HMS Bellerophon was the lead ship of her class of three dreadnought battleships built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. She spent her whole career assigned to the Home and Grand Fleets. Aside from participating in the Battle of Jutland in May 1916 and the inconclusive action of 19 August, her service during the First World War generally consisted of routine patrols and training in the North Sea. The ship was deemed obsolete after the war and was used as a training ship before she was placed in reserve. Bellerophon was sold for scrap in 1921 and broken up beginning the following year.

Design and description

thumb|left|Broadside view of Bellerophon from [[Jane's Fighting Ships, 1919]]

The design of the Bellerophon class was derived from that of the revolutionary battleship , with a slight increase in size, armour and a more powerful secondary armament. Bellerophon had an overall length of , a beam of , and a normal draught of . She displaced at normal load and at deep load. In 1909 her crew numbered 680 officers and ratings and 720 in 1910.

The Bellerophons were powered by two sets of Parsons direct-drive steam turbines, each driving two shafts, using steam from eighteen Babcock & Wilcox boilers. The turbines were rated at and intended to give the ship a maximum speed of . During Bellerophons sea trials on 2 November 1908, she reached a top speed of from . The ship carried enough coal and fuel oil to give her a range of at a cruising speed of .

Armament and armour

thumb|left|Plan view of Bellerophon from Jane's Fighting Ships, 1919

The Bellerophon class was equipped with ten breech-loading (BL) Mk X guns in five twin-gun turrets, three along the centreline and the remaining two as wing turrets. The centreline turrets were designated 'A', 'X' and 'Y', from front to rear, and the port and starboard wing turrets were 'P' and 'Q' respectively. The secondary, or anti-torpedo boat armament, comprised 16 BL Mk VII guns. Two of these guns were each installed on the roofs of the fore and aft centreline turrets and the wing turrets in unshielded mounts, and the other eight were positioned in the superstructure. All secondary guns were in single mounts. The ships were also fitted with three 18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes, one on each broadside and the third in the stern.

Modifications

thumb|The 3-inch AA gun on the former searchlight platform,

An experimental fire-control director was fitted in the forward spotting top and evaluated in May 1910. The guns on the forward turret roof were transferred to the superstructure in 1913–1914 and the roof guns from the wing turrets were remounted in the aft superstructure about a year later; all of the four-inch guns in the superstructure were enclosed to better protect their crews. In addition, a single three-inch (76 mm) anti-aircraft (AA) gun was added on the former searchlight platform between the aft turrets. Shortly afterwards, the guns on the aft turret were removed as were one pair from the superstructure. Around the same time another three-inch AA gun was added to the aft turret roof.

By May 1916, a director had been installed high on the forward tripod mast, but it was not fully wired up by the end of the month when the Battle of Jutland was fought. After the battle approximately of additional deck armour was added. Sometime during the year, the ship was fitted to operate kite balloons. By April 1917, Bellerophon had exchanged the three-inch AA gun on 'Y' turret for a four-inch gun and the stern torpedo tube had been removed. In 1918 a high-angle rangefinder was fitted, the starboard aft four-inch gun was removed and the four-inch AA gun was moved to the quarterdeck. After the war ended, both AA guns were removed.

Construction and career

thumb|Bellerophon at anchor, 1911

Bellerophon was named after the mythic Greek hero Bellerophon and was the fourth ship of her name to serve in the Royal Navy. The ship was ordered on 30 October 1906 and was laid down at HM Dockyard, Portsmouth on 3 December 1906. She was launched on 27 July 1907 and completed in February 1909. On 16 December, the Grand Fleet sortied during the German raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby, but failed to make contact with the High Seas Fleet. Bellerophon and the 4th BS conducted target practice north of the Hebrides on 24 December and then rendezvoused with the rest of the Grand Fleet for another sweep of the North Sea on 25–27 December.

thumb|The 4th Battle Squadron steaming in [[line abreast in the North Sea, 1915. The ship nearest the camera is of the (probably either or ). The second ship is . The two ships in the distance are (in no order): Bellerophon and .]]

