HMS ''Queen Mary'' was the last
battlecruiser
The battlecruiser (also written as battle cruiser or battle-cruiser) was a type of capital ship of the first half of the 20th century. These were similar in displacement, armament and cost to battleships, but differed in form and balance of attr ...
built by 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 F ...
before the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. The sole member of her
class
Class or The Class may refer to:
Common uses not otherwise categorized
* Class (biology), a taxonomic rank
* Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects
* Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differentl ...
, ''Queen Mary'' shared many features with the s, including her eight guns. She was completed in 1913 and participated in the
Battle of Heligoland Bight as part of 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 ...
in 1914. Like most of the modern British battlecruisers, the ship never left the
North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...
during the war. As part of the
1st Battlecruiser Squadron
The First Battlecruiser Squadron was a Royal Navy squadron of battlecruisers that saw service as part of the Grand Fleet during the First World War. It was created in 1909 as the First Cruiser Squadron and was renamed in 1913 to First Battle Cru ...
, ''Queen Mary'' attempted to intercept a German force that bombarded the North Sea coast of England in December 1914, but was unsuccessful. The ship was refitting in early 1915 and missed the
Battle of Dogger Bank in January, but participated in the largest fleet action of the war, the
Battle of Jutland
The Battle of Jutland (german: Skagerrakschlacht, the Battle of the Skagerrak) was a naval battle fought between Britain's Royal Navy Grand Fleet, under Admiral John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe, Sir John Jellicoe, and the Imperial German Navy ...
in mid-1916. She was hit twice by the German battlecruiser during the early part of the battle and her
magazines
A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combination ...
exploded shortly afterwards, sinking the ship.
Her wreck was discovered in 1991 and rests in pieces, some of which are upside down, on the floor of the North Sea. ''Queen Mary'' is designated as a protected place under the
Protection of Military Remains Act 1986
Protection is any measure taken to guard a thing against damage caused by outside forces. Protection can be provided to physical objects, including organisms, to systems, and to intangible things like civil and political rights. Although th ...
as it is the grave of 1,266 officers and
ratings.
Design
![Lion class battleship - Jane's Fighting Ships, 1919 - Project Gutenberg etext 24797](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/40/Lion_class_battleship_-_Jane%27s_Fighting_Ships%2C_1919_-_Project_Gutenberg_etext_24797.png)
''Queen Mary'' was ordered, together with the four
battleships
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ...
of the , under the 1910–11 Naval Programme. As was the usual pattern of the time, only one battlecruiser was ordered per naval programme. She differed from her predecessors of the ''Lion'' class in the distribution of her
secondary armament
Secondary armament is a term used to refer to smaller, faster-firing weapons that were typically effective at a shorter range than the main (heavy) weapons on military systems, including battleship- and cruiser-type warships, tanks/armored ...
and armour and in the location of the officers' quarters. Every
capital ship
The capital ships of a navy are its most important warships; they are generally the larger ships when compared to other warships in their respective fleet. A capital ship is generally a leading or a primary ship in a naval fleet.
Strategic im ...
since the design of the battleship in 1905 had placed the officers' quarters closer to their action stations amidships; after complaints from the Fleet, ''Queen Mary'' was the first battlecruiser to restore the quarters to their traditional place in the stern. In addition, she was the first battlecruiser to mount a
sternwalk.
[Parkes, pp. 531–536]
''Queen Mary'', the only ship of her name ever to serve in the Royal Navy, was named for
Mary of Teck
Mary of Teck (Victoria Mary Augusta Louise Olga Pauline Claudine Agnes; 26 May 186724 March 1953) was List of British royal consorts, Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, from 6 May 1910 until 20 Janua ...
, the wife of 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 Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936.
Born duri ...
. The Queen's representative at the ship's
christening on 20 March 1912 was the wife of
Viscount Allendale
Viscount Allendale, of Allendale and Hexham in the County of Northumberland, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 5 July 1911 for the Liberal politician Wentworth Beaumont, 2nd Baron Allendale. The title of Baron A ...
.
General characteristics
Slightly larger than the preceding ''Lion''-class ships, ''Queen Mary'' had an overall length 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
draught of at
deep load
The displacement or displacement tonnage of a ship is its weight. As the term indicates, it is measured indirectly, using Archimedes' principle, by first calculating the volume of water displaced by the ship, then converting that value into wei ...
