -8
SPANISH TORPEDO BOAT DESTROYER AUDAZ (1897)CareerName: AudazNamesake: "Audacious" Builder: Laid down: Launched: Honors and awards: Participated in: Spanish-American War Fate: General Characteristics Audaz, a 400-ton torpedo boat destroyer, was built in Scotland in 1897. During the Spanish-American War, she was a unit of Admiral Camara's abortive Philippines relief expedition. Audaz was disposed of circa 1927. Audaz at Port Said, Egypt, June 26- July 4, 1898, while serving with Rear Admiral Manuel de la Camara's Philippines relief expedition. She has been fitted with four masts to permit the use of sails to extend her cruising range. Note furled sails on some masts, and identification letter A on her bow. Ship at extreme left is the Spanish auxiliary cruiser Patriota. Audaz at Port Said, Egypt, June 26 - July 4, 1898, while serving with Admiral Camara's squadron. The Spanish auxiliary cruiser Patriota is in the background. This photograph's original negative was retouched by the photographer to remove Audaz' i dentification letters on her bow and stern, permitting sale of the image as representing the virtually identical Osada.
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Post by Triton on Jan 15, 2012 22:29:07 GMT -8
HMS AUDACIOUS (1912)CareerName: HMS AudaciousPenant number: 54 Ordered: 1910 Laid down: March 23, 1911 Launched: September 14, 1912 Commissioned: October 21, 1913 Fate: Mined, October 27, 1914 Motto: " Audaces Fortuna Juvat" "Fortune Favors the Audacious" General characteristicsClass and type: King George V (1911)-class battleship Displacement: 23,400 long tons (23,800 t) Length: 598 ft (182 m) Beam: 89 ft (27 m) Draft: 28 ft (8.5 m) Installed power: 31,000 shp (23,000 kW) Propulsion: 4 × Parsons turbines 4 × shafts Speed: 21 kn (24 mph; 39 km/h) Complement: 900 Armament: - 10 × 13.5 in (340 mm) Mk V guns (5x2)
- 16 × BL 4 in (100 mm) Mk VII guns
- 3 × 21 in (530 mm) torpedo tubes
Watercolor of HMS Audacious painted by William Lionel Wylie circa 1913-14 on display at the National Maritime Museum Greenwich.Audacious' forward main gun turrets in 1913. Each mounted two 13.5-inch (343 mm) Mark V naval guns.
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Post by Triton on Jan 15, 2012 22:29:49 GMT -8
HMS AUDACIOUS (1912) - continued HMS Audacious was a King George V-class battleship of the Royal Navy. The vessel did not see any combat in the First World War, being sunk by a German naval mine off the northern coast of Donegal, Ireland in 1914. DesignThe four ships of the King George V class of the 1910 building programme were to have been repeats of the Orion class. However, the battle-cruiser HMS Lion, completed in May 1912 with her foremast ahead of the fore funnel, showed that this was a far better arrangement than that in the Orions, where it was the other way round. This modification produced a new and much improved class of battleship, a rare case where a battle-cruiser design influenced that of a battleship. Although the Orion and King George V classes were very similar, the position of the mast easily distinguishes the two types. The first two ships of the class, King George V and Centurion, were initially fitted with pole type foremasts, but the advent of director firing required a more substantial mast, so they were refitted with heavier tripod masts. Audacious and Ajax were fitted with tripod masts from the outset. PropulsionThe machinery arrangement was very similar to that of the earlier Orion class: quadruple propellers driven by Parsons direct drive steam turbines. The machinery spaces were split into three, with the inboard shafts leading to the centre engine room, and the outer shafts to the port and starboard wing engine rooms. The two inboard shafts were driven by the high pressure ahead and astern turbines, with the ahead turbines having an extra stage for cruising. This was separated from the main turbine by a bypass valve. The outer shafts were driven by the ahead and astern low pressure turbines. For cruising, the outboard turbines would be shut down, the ship relying on the inboard shafts alone. The Yarrow boilers remained in three groups of six, eighteen boilers in total. Although primarily coal-fired, Audacious was equipped with oil spraying equipment for quickly raising steam. Normal power was 31,000 SHP, giving 21 knots (39 km/h). Bunker capacity was up to 3,180 tons of coal and 800 tons of oil, which gave a range of 6,370 miles (10,250 km) at 10 knots (19 km/h). Main armamentTen 13.5" C45 Mk5 guns were carried in five twin turrets, all on the centre line, with the B and X turrets superfiring over the A and Y. Q turret, sited amidships, was the only one with restricted firing arcs, although B and X were still restricted from firing directly over A and Y, due to the very real possibility of muzzle blast entering the lower turrets sighting hoods, which were still placed in the forward