HMS Monarch was the second of four dreadnought battleships built for the Royal Navy in the early 1910s. She spent the bulk of her career assigned to the Home and Grand Fleets. Aside from participating in the failed attempt to intercept the German ships that had bombarded Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby in late 1914, the Battle of Jutland in May 1916 and the inconclusive action of 19 August, her service during World War I generally consisted of routine patrols and training in the North Sea.
After the Grand Fleet was dissolved in early 1919, Monarch was transferred back to the Home Fleet for a few months before she was assigned to the Reserve Fleet. The ship was listed for disposal in mid-1922, but was hulked for use as a stationary training ship. In late 1923 Monarch was converted into a target ship and sunk in early 1925.
Design and description The Orion-class ships were designed in response to the beginning of the Anglo-German naval arms race and were much larger than their predecessors of the to accommodate larger, more powerful guns and heavier armour. In recognition of these improvements, the class was sometimes called "super-dreadnoughts". The ships had an overall length of , a beam of and a deep draught of . They displaced at normal load and at deep load as built; by 1918 Monarchs deep displacement had increased to . Her crew numbered 738 officers and ratings upon completion and 750 as of 1914.Burt, p. 136
The Orion class was powered by two sets of Parsons direct-drive steam turbines, each driving two shafts, using steam provided by 18 Yarrow boilers. The turbines were rated at and were intended to give the battleships a speed of .Parkes, p. 525 During her sea trials on 9 December 1911, Monarch reached a maximum speed of from . The ships carried enough coal and fuel oil to give them a range of at a cruising speed of .Burt, pp. 136, 139–40
Armament and armour
The Orion class was equipped with 10 breech-loading (BL) Mark V guns in five hydraulically powered twin-gun turrets, all on the centreline. The turrets were designated 'A', 'B', 'Q', 'X' and 'Y', from front to rear. Their secondary armament consisted of 16 BL Mark VII guns. These guns were split evenly between the forward and aft superstructure, all in single mounts. Four 3-pounder () saluting guns were also carried. The ships were equipped with three 21-inch (533 mm) submerged torpedo tubes, one on each broadside and another in the stern, for which 20 torpedoes were provided.
The Orions were protected by a waterline armoured belt that extended between the end barbettes. Their decks ranged in thickness between and 4 inches with the thickest portions protecting the steering gear in the stern. The main battery turret faces were thick, and the turrets were supported by barbettes.Burt, pp. 134, 136, 139
Modifications In 1914 the shelter-deck guns were enclosed in casematesFriedman, p. 123 and a fire-control director was installed sometime in 1914, before August, on a platform below the spotting top. By October 1914, a pair of anti-aircraft (AA) guns had been installed. Additional deck armour was added after the Battle of Jutland in May 1916. Around the same time, three 4-inch guns were removed from the aft superstructure and the ship was modified to operate kite balloons. A flying-off platform was mounted on 'B' turret's roof and extended onto the gun barrels during 1917–1918. A high-angle rangefinder was fitted in the forward superstructure by 1921.Burt, pp. 140, 142; Friedman, pp. 123, 198–200, 205
Construction and career
Monarch, named after a third-rate ship of the line, Monarque, that had been captured from the French in 1747,Silverstone, p. 252 was the third ship of her name to serve in the Royal Navy.Colledge, p. 231 The ship was laid down by Armstrong Whitworth at their shipyard in Elswick on 1 April 1910 and launched on 30 March 1911.Preston, p. 28 She was completed on 31 March 1912, commissioned with a partial crew on 16 April and fully commissioned on 27 April. Including her armament, her cost is variously quoted at £1,888,736 or £1,886,912. Monarch was assigned to the 2nd division of the Home Fleet which was redesignated as the 2nd Battle Squadron (BS) on 1 May.Burt, p. 146 The ship, together with her sister ships and , participated in the Parliamentary Naval Review on 9 July at Spithead. They then participated in training manoeuvres. The three sisters were present with the 2nd BS to receive the President of France, Raymond Poincaré, at Spithead on 24 June 1913 and then participated in the annual fleet manoeuvres in August.Burt, pp. 146, 148, 150
World War I Between 17 and 20 July 1914, Monarch took part in a test mobilisation and fleet review as part of the British response to the July Crisis. Arriving in Portland on 25 July, she was ordered to proceed with the rest of the Home Fleet to Scapa Flow four days later to safeguard the fleet from a possible surprise attack by the Imperial German Navy.Massie, p. 19 Following the outbreak of World War I in August, the Home Fleet was reorganised as the Grand Fleet, and placed under the command of Admiral Sir John Jellicoe.Preston, p. 32 On 8 August, Monarch was conducting gunnery practice south-east of Fair Isle when she was unsuccessfully attacked by a submarine-fired torpedo. This was probably a false alarm as the area was too far to the west of the German U-boats' patrol zones to be likely.Goldrick, p. 89 , however, has been suggested as a candidate for the attack, although the boat was sunk the following day with the loss of all hands and the truth will never be known.Showell, p. 41