. The ship normally displaced and at deep load, over more than the earlier ships. She had a
metacentric height
The metacentric height (GM) is a measurement of the initial static stability of a floating body. It is calculated as the distance between the centre of gravity of a ship and its metacentre. A larger metacentric height implies greater initial stab ...
of at deep load. In peacetime, the crew numbered 997 officers and ratings,
[ but this increased to 1,275 during wartime.][
]
Propulsion
The ship had two paired sets of Parsons
Parsons may refer to:
Places
In the United States:
* Parsons, Kansas, a city
* Parsons, Missouri, an unincorporated community
* Parsons, Tennessee, a city
* Parsons, West Virginia, a town
* Camp Parsons, a Boy Scout camp in the state of Washingt ...
direct-drive
A direct-drive mechanism is a mechanism design where the force or torque from a prime mover is transmitted directly to the effector device (such as the drive wheels of a vehicle) without involving any intermediate couplings such as a gear train or ...
steam turbine
A steam turbine is a machine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Parsons in 1884. Fabrication of a modern steam turbin ...
s housed in separate engine room
On a ship, the engine room (ER) is the compartment where the machinery for marine propulsion is located. To increase a vessel's safety and chances of surviving damage, the machinery necessary for the ship's operation may be segregated into vari ...
s. Each set consisted of a high-pressure turbine driving an outboard propeller shaft and a low-pressure turbine driving an inner shaft. A cruising stage
Stage or stages may refer to:
Acting
* Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions
* Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage"
* ''The Stage'', a weekly British theatre newspaper
* Sta ...
was built into the casing of each high-pressure turbine for economical steaming at low speeds. The turbines had a designed output of , more than her predecessors. On sea trial
A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a " shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and ...
s in May and June 1913, ''Queen Mary'' achieved more than , although she barely exceeded her designed speed of . The steam plant consisted of 42 Yarrow boiler
Yarrow boilers are an important class of high-pressure water-tube boilers. They were developed by
Yarrow & Co. (London), Shipbuilders and Engineers and were widely used on ships, particularly warships.
The Yarrow boiler design is characteristic ...
s arranged in seven boiler rooms. Maximum bunkerage was of coal and of fuel oil
Fuel oil is any of various fractions obtained from the distillation of petroleum (crude oil). Such oils include distillates (the lighter fractions) and residues (the heavier fractions). Fuel oils include heavy fuel oil, marine fuel oil (MFO), bun ...
to be sprayed on the coal to increase its burn rate. Her range was at a speed of .[Preston, p. 31]
Armament
''Queen Mary'' mounted eight BL 13.5-inch Mk V guns in four twin hydraulically powered turrets, designated 'A', 'B', 'Q' and 'X' from bow to stern. The guns could be depressed to −3° and elevated to 20°, although the director controlling the turrets was limited to 15° 21' until prisms were installed before the Battle of Jutland in May 1916 to allow full elevation.[Campbell 1978, p. 33] They fired projectiles at a muzzle velocity
Muzzle velocity is the speed of a projectile (bullet, pellet, slug, ball/shots or shell) with respect to the muzzle at the moment it leaves the end of a gun's barrel (i.e. the muzzle). Firearm muzzle velocities range from approximately to i ...
of ; at 20° elevation, this provided a maximum range of with armour-piercing (AP) shells. The rate of fire
Rate of fire is the frequency at which a specific weapon can fire or launch its projectiles. This can be influenced by several factors, including operator training level, mechanical limitations, ammunition availability, and weapon condition. In m ...
of these guns was 1.5–2 rounds per minute. ''Queen Mary'' carried a total of 880 rounds during wartime for 110 shells per gun.[Roberts, p. 83]
Her secondary armament consisted of sixteen BL 4-inch Mk VII guns, most of which were mounted in casemate
A casemate is a fortified gun emplacement or armored structure from which artillery, guns are fired, in a fortification, warship, or armoured fighting vehicle.Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary
When referring to Ancient history, antiquity, th ...