ends of the turret roofs. Because of this, the B and Y guns were restricted from firing over from right ahead/astern to 30 degrees either side. The main battery of the King George V class was very similar to that of the preceding Orion battleships. The 13.5" gun, which had reappeared in the Royal navy after a gap of many years, and was first fitted in the Orion class, was an excellent weapon with very good range, accuracy and hitting power. It also had a good safety margin, allowing it to fire a heavier shell. The increase from the 1,260 pounds (570 kg) early shells fired by the Orions to the 1,410 pounds (640 kg) heavy shell did not increase the range, even though the propellant charge was now four quarter charges of almost 106 pounds (48 kg) of MD450 (rod based) cordite, the gun still had a maximum range of just under 24,000 yards (22,000 m). The barrel construction consisted of a liner in an inner tube (A) which was wire wound with many miles of flat wire. Over this was shrunk a steel jacket. There were problems with the wire winding; the barrel could droop, and it is often quoted that the German solid guns were better made. Solid guns took a lot longer and much more machining to make, whereas the wire wound gun was much quicker to manufacture. With a navy with such a large number of weapons, speed of manufacture was of the essence and the Royal Navy never had supply problems for replacement barrels that the German navy had. There were five main magazines and an associated shell room,[clarification needed] each serving its own gun. There were 112 rounds for each gun, so each magazine would hold 896 106 pounds (48 kg) quarter charges of cordite, for a total of 474,880 pounds (215,400 kg) of explosive, and a total of 1,120 shells weighing 1,568,000 pounds (711,000 kg) or 700 tons. The barrel life of 400 rounds for the lighter shell was reduced to 220 rounds, which was still good for the time. [edit] Secondary battery It was widely known that the 4" secondary guns of these and all preceding Dreadnought types were far too light to deal with the newer and larger torpedo boats and destroyers and the increasing range of torpedoes, but 6" guns would have added 2,000 tons of weight and increased the cost substantially, so the Liberal government of the day vetoed this improvement. Sixteen 4" C50 Mk8 guns were carried, mainly in casemate mounts, and mainly in the forward end of the vessel. Most of the guns were mounted in the deck houses, but four were mounted in hull casemates forwards below the forecastle deck. These were found to be useless in any kind of sea, so they were removed in 1915, reducing the battery to 12 guns. Although these guns were a bit ineffectual in size, the deck-house mounted weapons could at least be used in most weathers. The class were also fitted with four 3 pounder signalling guns. Torpedo armamentThree 21" submerged torpedo tubes were fitted, with one on either beam and the third fitted in the stern. The torpedoes carried were the 21" Mk2 with a 515 pounds (234 kg) explosive charge of TNT. At 45 knots (83 km/h), they had a range of just 4,500 yards (4,100 m), rising to nearly 11,000 yards (10,000 m) at 30 knots (56 km/h). ArmorThe armor scheme of the King George V class was basically that of the Orion, but with slight improvements. The relatively narrow beam of British capital ships (to maintain high speeds) restricted underwater protection, which was certainly deficient in comparison to their German counterparts. The torpedo (screen) bulkheads were still discontinuous over their length and rather too close to the outer hull, but did cover a greater length than those on the Orion class. The side armour belt was, as in the Orion class, carried up to the upperdeck, thus protecting the ship a little better from long range plunging shell fire. The lower belt was of 12" thickness and the upper 8" of Krupp cemented armour. The transverse armoured bulkheads were of 10" Krupp non-cemented armour (KNC), whilst the torpedo bulkheads were a maximum of 3" KNC plate over the magazine and engine room areas, but down to 1" in other areas. This deficient underwater protection was to prove critical in the sinking of the Audacious. The barbettes protecting the turret training gear and shell/charge handling spaces was of 10" Krupp cemented armour whilst outside of other armour, and tapering to 3" Krupp cemented armour when inside of other armour plating. The gun houses (turrets) had 11" faces. The decks amounted to a maximum of 4" of non-cemented armour over the magazines, machinery and other vulnerable spaces, but tapering to just 1" in other areas. Launch of HMS Audacious on September 14, 1912 at Cammell, Laird, Birkenhead HMS Audacious underway sometime between 1912 to 1914. HMS Audacious at Rosyth. Watercolor of HMS Audacious underway painted by William Lionel Wylie circa 1913-14 on display at the National Maritime Museum Greenwich.