Repeated reports of submarines in Scapa Flow led Jellicoe to conclude that the defences there were inadequate and he ordered that the Grand Fleet be dispersed to other bases until the defences be reinforced. On 16 BS was sent to Loch na Keal on the western coast of Scotland. The squadron departed for gunnery practice off the northern coast of Ireland on the morning of 27 October and the dreadnought struck a mine, laid a few days earlier by the German armed merchant cruiser . Thinking that the ship had been torpedoed by a submarine, the other dreadnoughts were ordered away from the area, while smaller ships rendered assistance. On the evening of 22 November 1914, the Grand Fleet conducted a fruitless sweep in the southern half of the North Sea; Monarch stood with the main body in support of Vice-Admiral David Beatty's 1st Battlecruiser Squadron. The fleet was back in port in Scapa Flow by 27 November.Goldrick, p. 156; Jellicoe, pp. 143–44, 148, 163–65
Bombardment of Scarborough, Hartlepool, and Whitby
The Royal Navy's Room 40 had intercepted and decrypted German radio traffic containing plans for a German attack on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby in mid-December using the four battlecruisers of Konteradmiral (Rear-Admiral) Franz von Hipper's I Scouting Group. The radio messages did not mention that the High Seas Fleet with fourteen dreadnoughts and eight pre-dreadnoughts would reinforce Hipper. The ships of both sides departed their bases on 15 December, with the British intending to ambush the German ships on their return voyage. They mustered the six dreadnoughts of Vice-Admiral Sir George Warrender's 2nd BS, including Monarch and her sister ships, Orion and Conqueror, and Beatty's four battlecruisers.Tarrant, pp. 28–30
The screening forces of each side blundered into each other during the early morning darkness and heavy weather of 16 December. The Germans got the better of the initial exchange of fire, severely damaging several British destroyers, but Admiral Friedrich von Ingenohl, commander of the High Seas Fleet, ordered his ships to turn away, concerned about the possibility of a massed attack by British destroyers in the dawn's light. A series of miscommunications and mistakes by the British allowed Hipper's ships to avoid an engagement with Beatty's forces.Goldrick, pp. 200–14
1915–1916
The Grand Fleet conducted another fruitless sweep of the North Sea in late December and, while trying to enter Scapa Flow in a Force 8 gale and minimal visibility, Monarch was accidentally rammed by Conqueror on 27 December. The former had to unexpectedly manoeuvre to avoid a guardship at the entrance and Conqueror could not avoid her. Monarch suffered moderate damage to her stern and received temporary repairs at Scapa before proceeding to Devonport for full repairs on 4 January 1915, rejoining the Grand Fleet on 20 January.Burt, pp. 146, 148; Goldrick, p. 242
On the evening of 23 January, the bulk of the Grand Fleet sailed in support of Beatty's battlecruisers, but Monarch and the rest of the fleet did not participate in the ensuing Battle of Dogger Bank the following day. On 7–10 March, the Grand Fleet conducted 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 Grand Fleet conducted a patrol in 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.Jellicoe, pp. 194–196, 206, 211–212
The Grand Fleet conducted sweeps into the central North Sea on 17–19 May and 29–31 May without encountering any German vessels. During 11–14 June, the fleet conducted gunnery practice and battle exercises west of ShetlandJellicoe, pp. 217–219, 221–222 and more training off Shetland beginning on 11 July. The 2nd BS conducted gunnery practice in the Moray Firth on 2 August and then returned to Scapa Flow. 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 Grand Fleet conducted numerous training exercises. The ship, together with the majority of the Grand Fleet, conducted another sweep into the North Sea from 13 to 15 October. Almost three weeks later, Monarch participated in another fleet training operation west of Orkney during 2–5 November and repeated the exercise at the beginning of December.Jellicoe, pp. 228, 234–235, 243, 246, 250, 253, 257–258
The Grand Fleet sortied in response to an attack by German ships on British light forces near Dogger Bank on 10 February 1916, but it was recalled two days later when it became clear that no German ships larger than a destroyer were involved. The fleet departed for a cruise in the North Sea on 26 February; Jellicoe had intended to use the Harwich Force 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, Monarch 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.Jellicoe, pp. 270–271, 275, 279–280, 284, 286 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.Jellicoe, pp. 286–290
Battle of Jutland