s on the forecastle
The forecastle ( ; contracted as fo'c'sle or fo'c's'le) is the upper deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or, historically, the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters. Related to the latter meaning is the phrase " be ...
deck, unlike the arrangement in the ''Lion'' class. The guns could depress to −7° and had a maximum elevation of 15°. They fired projectiles at a muzzle velocity of at a maximum range of ; the ship carried 150 rounds per gun.[
The ship was built without any ]anti-aircraft
Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...
guns, but two guns were fitted in October 1914. One was a QF 6-pounder Hotchkiss
The Ordnance QF Hotchkiss 6 pounder gun Mk I and Mk II or QF 6 pounder 8 cwt were a family of long-lived light naval guns introduced in 1885 to defend against new, small and fast vessels such as torpedo boats and later submarines. There were ma ...
gun and the other was a QF 3-inch 20 cwt
The QF 3 inch 20 cwt anti-aircraft gun became the standard anti-aircraft gun used in the home defence of the United Kingdom against German airships and bombers and on the Western Front in World War I. It was also common on British warships i ...
,["cwt" is the abbreviation for ]hundredweight
The hundredweight (abbreviation: cwt), formerly also known as the centum weight or quintal, is a British imperial and US customary unit of weight or mass. Its value differs between the US and British imperial systems. The two values are distingu ...
, 20 cwt referring to the weight of the gun. both on high-angle mountings. The Hotchkiss fired a shell at a muzzle velocity of . The three-inch gun fired a shell at a muzzle velocity of with a maximum effective ceiling of .
Two submerged 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 were fitted, one on each broadside
Broadside or broadsides may refer to:
Naval
* Broadside (naval), terminology for the side of a ship, the battery of cannon on one side of a warship, or their near simultaneous fire on naval warfare
Printing and literature
* Broadside (comic ...
.[ Fourteen Mk II*** torpedoes were carried,] each of which had a warhead of of TNT
Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...
. Their range was at or at .
Fire control
In February 1913, the Admiralty
Admiralty most often refers to:
*Admiralty, Hong Kong
*Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964
*The rank of admiral
*Admiralty law
Admiralty can also refer to:
Buildings
* Admiralty, Traf ...
bought five sets of fire-control equipment from Arthur Pollen
Arthur Joseph Hungerford Pollen (13 September 1866 – 28 January 1937) was an English journalist, businessman, and commentator on naval affairs who devised a new computerised fire-control system for use on battleships prior to the First World War ...
for comparative trials with the equipment designed by Commander
Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain.
...
Frederic Dreyer
Admiral Sir Frederic Charles Dreyer, (8 January 1878 – 11 December 1956) was an officer of the Royal Navy. A gunnery expert, he developed a fire control system for British warships, and served as flag captain to Admiral Sir John Jellicoe at ...
. One set was mounted in ''Queen Mary'' and consisted of a Argo rangefinder
A rangefinder (also rangefinding telemeter, depending on the context) is a device used to measure distances to remote objects. Originally optical devices used in surveying, they soon found applications in other fields, such as photography an ...
located on top of the conning tower that fed range data into an Argo Clock Mk IV (a mechanical fire-control computer) located in the transmitting station
In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to the ...
below the conning tower
A conning tower is a raised platform on a ship or submarine, often armored, from which an officer in charge can conn the vessel, controlling movements of the ship by giving orders to those responsible for the ship's engine, rudder, lines, and gro ...
. The clock converted the information into range and deflection data for use by the guns. The target's data was also graphically recorded on a plotting table to assist the gunnery officer in predicting the movement of the target. The aft torpedo director tower was the backup gunnery control position. All four turrets were provided with 9-foot rangefinders and 'B' and 'X' turrets were further outfitted to serve as auxiliary control positions.