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Post by Triton on Jan 15, 2012 22:30:37 GMT -8
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Post by Triton on Jan 15, 2012 22:31:18 GMT -8
HMS AUDACIOUS (1912) - continued Service historyOrdered under the 1910 naval estimates, Audacious was built by Cammell Laird Limited of Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. She was laid down on March 23, 1911 and launched on September 14, 1912. She commissioned into the 1st Division of the 2nd Battle Squadron on October 21, 1913. At the beginning of the First World War, Audacious was part of the 2nd Battle Squadron of the Grand Fleet. On October 27, 1914, the 2nd Battle Squadron – consisting of the 'super-dreadnoughts' King George V, Ajax, Centurion, Audacious, Monarch, Thunderer, and Orion – left Lough Swilly to conduct gunnery exercises at Loch na Keal in Ireland. In the middle of a turn, at 08:45, Audacious ran upon a mine laid by the German auxiliary minelayer Berlin off Tory Island. The explosion occurred 16 feet (4.9 m) under the bottom of the ship, approximately 10 feet (3.0 m) forward of the transverse bulkhead at the rear of the port engine room. The port engine room, machine room, X turret shell room and compartments below them flooded immediately, with water spreading more slowly to the central engine room and adjoining spaces. Captain Cecil F. Dampier, thinking that the ship had been attacked by a submarine, hoisted the submarine warning, and the rest of the squadron steamed away from possible danger. The ship rapidly took on a list of 10-15 degrees to port, which was reduced by counter flooding compartments on the starboard side, so that by 09:45, the list ranged from 1-10 degrees as she rolled in rough seas. At this point, the starboard engine was still operational. The ship could make 9 kn (10 mph; 17 km/h) and Dampier believed that he had a chance of making the 25 mi (40 km) to land and beaching the ship. However, water was still entering the central engine room, probably because of damage to the bottom of the longitudinal bulkhead. At 10:00, the decision was taken to abandon the central engine room, but water was also rising in the starboard engine room, so that engine too was stopped. By 11:00, the central turbine was submerged and the port side deck was dipping under water as the ship rolled to that side. The light cruiser Liverpool stood by, while Audacious broadcast distress signals by wireless. The Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Fleet, Sir John Jellicoe, ordered every available destroyer and tug out to assist, but did not dare send out battleships to tow Audacious because of the apparent submarine threat. Meanwhile, the White Star liner Olympic arrived on the scene. Dampier brought the bow of the ship round to sea and ordered all non-essential crew off, boats from Liverpool and Olympic assisting, so that only 250 men remained by 14:00. At 13:30, the captain of Olympic, Commodore Haddock, suggested that his ship attempt to take Audacious in tow. Dampier agreed, and with the assistance of the destroyer Fury, a tow line was passed within 30 minutes. The ships began moving toward Lough Swilly, but Audacious was so unmanageable that the tow line parted. Liverpool and the collier Thornhill attempted to take the battleship in tow, but to no avail.[4] By 16:00, the forward deck was 4 feet (1.2 m) above water, while the stern had no more than 1 foot (0.30 m) clearance. In the meantime, at 13:08, a message had arrived from the coastguard station at Mulroy that the steamer Manchester Commerce had been mined in the same area the day before. At 16:60, Malin Head reported that the sailing vessel Cardiff had also been mined the previous night. Upon learning this, at 17:00, Jellicoe ordered the pre-dreadnought battleship Exmouth out to attempt to tow Audacious in. In case the ship was saved, he also requested an officer from the Construction Department at the Admiralty, in anticipation of major repairs. Vice-Admiral Sir Lewis Bayly, commander of the 1st Battle Squadron, arrived on the scene in the boarding vessel Cambria and took over the rescue operation.] With dark approaching, Bayly, Dampier and the remaining men on Audacious were taken off at 19:15. As the quarterdeck flooded, the ship's whaler broke loose and, slithering across the deck, caused further damage to hatches and ventilators, leading to rapid flooding of the stern. At 20:45, with the decks underwater, the ship heeled sharply, paused, and then capsized. The ship floated upside down with the bow raised until 21:00, when an explosion occurred throwing wreckage 300 feet (91 m) into the air, followed by two more. The explosion appeared to come from the area of B magazine and was possibly caused by high-explosive shells falling from their racks and exploding, then igniting the cordite magazine. A piece of armor plate fell on and killed a petty officer on Liverpool, which was 800 yd (730 m) away. This was the only casualty in connection with the sinking. The crew of Audacious take to lifeboats to be taken aboard Olympic Liverpool (left) and Fury (center), together with RMS Olympic , try to take Audacious (right) in tow. Viewed from passenger areas of RMS Olympic. AftermathJellicoe immediately proposed that the sinking be kept a secret, to which the Board of Admiralty and the British Cabinet agreed, an act open to ridicule later on. For the rest of the war, Audacious' name remained on all public lists of ship movements and activities. Many Americans on board Olympic were beyond British jurisdiction and discussed the sinking. Many photos, and even one moving film, had been taken. By 19 November, the loss of the ship was accepted in Germany.