HMS ''Royal Oak'' was one of seven pre-dreadnought battleships 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 F ...

during the 1890s. Upon her completion in 1894, she was initially placed in

reserve Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US vi ...

until mobilised in 1896 for service with the Flying Squadron. After returning briefly to reserve, the ship was assigned the following year to the

Mediterranean Fleet The British Mediterranean Fleet, also known as the Mediterranean Station, was a formation of the Royal Navy. The Fleet was one of the most prestigious commands in the navy for the majority of its history, defending the vital sea link between t ...

. ''Royal Oak'' remained there until 1902 when she returned home; after a refit, the ship was assigned to the

Home Fleet The Home Fleet was a fleet of the Royal Navy that operated from the United Kingdom's territorial waters from 1902 with intervals until 1967. In 1967, it was merged with the Mediterranean Fleet creating the new Western Fleet. Before the First ...

, where she served as the

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...

of the fleet's

second-in-command Second-in-command (2i/c or 2IC) is a title denoting that the holder of the title is the second-highest authority within a certain organisation. Usage In the British Army or Royal Marines, the second-in-command is the deputy commander of a unit, ...

in 1904–05. ''Royal Oak'' was then reduced to reserve until she was taken out of service in 1911. The ship was sold for

scrap Scrap consists of Recycling, recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap Waste valorization, has monetary ...

in early 1914.

Design and description

The design of the ''Royal Sovereign''-class ships was derived from that of the battleships, greatly enlarged to improve seakeeping and to provide space for a

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 ...

as in the preceding battleships. The ships displaced at normal load and 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 ...

. They had a length between perpendiculars of and 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 in ...

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 .Chesneau & Kolesnik, p. 32 Their crew consisted of 670 officers and ratings in 1903.Burt, p. 73 The ''Royal Sovereign''s were powered by a pair of three-cylinder, vertical

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 he ...

s, each driving one shaft. Their engines were designed to produce a total of and a maximum speed of using steam provided by eight cylindrical boilers with forced draught. The ships carried a maximum of of coal, which gave them a range of at a speed of . Their main armament consisted of four breech-loading (BL) guns mounted in two twin-gun

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, one each fore and aft of the

superstructure A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships. Aboard ships and large boats On water craft, the superstruct ...

.Parkes, p. 355 Each gun was provided with 80 rounds. Their secondary armament consisted of ten quick-firing (QF) guns. 200 rounds per gun were carried by the ships. Sixteen QF 6-pounder () guns of an unknown type and a dozen QF 3-pounder ()

Hotchkiss gun The Hotchkiss gun can refer to different products of the Hotchkiss arms company starting in the late 19th century. It usually refers to the 1.65-inch (42 mm) light mountain gun; there were also a navy (47 mm) and a 3-inch (76&nbs ...

s were fitted for defence against torpedo boats. The two 3-pounders in the upper

fighting top The top on a traditional square rigged ship, is the platform at the upper end of each (lower) mast. This is not the masthead "crow's nest" of the popular imagination – above the mainmast (for example) is the main-topmast, main-topgallant-mast a ...

were removed in 1899–1902 and all of the remaining light guns from the lower fighting tops and main deck followed in 1905–1909. The ''Royal Sovereign''-class ships mounted seven 18-inch (450 mm)

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, although ''Royal Oak'' had four of hers removed in 1902. The ''Royal Sovereign''s' armour scheme was similar to that of the ''Trafalgar''s, as the

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 practition ...

of compound armour only protected the area between the barbettes. The belt was long and had a total height of of which was below water. Transverse bulkheads thick closed off the ends of the belt. Above the belt was a strake of nickel-steel armour closed off by transverse bulkheads. The barbettes were protected by compound armour, ranging in thickness from , and the casemates for the 6-inch guns were protected by armour equally thick. The thicknesses of the deck armour ranged from . The walls of the forward

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 ...

were thick and the aft conning tower was protected by 3-inch plates.

Construction and career

The ''Royal Sovereign'' class was ordered as part of the Naval Defence Act 1889 that was a supplement to the normal naval estimates. ''Royal Oak'', named after the tree in which King Charles II hid after the

Battle of Worcester The Battle of Worcester took place on 3 September 1651 in and around the city of Worcester, England and was the last major battle of the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. A Parliamentarian army of around 28,000 under Oliver Cromwell def ...

, was the sixth ship of her name to serve in the Royal Navy. The ship 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 ...