Fire-control technology advanced quickly during the years immediately preceding World War I, and the development of the director firing system was a major advance. This consisted of a fire-control director mounted high in the ship which electrically provided elevation and training angles to the turrets via pointers, which the turret crewmen only had to follow. The guns were fired simultaneously, which aided in spotting the shell splashes and minimized the effects of the roll on the dispersion of the shells. ''Queen Mary'' received her director before the Battle of Jutland.[Sturton, p. 100]
Armour
The armour protection given to ''Queen Mary'' was similar to that of the ''Lion''s; her 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 ...
belt
Belt may refer to:
Apparel
* Belt (clothing), a leather or fabric band worn around the waist
* Championship belt, a type of trophy used primarily in combat sports
* Colored belts, such as a black belt or red belt, worn by martial arts practit ...
of Krupp cemented armour
Krupp armour was a type of steel naval armour used in the construction of capital ships starting shortly before the end of the nineteenth century. It was developed by Germany's Krupp Arms Works in 1893 and quickly replaced Harvey armour as the pr ...
was also thick between 'B' and 'X' turrets. It thinned to inches towards the ships' ends, but did not reach either the bow or the stern. In addition the ship was given an upper armour belt with a maximum thickness of six inches over the same length as the thickest part of the waterline armour, thinning to abreast the end turrets. Four-inch transverse bulkheads closed off the ends of the armoured citadel. High-tensile steel plating, cheaper than nickel-steel, but equally as effective, was used for the protective decks. The lower armoured deck was generally only thick except outside the citadel where it was . The upper armoured deck was situated at the top of the upper armour belt and was also only one inch thick. The forecastle deck ranged from .
The gun turrets had nine-inch fronts and sides, while their roofs were thick. The barbette
Barbettes are several types of gun emplacement in terrestrial fortifications or on naval ships.
In recent naval usage, a barbette is a protective circular armour support for a heavy gun turret. This evolved from earlier forms of gun protection ...
s were protected by nine inches of armour above the deck, but it thinned to above the upper armour deck and below it. The forward 4-inch guns were protected by three-inch sides and a two-inch high-tensile steel deck overhead. The conning tower sides were thick, with three-inch roofs and communication tubes. Her aft torpedo director tower was protected by six-inch walls and a three-inch cast steel roof. High-tensile steel torpedo bulkhead
A torpedo bulkhead is a type of naval armour common on the more heavily armored warships, especially battleships and battlecruisers of the early 20th century. It is designed to keep the ship afloat even if the hull is struck underneath the belt ar ...
s thick were fitted abreast the magazines and shell rooms. Her funnel
A funnel is a tube or pipe that is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, used for guiding liquid or powder into a small opening.
Funnels are usually made of stainless steel, aluminium, glass, or plastic. The material used in its construct ...
uptakes were protected by high-tensile steel splinter armour thick on the sides and one inch thick on the ends between the upper and forecastle decks.
Construction and career
''Queen Mary'' 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 Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company
Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company Limited, often referred to simply as "Palmers", was a United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, British shipbuilder, shipbuilding company. The Company was based in Jarrow, County Durham, in north-eastern ...
at their shipyard in Jarrow
Jarrow ( or ) is a town in South Tyneside in the county of Tyne and Wear, England. It is east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is situated on the south bank of the River Tyne, about from the east coast. It is home to the southern portal of the Tyne ...
on 6 March 1911. She was launched on 20 March 1912 and was completed in August 1913 at a total cost of £2,078,491 (including guns).[Parkes, p. 531][Burt, p. 167] The ship came under the command of Captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
Reginald Hall
Admiral (United Kingdom), Admiral Sir William Reginald Hall (28 June 1870 – 22 October 1943), known as Blinker Hall, was the British Naval Intelligence Division (UK), Director of Naval Intelligence (DNI) from 1914 to 1919. Together with ...
on 1 July and was commissioned on 4 September.[Roberts, p. 123] Assigned to the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron
The First Battlecruiser Squadron was a Royal Navy squadron of battlecruisers that saw service as part of the Grand Fleet during the First World War. It was created in 1909 as the First Cruiser Squadron and was renamed in 1913 to First Battle Cru ...
(BCS) under the command of Rear Admiral
Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...
David Beatty, ''Queen Mary'' and the rest of the 1st BCS made a port visit to Brest
Brest may refer to:
Places
*Brest, Belarus
**Brest Region
**Brest Airport
**Brest Fortress
* Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria
* Břest, Czech Republic
*Brest, France
** Arrondissement of Brest
**Brest Bretagne Airport
** Château de Brest
*Br ...
in February 1914 and the squadron visited Russia in June.