Jellicoe's ships, including Bellerophon, conducted gunnery drills on 10–13 January 1915 west of Orkney and Shetland. On the evening of 23 January, the bulk of the Grand Fleet sailed in support of Beatty's battlecruisers, but they were too far away to participate in the ensuing Battle of Dogger Bank the following day. On 7–10 March, the Grand Fleet made a sweep in the northern North Sea, during which it conducted training manoeuvres. Another such cruise took place on 16–19 March. On 11 April, the fleet patrolled the central North Sea and returned to port on 14 April; another patrol in the area took place on 17–19 April, followed by gunnery drills off Shetland on 20–21 April.

In May, Bellerophon was refitted at Devonport.

The fleet departed for a cruise in the North Sea on 26 February 1916; Jellicoe had intended to use the Harwich Force of cruisers and destroyers to sweep the Heligoland Bight, but bad weather prevented operations in the southern North Sea. As a result, the operation was confined to the northern end of the sea. Another sweep began on 6 March, but had to be abandoned the following day as the weather grew too severe for the escorting destroyers. On the night of 25 March, Bellerophon and the rest of the fleet sailed from Scapa Flow to support Beatty's battlecruisers and other light forces raiding the German Zeppelin base at Tondern. By the time the Grand Fleet approached the area on 26 March, the British and German forces had already disengaged and a strong gale threatened the light craft, so the fleet was ordered to return to base. On 21 April, the Grand Fleet conducted a demonstration off Horns Reef to distract the Germans while the Imperial Russian Navy relaid its defensive minefields in the Baltic Sea. The fleet returned to Scapa Flow on 24 April and refuelled before proceeding south in response to intelligence reports that the Germans were about to launch a raid on Lowestoft, but only arrived in the area after the Germans had withdrawn. On 2–4 May, the fleet conducted another demonstration off Horns Reef to keep German attention focused on the North Sea.

Battle of Jutland

thumb|400px|Maps showing the manoeuvres of the British (blue) and German (red) fleets on 31 May – 1 June 1916|alt=The British fleet sailed from northern Britain to the east while the Germans sailed from Germany in the south; the opposing fleets met off the Danish coast

In an attempt to lure out and destroy a portion of the Grand Fleet, the High Seas Fleet, composed of 16 dreadnoughts, 6 pre-dreadnoughts, and supporting ships, departed the Jade Bight early on the morning of 31 May. The fleet sailed in concert with Vice Admiral Franz Hipper's five battlecruisers. The Royal Navy's Room 40 had intercepted and decrypted German radio traffic containing plans of the operation. In response the Admiralty ordered the Grand Fleet, totalling some 28 dreadnoughts and 9 battlecruisers, to sortie the night before to cut off and destroy the High Seas Fleet.

On 31 May, Bellerophon was the fourteenth ship from the head of the battle line after deployment. and may have engaged the German dreadnoughts during this time, but did not claim to have hit anything. At 19:17, the ship opened fire at the battlecruiser and scored one hit that glanced off the conning tower. The only significant damage that the armour-piercing, capped (APC) shell caused was from a splinter that destroyed the rangefinder in 'B' turret. About ten minutes later, Bellerophon engaged several German destroyer flotillas with her main armament without result. This was the last time that the ship fired her guns during the battle. She was not damaged and fired a total of 62 twelve-inch shells (42 APC and 21 common pointed, capped) and 14 shells from her four-inch guns during the battle.

Subsequent activity

The Grand Fleet sortied on 18 August to ambush the High Seas Fleet while it advanced into the southern North Sea, but a series of miscommunications and mistakes prevented Jellicoe from intercepting the German fleet before it returned to port. Two light cruisers were sunk by German U-boats during the operation, prompting Jellicoe to decide to not risk the major units of the fleet south of 55° 30' North due to the prevalence of German submarines and mines. The Admiralty concurred and stipulated that the Grand Fleet would not sortie unless the German fleet was attempting an invasion of Britain or there was a strong possibility it could be forced into an engagement under suitable conditions. On 31 August Bruen was relieved by Captain Hugh Watson. Captain Vincent Molteno assumed command on 13 February 1918. Captain Francis Mitchell relieved Molteno on 12 October.

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

  • MaritimeQuest HMS Bellerophon pages
  • Battle of Jutland Crew Lists Project - HMS Bellerophon Crew List