Laird Brothers Cammell Laird is a British shipbuilding company. It was formed from the merger of Laird Brothers of Birkenhead and Johnson Cammell & Co of Sheffield at the turn of the twentieth century. The company also built railway rolling stock until 1929, ...

at their shipyard in

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...

on 29 May 1890 and floated out of the

drydock A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...

on 5 November 1892. She arrived at

Portsmouth Dockyard His Majesty's Naval Base, Portsmouth (HMNB Portsmouth) is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Devonport). Portsmouth Naval Base is part of the city of Portsmouth; it is l ...

on 29 October 1893 for fitting out, completed her sea trials in June 1894, and cost £977,996. Upon completion, ''Royal Oak'' was placed in reserve at

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

. Almost two years later, she mobilised there on 14 January 1896 for service in the Particular Service Squadron – later renamed the Flying Squadron – which was formed in response to rising tensions in Europe following the Jameson Raid and Germany's

Kaiser Wilhelm II Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor (german: Kaiser) and List of monarchs of Prussia, King of Prussia, reigning from 15 June 1888 until Abdication of Wilhelm II, his abdication on 9 ...

's telegram of support to the Boer government. When the squadron disbanded on 25 November, the ship returned to reserve at Portsmouth.Burt, p. 92 ''Royal Oak'' was recommissioned on 9 March 1897 for service with the Mediterranean Fleet, where she was to relieve the battleship ''Collingwood''. She departed Portsmouth on 24 March 1897, and arrived at

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

on 5 April. ''Royal Oak'' was relieved by the battleship ''Bulwark'' and departed the Mediterranean in May 1902. She arrived at

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

on 16 May, and at Portsmouth the following day, and

paid off Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to placing a warship in ...

there on 6 June 1902. She soon moved to Chatham Dockyard for a refit, during which

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 were provided for her six-inch upper deck guns. On 16 February 1903, ''Royal Oak'' recommissioned at Portsmouth for service in the

using part of the battleship ''Nile'''s crew as a nucleus. In the summer of 1903, she participated in combined exercises in the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

involving the Home, Mediterranean, and

Channel Fleet The Channel Fleet and originally known as the Channel Squadron was the Royal Navy formation of warships that defended the waters of the English Channel from 1854 to 1909 and 1914 to 1915. History Throughout the course of Royal Navy's history the ...

s, as well as the

Cruiser Squadron The Cruiser Squadron was a naval formation of the British Home Fleet consisting of Armored cruisers of the Royal Navy from 1899 to 1905. History In October 1899 the Royal Navy's Training Squadron consisting mainly of sailing ships was abolished. ...

. In April 1904, while operating with the Home Fleet off the Scilly Isles, ''Royal Oak'' and her

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...

''Revenge'' had their bottoms lightly damaged when they struck a sunken wreck. On 9 May 1904, ''Royal Oak'' became flagship of the Home Fleet's second-in-command, relieving her sister ''Empress of India'', and took part in annual maneuvers in July and August. On 7 March 1905, ''Royal Oak'' paid off at Portsmouth into the Chatham Reserve, and her crew transferred to the battleship ''Caesar''. The following day the ship recommissioned with a skeleton crew for service with the Sheerness-Chatham Division of the newly formed Fleet in Commission in Reserve at Home. While she was under refit at Chatham, an explosion in her

small-arms A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions). The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes ...

magazine 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 combinatio ...

on 11 May killed one workman and injured three others. In July, ''Royal Oak'' participated in

Reserve Fleet A reserve fleet is a collection of naval vessels of all types that are fully equipped for service but are not currently needed; they are partially or fully decommissioned. A reserve fleet is informally said to be "in mothballs" or "mothballed"; a ...

manoeuvres. Her crew was then transferred to the battleship ''Ocean'', and ''Royal Oak'' recommissioned with a new nucleus crew to serve as an emergency reserve ship at Chatham. As a unit of the First Division of the Blue Fleet, ''Royal Oak'' took part in annual maneuvers off the coast of Portugal and in the eastern Atlantic from 12 June to 2 July 1906. On 1 January 1907, she recommissioned in reserve at Devonport with a nucleus crew. In April 1909, ''Royal Oak'' and the other reserve ships with nucleus crews at Devonport were formed into the 4th Division of the Home Fleet. She relieved her sister ''Ramillies'' as the parent ship of the division in June 1911, and was in turn relieved of this duty by her sister ''Empress of India'' in November. The ship was taken out of service in December 1911 and towed to the Motherbank by the battleship ''Bellerophon'' in August 1912.Burt, p. 93 She was sold to Thos. W. Ward on 14 January 1914 for £36,450 and subsequently broken up at

Briton Ferry Briton Ferry ( cy, Llansawel) is a town and community in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales. The Welsh name may indicate that the church, ''llan'', is protected from the wind, ''awel''. Alternatively, ''Sawel'' may be a derivative ...

.Colledge, p. 301

Notes

References

* * * * * *

External links

''Royal Oak'' on the Dreadnought Project
{{DEFAULTSORT:Royal Oak Royal Oak (1892))) Royal Oak (1892) 1892 ships