First World War
Battle of Heligoland Bight
''Queen Mary''s first action was as part of the battlecruiser force under the command of Beatty during the Battle of Heligoland Bight on 28 August 1914. Beatty's ships had originally been intended as distant support of the British cruisers and destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort
larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...
s closer to the German coast in case the large ships of the High Seas Fleet
The High Seas Fleet (''Hochseeflotte'') was the battle fleet of the German Imperial Navy and saw action during the First World War. The formation was created in February 1907, when the Home Fleet (''Heimatflotte'') was renamed as the High Seas ...
sortied in response to the British attacks. They turned south at full speed at 11:35[The times used in this article are in ]Greenwich Mean Time
Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the Local mean time, mean solar time at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London, counted from midnight. At different times in the past, it has been calculated in different ways, i ...
, which was one hour behind CET
CET or cet may refer to:
Places
* Cet, Albania
* Cet, standard astronomical abbreviation for the constellation Cetus
* Colchester Town railway station (National Rail code CET), in Colchester, England
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Comcast En ...
, which is often used in German works. when the British light forces failed to disengage on schedule, and the rising tide meant that German capital ships would be able to clear the bar at the mouth of the Jade Estuary. The brand-new light cruiser
A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to thi ...
had been crippled earlier in the battle and was under fire from the German light cruisers and when Beatty's battlecruisers loomed out of the mist at 12:37. ''Strassburg'' was able to duck into the mists and evade fire, but ''Cöln'' remained visible and was quickly crippled by fire from the squadron. Beatty, however, was distracted from the task of finishing her off by the sudden appearance of the elderly light cruiser directly ahead of him. He turned in pursuit and reduced her to a flaming hulk in only three salvos at a range of . At 13:10, Beatty turned north and made a general signal to retire. Beatty's main body encountered the crippled ''Cöln'' shortly after turning north, and she was sunk by two salvos from .
Raid on Scarborough
The Imperial German Navy
The Imperial German Navy or the Imperial Navy () was the navy of the German Empire, which existed between 1871 and 1919. It grew out of the small Prussian Navy (from 1867 the North German Federal Navy), which was mainly for coast defence. Wilhel ...
had decided on a strategy of bombarding British towns on the North Sea coast in an attempt to draw out the Royal Navy and destroy elements of it in detail. An earlier Raid on Yarmouth
The Raid on Yarmouth, on 3 November 1914, was an attack by the Imperial German Navy on the British North Sea port and town of Great Yarmouth. German shells only landed on the beach causing little damage to the town, after German ships laying m ...
on 3 November had been partially successful, but a larger-scale operation was devised by Admiral Franz von Hipper
Franz Ritter von Hipper (13 September 1863 – 25 May 1932) was an admiral in the German Imperial Navy (''Kaiserliche Marine''). Franz von Hipper joined the German Navy in 1881 as an officer cadet. He commanded several torpedo boat units an ...
afterward. The fast battlecruisers were to conduct the bombardment, while the entire High Seas Fleet was to station itself east of Dogger Bank
Dogger Bank (Dutch: ''Doggersbank'', German: ''Doggerbank'', Danish: ''Doggerbanke'') is a large sandbank in a shallow area of the North Sea about off the east coast of England.
During the last ice age the bank was part of a large landmass c ...
to provide cover for their return and to destroy any elements of the Royal Navy that responded to the raid. But what the Germans did not know was that the British were reading the German naval codes and were planning to catch the raiding force on its return journey, although they were not aware that the High Seas Fleet would be at sea as well. Together with the six dreadnought
The dreadnought (alternatively spelled dreadnaught) was the predominant type of battleship in the early 20th century. The first of the kind, the Royal Navy's , had such an impact when launched in 1906 that similar battleships built after her ...
s of the 2nd Battle Squadron, Beatty's 1st BCS – now reduced to four ships, including ''Lion'' – was detached from 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 ...
in an attempt to intercept the Germans near Dogger Bank
Dogger Bank (Dutch: ''Doggersbank'', German: ''Doggerbank'', Danish: ''Doggerbanke'') is a large sandbank in a shallow area of the North Sea about off the east coast of England.
During the last ice age the bank was part of a large landmass c ...
