HMS ''Argyll'' was one of six
armoured cruisers built for the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
in the first decade of the 20th century. She was assigned to the
1st Cruiser Squadron
The First Cruiser Squadron was a Royal Navy squadron of cruisers that saw service as part of the Grand Fleet during the World War I then later as part of the Mediterranean during the Interwar period and World War II it first established in 190 ...
of the
Channel Fleet upon completion and was transferred to the
5th Cruiser Squadron of the
Atlantic Fleet in 1909. Two years later, she was detached to escort the
royal yacht during King
George V
George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936.
Born during the reign of his grandmother Qu ...
's trip to
British India
The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
. ''Argyll'' was assigned to the
3rd Cruiser Squadron
The 3rd Cruiser Squadron was a formation of cruisers of the British Royal Navy from 1902 to 1909 and 1911 to 1916 and then again from 1922 to 1941.
History First formation
The squadron was first formed in June 1902 and disbanded in March 1909 ...
of the reserve Second Fleet in 1913.
Upon mobilisation in mid-1914, her squadron was assigned to the
Grand Fleet
The Grand Fleet was the main battlefleet of the Royal Navy during the First World War. It was established in August 1914 and disbanded in April 1919. Its main base was Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands.
History
Formed in August 1914 from the F ...
; ''Argyll'' did not see combat before she
ran aground and was wrecked in October 1915. Her crew were rescued without loss and the wreck was later
salvaged before it was demolished. Nonetheless, it remains diveable.
Design and description
''Argyll'' was designed to
displace . The ship had an
overall length
The overall length (OAL) of an ammunition cartridge is a measurement from the base of the brass shell casing to the tip of the bullet, seated into the brass casing. Cartridge overall length, or "COL", is important to safe functioning of reloads i ...
of , a
beam
Beam may refer to:
Streams of particles or energy
*Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy
**Laser beam
*Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles
**Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...
of and a deep
draught of . She was powered by two 4-cylinder
triple-expansion steam engine
A compound steam engine unit is a type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages.
A typical arrangement for a compound engine is that the steam is first expanded in a high-pressure ''(HP)'' cylinder, then having given up ...
s, each driving one shaft, which produced a total of and gave a maximum speed of . The engines were powered by sixteen
Babcock & Wilcox
Babcock & Wilcox is an American renewable, environmental and thermal energy technologies and service provider that is active and has operations in many international markets across the globe with its headquarters in Akron, Ohio, USA. Historicall ...
and six cylindrical
boiler
A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, centr ...
s. ''Argyll'' was the only ship of the class not to exceed during her sea trials.
[Chesneau & Kolesnik, p. 71] She carried a maximum of of coal and her complement consisted of 610 officers and ratings.
[Friedman 2012, p. 336]
Her main armament consisted of four
breech-loading (BL) 7.5-inch Mk I guns mounted in four single-
gun turret
A gun turret (or simply turret) is a mounting platform from which weapons can be fired that affords protection, visibility and ability to turn and aim. A modern gun turret is generally a rotatable weapon mount that houses the crew or mechani ...
s, one each fore and aft of the superstructure and one
on each side.
[Friedman 2012, p. 256] The guns fired their shells to a range of about . Her secondary armament of six
BL 6-inch Mk VII guns was arranged in
casemates amidships. Four of these were mounted on the main deck and were only usable in calm weather. They had a maximum range of approximately with their shells. ''Argyll'' also carried 18
quick-firing (QF) 3-pounder Hotchkiss guns and two submerged
18-inch torpedo tube
A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes.
There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...
s.
[ Her two 12-pounder 8 cwt guns could be dismounted for service ashore.][
At some point in the war, the main deck six-inch guns of the ''Devonshire''-class ships were moved to the upper deck and given gun shields. Their casemates were plated over to improve ]seakeeping
Seakeeping ability or seaworthiness is a measure of how well-suited a watercraft is to conditions when underway. A ship or boat which has good seakeeping ability is said to be very seaworthy and is able to operate effectively even in high sea stat ...
and the four 3-pounder guns displaced by the transfer were landed.
The ship's waterline
The waterline is the line where the hull of a ship meets the surface of the water. Specifically, it is also the name of a special marking, also known as an international load line, Plimsoll line and water line (positioned amidships), that indi ...
armour belt had a maximum thickness of and was closed off by transverse bulkheads. The armour of the gun turrets was also five inches thick whilst that of their barbettes was six inches thick. The protective deck armour ranged in thickness from and the conning tower was protected by of armour.[
]
Construction and service
''Argyll'', named to commemorate the Scottish county
The shires of Scotland ( gd, Siorrachdan na h-Alba), or counties of Scotland, are historic subdivisions of Scotland established in the Middle Ages and used as administrative divisions until 1975. Originally established for judicial purposes (be ...
,[Silverstone, p. 211] was laid down
Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship.
Keel laying is one o ...
at Scotts Shipbuilding & Engineering at their Greenock shipyard on 25 March 1902 and was launched on 3 March 1904. She was completed in December 1905[ and was assigned to the 1st Cruiser Squadron of the Channel Fleet in January 1906.][ On 25 April 1907, ''Argyll'', along with the cruisers , and , arrived at Hampton Roads from Bermuda for the opening of the Jamestown Tercentennial Exposition. She was transferred to the 5th Cruiser Squadron of the Atlantic Fleet in 1909. Two years later, she was detached from the squadron to escort the Royal Yacht during the King's trip to the Delhi Durbar in India in 1911–12. She ran aground in ]Plymouth Sound
Plymouth Sound, or locally just The Sound, is a deep inlet or sound in the English Channel near Plymouth in England.
Description
Its southwest and southeast corners are Penlee Point in Cornwall and Wembury Point in Devon, a distance of abou ...
on 28 December 1912. The following year, she was assigned to the 3rd Cruiser Squadron of the Second Fleet.[Gardiner & Gray, p. 13]
The squadron was assigned to the Grand Fleet in mid-1914 as the Navy mobilised for war. It spent much of its time with the Grand Fleet reinforcing the patrols near the Shetland and Faeroe Islands
The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark.
They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway betwee ...
and the Norwegian coast where ''Argyll'' captured a German merchantman on 6 August.[ She ran aground on the Bell Rock near Dundee on 28 October 1915 at coordinates ] at night during a storm. During the war, lighthouses were ordered to switch their lights off for fear of assisting German U-boat
U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare ro ...
s in their operations, and the light was only turned on by special permission. En route ''Argyll'' sent a signal requesting the light to be turned on, but the lighthouse did not have a radio and could only be contacted by boat or visual signals. Attempts to notify the lighthouse failed, but the ship was not notified of the failure and proceeded in the expectation of using the light. Soon afterwards, she ran aground at 04:30, suffering extensive damage to much of the hull and starting a fire. Two destroyers, and , were sent and rescued her entire crew without serious injury.[Daysh]
The Navy salvaged all of the valuable items on board, including her guns, and she was demolished by the salvage team. In 1970, her two propellers were recovered by divers and sold for scrap. She remains a diveable wreck.[
]
Notes
Footnotes
Bibliography
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External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Argyll (1904)
Devonshire-class cruisers (1903)
Ships built on the River Clyde
1904 ships
World War I cruisers of the United Kingdom
World War I shipwrecks in the North Sea
Maritime incidents in 1915
Ships built by Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company