HMS Hercules was the second and last of the two dreadnought battleships built for the Royal Navy at the end of the first decade of the 20th century. She spent her whole career assigned to the Home and Grand Fleets, often serving as a flagship. Aside from participating in 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. The ship was deemed obsolete after the war and was reduced to reserve. Hercules was sold for scrap in 1921 and broken up the following year.
Design and description The design of the Colossus class was derived from that of the earlier with redistributed armour and more powerful torpedoes. Hercules had an overall length of , a beam of , and a normal draught of . She displaced at normal load and at deep load. In 1911 her crew numbered 778 officers and ratings and 791 in July 1916.Burt, p. 121
Hercules was 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 were intended to give the ship a maximum speed of .Parkes, p. 519 During her full-power, eight-hour sea trials on 2–3 March 1911, she reached a top speed of from in a moderate storm. The Colossus-class ships carried enough coal and fuel oil to give them a range of at a cruising speed of .Burt, pp. 121, 124
Armament and armour
The Colossus class was equipped with ten breech-loading (BL) Mark XI guns in five hydraulically powered 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 wing turrets were staggered "en echelon" so all five turrets could shoot on the broadside, although in practice the blast damage to the superstructure and boats made this impractical except in an emergency. The ability to fire all ten 12" guns in broadside equaled the all centerline arrangement of the contemporary US battleships, but the centerline arrangement was less problematic to the superstructure.
The secondary armament consisted of sixteen BL Mark VII guns. Ten of these were mounted in the forward superstructure and six in the aft superstructure 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 18 torpedoes were provided.
They had a waterline belt of Krupp cemented armour that was thick between the fore and aftmost barbettes that did not cover the full length of the ships. Above this was a strake of armour. The forward oblique 4-inch bulkheads connected the forward barbette to the side armour. Similarly, the aft bulkhead connected them to the rearmost barbette, although it was 8 inches thick. The three centreline barbettes were protected by armour thick above the main deck and thinned to 4 inches below it. The wing barbettes were similar except that they had 11 inches of armour on their outer faces. The gun turrets had 11-inch faces and sides with roofs.
The three armoured decks ranged in thickness from with the greater thicknesses outside the central armoured citadel. The front and sides of the conning tower were protected by 11-inch plates, although the rear and roof were 8 inches and 3 inches thick respectively. The torpedo control tower aft had 3-inch sides and a 2-inch roof. In an effort to reduce weight, the Colossus-class ships reverted to the inadequate underwater protection scheme of and their anti-torpedo bulkheads only protected the shell rooms and magazines, although they had a maximum thickness of 3 inches.
Modifications
Sometime in 1912, the compass platform was extended forward to accommodate a rangefinder.Friedman, p. 115 In 1913–1914, a small rangefinder was added to the roof of 'X' turret and gun shields were fitted to the 4-inch guns in the forward superstructure. After the start of the war in August 1914, a pair of 3-inch anti-aircraft (AA) guns were added.Burt, pp. 126–27 A fire-control director was installed on a rear extension of the compass platform by December 1915.Brooks, p. 168; Burt, p. 128 Approximately of additional deck armour was added after the Battle of Jutland in May 1916. Around the same time, four 4-inch guns were removed from the aft superstructure. By April 1917, Hercules was equipped with single 4-inch and 3-inch AA guns and the forward group of 4-inch guns had been enclosed in casemates. The stern torpedo tube was removed in 1917–1918 and a high-angle rangefinder was fitted on the spotting top in 1918.Burt, pp. 127–28
Construction and career
Hercules, named after the mythic demigod Hercules,Silverstone, p. 237 was the fifth ship of her name to serve in the Royal Navy.Colledge, p. 161 The ship was ordered on 1 June 1909Burt, p. 129 and laid down at Palmers at their shipyard in Jarrow on 30 July. She was launched on 10 May 1910 and completed in August 1911Preston, p. 26 at the cost of £1,661,240, including her armament. The ship was commissioned on 4 July for trials with a partial crew. Hercules recommissioned with a full crew on 31 July and was assigned as the flagship of the 2nd Division of the Home Fleet. On 19 December Vice-Admiral Sir John Jellicoe assumed command of the division, which was renamed the 2nd Battle Squadron (BS) on 1 May 1912. The ship participated in the Parliamentary Naval Review on 9 July at Spithead and was refitted at Portsmouth in November–December. During this time, Vice-Admiral Sir George Warrender, Bt relieved Jellicoe as commander of the 2nd BS. Hercules was relieved as the squadron's flagship on 7 March 1913 and became a private ship in the squadron. On 22 March she collided with and damaged of Glasgow in Portland Harbour during a gale, suffering only minor damage herself. In May, the ship was transferred to the 1st Battle Squadron.Burt, pp. 129–130
World War I Between 17 and 20 July 1914, Hercules 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 laterBurt, p. 130 to safeguard the fleet from a possible surprise attack by the Imperial German Navy.Massie, p. 19 In August 1914, following the outbreak of World War I, the Home Fleet was reorganised as the Grand Fleet, and placed under the command of Jellicoe.Preston, p. 32 Most of it was briefly based (22 October to 3 November) at Lough Swilly, Ireland, while the defences at Scapa were strengthened. On the evening of 22 November 1914, the Grand Fleet conducted a fruitless sweep in the southern half of the North Sea; Hercules 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.Jellicoe, pp. 163–65 The 1st Battle Squadron 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. Hercules and the rest of the Grand Fleet conducted another sweep of the North Sea on 25–27 December.Jellicoe, pp. 172, 179, 183–184
Jellicoe's ships, including Hercules, conducted gunnery drills on 10–13 January 1915 west of Orkney and Shetlands. On the evening of 23 January, the bulk of the Grand Fleet sailed in support of Beatty's battlecruisers, but Hercules 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. 190, 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. 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, Hercules participated in another fleet training operation west of Orkney during 2–5 November.Jellicoe, pp. 228, 243, 246, 250, 253
On 19 March 1916 the ship completed repairs to her turbines, which had kept her at Scapa for nearly six weeks. On the night of 25 March, Hercules 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. 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. 271, 275, 279–281, 284, 286–290
Battle of Jutland
In an attempt to lure out and destroy a portion of the Grand Fleet, the High Seas Fleet, composed of 16 dreadnoughts, 6 pre-dreadnoughts, and supporting ships, departed the Jade Bight early on the morning of 31 May. The fleet sailed in concert with Rear Admiral Franz von Hipper's five battlecruisers. The Royal Navy's Room 40 had intercepted and decrypted German radio traffic containing plans of the operation. In response the Admiralty ordered the Grand Fleet, totalling some 28 dreadnoughts and 9 battlecruisers, to sortie the night before to cut off and destroy the High Seas Fleet.Tarrant, pp. 54–55, 57–58