. By this time, ''Queen Mary'' was commanded by Captain C. I. Prowse.[
Hipper set sail on 15 December 1914 for another such raid and successfully bombarded several English towns, but British destroyers escorting the 1st BCS had already encountered German destroyers of the High Seas Fleet at 05:15 and fought an inconclusive action with them. Vice Admiral Sir George Warrender – commanding the 2nd Battle Squadron – had received a signal at 05:40 that the destroyer was engaging enemy destroyers, although Beatty had not. The destroyer spotted the ]armoured cruiser
The armored cruiser was a type of warship of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was designed like other types of cruisers to operate as a long-range, independent warship, capable of defeating any ship apart from a battleship and fast eno ...
and her escorts at about 07:00, but she could not transmit the message until 07:25. Warrender received the signal – as did the battlecruiser – but Beatty did not, despite the fact that ''New Zealand'' had been specifically tasked to relay messages between the destroyers and Beatty. Warrender attempted to pass on ''Shark''s message to Beatty at 07:36, but he did not manage to make contact until 07:55. Beatty reversed course when he got the message and dispatched ''New Zealand'' to search for ''Roon''. She was being overhauled by ''New Zealand'' when Beatty received messages that Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to:
People
* Scarborough (surname)
* Earl of Scarbrough
Places Australia
* Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth
* Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong
* Scarborough, Queensland, su ...
was being shelled at 09:00. Beatty ordered ''New Zealand'' to rejoin the squadron and turned west for Scarborough.[Massie, pp. 342–343]
The British forces split going around the shallow Southwest Patch of the Dogger Bank; Beatty's ships passed to the north, while Warrender passed to the south as they headed west to block the main route through the minefields defending the English coast. This left a gap between them through which the German light forces began to move. At 12:25, the light cruisers of the II Scouting Group began to pass the British forces searching for Hipper. The light cruiser spotted the light cruiser and signalled a report to Beatty. At 12:30, Beatty turned his battlecruisers towards the German ships. Beatty presumed the German cruisers were the advance screen for Hipper's ships; however, those were some behind. The 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron – which had been screening for Beatty's ships – detached to pursue the German cruisers, but a misinterpreted signal from the British battlecruisers sent them back to their screening positions. This confusion allowed the German light cruisers to escape, and alerted Hipper to the location of the British battlecruisers. The German battlecruisers wheeled to the northeast of the British forces and made good their escape.
''Queen Mary'' was refitting in January and February 1915 and did not participate in the Battle of Dogger Bank;[ she received her main battery director in December 1915.][
]
Battle of Jutland
On 31 May 1916, ''Queen Mary'' put to sea with the rest of the Battlecruiser Fleet to intercept a sortie by the High Seas Fleet into the North Sea. The British were able to decode the German radio messages and left their bases before the Germans put to sea. Hipper's battlecruisers spotted the Battlecruiser Fleet to their west at 15:20, but Beatty's ships did not spot the Germans to their east until 15:30. Two minutes later, he ordered a course change to east south-east to position himself astride the German's line of retreat and called his ships' crews to action stations. Hipper ordered his ships to turn to starboard, away from the British, almost 180 degrees, to assume a south-easterly course, and reduced speed to to allow three light cruisers of the 2nd Scouting Group to catch up. With this turn, Hipper was falling back on the High Seas Fleet, then about behind him. Around this time, Beatty altered course to the east, as it was quickly apparent that he was still too far north to cut off Hipper.
This began what was to be called the "Run to the South" as Beatty changed course to steer east-southeast at 15:45, paralleling Hipper's course, now that the range closed to under . The Germans opened fire first at 15:48, followed by the British. The British ships were still in the process of making their turn, as only the two leading ships – ''Lion'' and – had steadied on their course when the Germans opened fire. The German fire was accurate from the beginning, but the British overestimated the range, as the German ships blended into the haze. ''Queen Mary'' opened fire about 15:50 on , using only her forward turrets. By 15:54, the range was down to , and Beatty ordered a course change two points to starboard to open up the range at 15:57. During this period, ''Queen Mary'' made two hits on ''Seydlitz'', at 15:55 and 15:57, one of which caused a propellant
A propellant (or propellent) is a mass that is expelled or expanded in such a way as to create a thrust or other motive force in accordance with Newton's third law of motion, and "propel" a vehicle, projectile, or fluid payload. In vehicles, the e ...
fire that burnt out her aft superfiring
Superfiring armament is a naval military building technique in which two (or more) turrets are located in a line, one behind the other, with the second turret located above ("super") the one in front so that the second turret can fire over the ...
turret.
