HMS Superb was one of three dreadnought battleships built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. She spent almost 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.
Superb was transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet in October 1918 and became its flagship. She supported Allied forces in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea after the war ended in November. The ship was deemed obsolete and was reduced to reserve when she returned home in early 1919 and was then used as a training ship. Superb was used for gunnery experiments in 1920 and then became a target ship in 1922. The ship was sold for scrap late that year and broken up in 1923.
Design and description
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. Superb had an overall length of , a beam of , and a normal draught of . She displaced at normal load and at deep load. In 1914 her crew numbered 840 officers and ratings.
thumb|275px|left|Right elevation and plan of the first generation of British dreadnoughts from [[Brassey's Naval Annual, 1912]]
The Bellerophons were powered by two sets of Parsons direct-drive steam turbines, each driving two shafts, using steam from eighteen Yarrow boilers. The turbines were rated at and intended to give the ship a maximum speed of . During Superbs sea trials on 2 April 1909, 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
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 in single mounts. 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. The ships were also fitted with three 18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes, one on each broadside and the third in the stern.
Modifications
The guns on the forward turret roof were transferred to the superstructure in 1914 and the guns from the wing turrets were remounted in the aft superstructure in 1914–1915; 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 1915, a fire-control director had been installed high on the forward tripod mast and approximately of additional deck armour was added after the Battle of Jutland a year later. By April 1917, Superb 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. By this time, the ship mounted 11 four-inch guns, plus one three- and one four-inch AA gun. After the war ended, both AA guns were removed.
Construction and career
thumb|left|Aerial view of Superb underway, 1917
Superb was the eighth ship of her name to serve in the Royal Navy. The ship was ordered on 26 December 1906 and was laid down by Armstrong Whitworth at their shipyard in Elswick on 6 February 1907. She was launched on 7 November and completed in May 1909. Superb took part in the combined exercises for the Mediterranean, Home and Atlantic Fleets in January 1911 and was present during the Coronation Fleet Review for King George V at Spithead on 24 June. to safeguard the fleet from a possible German surprise attack. Captain Price Lewes relived Hope on 28 July. In August, following the outbreak of World War I, the Home Fleet was reorganised as the Grand Fleet, and placed under the command of Admiral John Jellicoe. Most of it was briefly based (22 October to 3 November) at Lough Swilly, Ireland, while the defences at Scapa were strengthened. The 1st BS cruised north-west of the Shetland Islands and conducted gunnery practice on 8–12 December. Four days later, the Grand Fleet sortied during the German raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby, but failed to make contact with the High Seas Fleet. Superb and the rest of the Grand Fleet conducted another sweep of the North Sea on 25–27 December.
thumb|upright=2|The 1st Battle Squadron at sea, April 1915
The ship departed Scapa Flow to have her turbines repaired at Portsmouth on 18 January 1915 and rejoined her squadron on 11 March. During this time, Captain Edmond Hyde Parker relieved Bentinck. Superb had to be escorted from Devonport on 16 June after the completion of her refit. The Grand Fleet conducted training off Shetland beginning on 11 July. On 2–5 September, the fleet went on another cruise in the northern end of the North Sea and conducted gunnery drills. Throughout the rest of the month, the fleet was performing numerous training exercises before making another sweep into the North Sea on 13–15 October. Almost three weeks later, Superb participated in another fleet training operation west of Orkney during 2–5 November. Five days later, the ship was transferred to the 4th Battle Squadron. When the dreadnought began a refit later that month, she was relieved by Superb as the flagship of the 3rd Division of the 4th BS, commanded by Rear-Admiral Alexander Duff.
On 31 May Superb was the eleventh ship from the head of the battle line after deployment. at the crippled light cruiser , claiming several hits. At 19:17, the ship fired seven salvos at the battlecruiser , but did not make any hits. This was the last time that the ship fired her guns during the battle. She received no damage and fired a total of 54 twelve-inch shells (38 high explosive and 16 common pointed, capped) 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. Superb was refitting at this time and did not participate in this action. On 2 January 1918, Hyde Parker was relieved by Captain Sidney Drury-Lowe The ship began a refit that same month before recommissioning in June. and Superb became the flagship of its commander, Vice-Admiral Sir Somerset Gough-Calthorpe, upon her arrival at Mudros on 31 October. The ship led an Allied squadron that entered the Ottoman capital, Constantinople, on 13 November, following the Armistice of Mudros. A month later, Gough-Calthorpe tasked Superb to provide a crew for the , which had been turned over to the Allies by the Germans after the Armistice of 11 November. On 4 December, the ship conveyed Gough-Calthorpe to Odessa, Russia, to inspect the situation there; he made another such visit to Port Said, Egypt, in late March 1919.
The following month, she was relieved and sailed for England, and was reduced to reserve at Sheerness upon her arrival on 26 April as she was thoroughly obsolete in comparison to the latest dreadnoughts. Superb became a gunnery training ship in September, until she was relieved of that duty in December. The ship was listed for disposal on 26 March 1920 at the Nore and was used for gunnery experiments in December. Beginning in May 1922, she was used as a target ship for the next several months. In December, she was sold to Stanlee Shipbreaking Company, but was not towed to Dover for demolition until 7 April 1923.