[10] Jellicoe's opposite number in Germany, Reinhard Scheer, wrote after the war, "In the case of the Audacious we can but approve the English attitude of not revealing a weakness to the enemy, because accurate information about the other side's strength has a decisive effect on the decisions taken." On November 14, 1918, shortly after the war ended, a notice officially announcing the loss appeared in The Times: “ H.M.S. Audacious. A Delayed Announcement. The Secretary of the Admiralty makes the following announcement:— H.M.S. Audacious sank after striking a mine off the North Irish coast on October 27, 1914. This was kept secret at the urgent request of the Commander-in-Chief, Grand Fleet, and the Press loyally refrained from giving it any publicity. †A Royal Navy review board judged that a contributory factor in the loss was that Audacious was not at battle stations, with water-tight doors locked and damage control teams ready. Attempts were made to use the engine circulating pumps as additional bilge pumps, but the rapid rise of water prevented this. Although hatches were open at the time of the explosion, it was claimed that all were closed before rising water reached them. Apart from the damage to the bottom of the ship, water was found to have spread through bulkheads because of faulty seals around pipes and valves, broken pipes and hatches which did not close properly. Marlborough, of the subsequent (but fairly similar) Iron Duke class, was torpedoed at Jutland and for a time continued to steam at 17 knots (20 mph; 31 km/h). The wreck of Audacious was found 24 miles (39 km) north of the Irish coast, and filmed for the television show Deep Wreck Mysteries on the History Channel. The program featured an investigation of the wreck and the circumstances of its loss by nautical archaeologist Innes McCartney and battleship expert Bill Jurens. The wreck lies upside down on the sea bed, with the starboard propeller shafts bent and rudder detached, but in clear water 17 miles (27 km) north east of Tory island.
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Post by Triton on Jan 15, 2012 22:32:11 GMT -8
HMS AUDACIOUS (1912) - continued SS Montcalm , later SS Anglo Norse, was renamed HMS Audacious from 1914 though 1918 to keep the sinking of HMS Audacious secret.
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Post by Triton on Jan 15, 2012 23:14:28 GMT -8
ITALIAN TORPEDO BOAT AUDACE (1913)CareerName: AudaceNamesake: "Audacious" Ordered: 1912 Builder: Yarrow, Scotstoun, UK Cost: Laid down: October 1913 Launched: September 27, 1916 Completed: April 1917 Commissioned: Named: KawakazeRenamed: IntrepidoAudaceTA20Classified: Destroyer Reclassified: Torpedo boat 1929 Fate: Captured by Germany on November 9, 1943 Sunk November 18, 1944 General characteristicsClass and type: Intrepido-class torpedo boat Displacement: 1000 tons (1016 tonnes) Length: 283 ft (86 m) Beam: 27 ft 6 in (8.3 m) Draft: 9 ft 6 in (2.8 m) Propulsion: Twin screw geared turbines. Speed: 27 knots ( km/h; mph) Range: 1,500 nmi (2,779 km; mi) Complement: 118 Armament: Seven 4in (102mm) guns Service historyOrdered from Yarrow shipbuilders by the Imperial Japanese Navy as the destroyer Kawakaze(together with Urakaze), and laid down in October 1913. Under a July 3, 1916 agreement she was transferred from Japan to Italy while under construction. Initially named Intrepido she was renamed Audace on September 25, 1916. Launched on September 27, 1916 and completed the following year. On trials she reached 34.5kts. Armament provided by the project (120mm and 76mm guns and 533mm TTs) was replaced by Italian samples (7 102mm/35 guns and 2 twin 450mm TTs). In 1929 she was reclassified from destroyer to torpedo boat. In 1938 she was arranged as a command and control ship for radio-controlled target San Marco. Thus both TTs were removed. At the beginning of World War II speed was 28 kts. During World War II she was initially used for minelaying duties mostly in the Adriatic. On September 9, 1943, following Italy's armistice with the allies, she was seized by the Germans in Venice and designated TA20. She continued with minelaying operations, narrowly escaping attack by the Free French destroyers Le Terrible and Le Fantasque on March 18, 1944. Her luck finally ran out on November 1, 1944, when she was sunk in action with the corvettes UJ202 and UJ208 by the Royal Navy escort destroyers Avon Vale and Wheatland in the in Adriatic sea. Source: www.navypedia.org/ships/italy/it_dd_audace2.htm
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