The range had grown too far for accurate shooting, so Beatty altered course four points to port to close the range again between 16:12 and 16:15. This manoeuvre exposed ''Lion'' to the fire of the German battlecruisers, and she was hit several times. The smoke and fumes from these hits caused to lose sight of ''Lion'' – which had sheered out of line to starboard – and to switch her fire to ''Queen Mary'', now visible to ''Derfflinger''s gunnery officer as the second ship in the British line and therefore assumed to be ''Princess Royal'', at 16:16. ''Queen Mary'' hit ''Seydlitz'' again at 16:17 and knocked out one gun of her secondary armament. In return, ''Queen Mary'' had been hit twice by ''Seydlitz'' before 16:21 with unknown effects, but the German battlecruiser hit the turret face of 'Q' turret at that time and knocked out the right-hand gun in the turret. By 16:25, the range was down to , and Beatty turned two points to starboard to open the range again. This move came too late for ''Queen Mary'', however, as ''Derfflinger''s fire began to take effect, hitting her twice before 16:26. One shell hit forward and detonated one or both of the forward magazines
A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combination ...
, which broke the ship in two near the foremast
The mast of a Sailing ship, sailing vessel is a tall spar (sailing), spar, or arrangement of spars, erected more or less vertically on the centre-line of a ship or boat. Its purposes include carrying sails, spars, and derricks, and giving necessa ...
. Stationed inside 'Q' turret, Midshipman
A midshipman is an officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Canada (Naval Cadet), Australia, Bangladesh, Namibia, New Zealand, South Afr ...
Jocelyn Storey survived and reported that there had been a large explosion forward which rocked the turret, breaking the left gun in half, the gun breech falling into the working chamber and the right gun coming off its trunnions. Cordite in the working chamber caught fire and produced poisonous fumes that asphyxiated some of the turret's crew. It is doubtful that an explosion forward could have done this, so 'Q' turret may have been struck by the second shell. A further explosion, possibly from shells breaking loose, shook the aft end of the ship as it began to roll over and sink.[Brown, p. 167] , the battlecruiser behind her, was showered with debris from the explosion and forced to steer to port to avoid her remains. 1,266 crewmen were lost; eighteen survivors were picked up by the destroyers , , and , and two by the Germans.
Aftermath
''Queen Mary'', along with the other Jutland wrecks, has been declared a ''protected place'' under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 to discourage further damage to the resting place of 1,266 officers and men. Surveys of this site conducted by nautical archaeologist Innes McCartney
Innes McCartney (born 1964) is a British nautical archaeologist and historian. He is a Visiting Fellow at Bournemouth University in the UK.
Career
McCartney is a nautical archaeologist specializing in the interaction of shipwreck archaeology ...
in 2001–03 have shown the wreck is in three sections, with the two forward sections being heavily damaged and in pieces. Her aft end is upside down and relatively complete except for her propellers, which have been salvaged.[ Examination of the damage to the ship has suggested that the initial explosion was not in the magazine of 'A' or 'B' forward main turrets, but instead in the magazine of the forward 4-inch battery. An explosion of the quantity of cordite in the main magazine would have been sufficient to also ignite 'Q' magazine, destroying much more of the ship. The explosion in the smaller magazine would have been sufficient to break the ship in two, the blast then spreading to the forward magazine and ripping apart the forward section.][Burr, p. 47]
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External links
Dreadnought Project
Technical material on the weaponry and fire control for the ships
* High precision 3D model a
Dreadnought Project Model page
* Information page a
Battle of Jutland Crew Lists Project – HMS Queen Mary Crew List
{{DEFAULTSORT:Queen Mary
1912 ships
Lion-class battlecruisers
Royal Navy ship names
Maritime incidents in 1916
Ships sunk at the Battle of Jutland
World War I battlecruisers of the United Kingdom
Naval magazine explosions