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HMS Centurion (1911)

HMS Centurion was the second of four King George V-class battleship 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, and the Battle of Jutland in May 1916, her service during the First World War generally consisted of routine patrols and training in the North Sea.

By the end of 1919, Centurion had been transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet. Although she spent much of her time in reserve, she had a peripheral role in the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War. After her return home in 1924, the ship became the flagship of the Reserve Fleet. In 1926 Centurion was converted into a target ship and participated in trials evaluating the effectiveness of aerial bombing in addition to her normal duties. During the Second World War, the ship was rearmed with light weapons and was converted into a blockship in 1941. When that operation was cancelled, she was then modified into a decoy with dummy gun turrets in an attempt to fool the Axis powers. Centurion was sent to the Mediterranean in 1942 to escort a convoy to Malta, although the Italians quickly figured out the deception. The ship was deliberately sunk during the Invasion of Normandy in 1944 to form a breakwater.

Design and description
The King George V-class ships were designed as enlarged and improved versions of the preceding Orion-class battleship. They had an overall length of 597 ft, a beam of 89 ft and a draught of 28 ft. They displaced 25420 LT at normal load and 27120 LT at deep load. Centurion's crew numbered 862 officers and ratings upon completion.

Ships of the King George V class were 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 27000 shp and were intended to give the battleships a speed of 21 kn. During her sea trials on 19–20 February 1913, Centurion reached a maximum speed of 22.9 kn from 34530 shp. She carried enough coal and fuel oil to give her a range of 6310 nmi at a cruising speed of 10 kn.

Armament and armour
Like the Orion class, the King George Vs were equipped with 10 breech-loading (BL) 13.5 in 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 4 in Mark VII guns. Eight of these were mounted in the forward superstructure, four in the aft superstructure, and four in casemates in the side of the hull abreast of the forward main gun turrets, all in single mounts. Four 47 mm 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 14 torpedoes were provided.

The King George V-class ships were protected by a waterline 12 in armoured belt that extended between the end barbettes. Their decks ranged in thickness between 1 in and 4 inches with the thickest portions protecting the steering gear in the stern. The main battery turret faces were 11 in thick, and the turrets were supported by 10 in barbettes.

Modifications
A fire-control director was installed on the roof of the spotting top before August 1914; her original pole foremast was reinforced by short tripod legs to stiffen it and allow it to bear the weight of the director. By October 1914, a pair of 3 in anti-aircraft (AA) guns had been added on the quarterdeck. Approximately 80 LT of additional deck armour was added after the Battle of Jutland. By April 1917, the four-inch guns had been removed from the hull casemates as they were frequently unusable in heavy seas. The casemates were plated over and some of the compartments were used for accommodations. In addition, one of the three-inch AA guns was replaced by a four-inch AA gun. Her stern torpedo tube was removed in either 1917 or 1918 and flying-off platforms were fitted on the roofs of 'B' and 'X' turrets during 1918.

When Centurion was initially converted for use as a radio-controlled target ship for use by ships with guns up to 8 in in diameter in 1926, the conversion was initially fairly minimal. All of her small fittings were removed, her boilers were converted to use diesel fuel instead of coal and numerous radio antennas were added for use by her controlling ship, the destroyer HMS Shikari (1919). The ship could steam at speeds of 16 kn for three hours. Her gun turrets were removed shortly afterwards and some of the former coal bunkers were filled with rocks to compensate for weight of the turrets. This increased her draught to 31 ft which reduced the chances of steeply diving shells fired at maximum range penetrating beneath the armour belt. The ship was maintained by a crew of 242 who sailed her to the firing range and then disembarked. The spotting top was removed by 22 September 1930 and her forward superstructure was cut down and her funnels were shortened in 1933 in preparation for aircraft bombing trials.

Centurion was armed with a variety of weapons in June 1940 as the threat of German invasion increased and was then modified to serve as a repair ship for the local defence ships based in Devonport. In April–May 1941, she was converted into a blockship, with her magazines now serving as fuel tanks, but she was then modified with false gun turrets and masts to serve as a decoy for the battleship HMS Anson (79). Her armament now comprised two 2-pounder (40 mm) Mk II "pom-pom"s and eight 20 mm Oerlikon light AA guns, all on single mounts. The ship's anti-aircraft armament was augmented in June 1942 with two additional "pom-pom"s and nine more Oerlikons.

Construction and career
Centurion, named after the Roman Army rank of centurion, was the sixth ship of her name to serve in the Royal Navy. She was laid down at HM Dockyard, Devonport on 16 January 1911 and launched on 18 November. While conducting her sea trials on the night of 9/10 December, Centurion accidentally rammed and sank the Italian steamer SS Derna with the loss of all hands. The battleship's bow was badly damaged and the ship was under repair until March 1913. She cost £1,950,671 at completion and was commissioned on 22 May, joining her sister ships in the 2nd Battle Squadron (BS). The ship was present with the 2nd BS to receive the President of France, Raymond Poincaré, at Spithead on 24 June. All four sisters represented the Royal Navy during the celebrations of the re-opening of the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal, held in conjunction with Kiel Week, in Kiel, Germany, in June 1914.

First World War
Between 17 and 20 July 1914, Centurion 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. In August 1914, following the outbreak of the First World War, the Home Fleet was reorganised as the Grand Fleet, and placed under the command of Admiral Sir John Jellicoe. 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 October the 2nd 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 her sister HMS Audacious (1912) struck a mine, laid a few days earlier by the German auxiliary minelayer SS Berlin (1908). 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; Centurion 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.

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 the 2nd BS, including Centurion and her sisters HMS Ajax (1912) and HMS King George V (1911), and stood with the main body in support of Beatty's four battlecruisers.

The screening forces of each side blundered into each other during the early morning darkness of 16 December in heavy weather. The Germans got the better of the initial exchange of fire, severely damaging several British destroyers, but 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.

1915–1916
Jellicoe's ships, including Centurion, conducted gunnery drills on 10–13 January 1915 west of Orkney and the Shetland Islands. On the evening of 23 January, the bulk of the Grand Fleet sailed in support of Beatty's battlecruisers, but Centurion and the rest of the fleet did not participate in the ensuing Battle of Dogger Bank the following day. The ship was refitted at Cromarty, Scotland, from 25 January to 22 February. 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.

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 Shetland 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, Centurion participated in another fleet training operation west of Orkney during 2–5 November and repeated the exercise at the beginning of December.

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, Centurion 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. It is uncertain if Centurion participated in this as she received a brief refit at Invergordon, Scotland, during the month.

Battle of Jutland
In an attempt to lure out and destroy a portion of the Grand Fleet, the High Seas Fleet, composed of sixteen dreadnoughts, six pre-dreadnoughts and supporting ships, departed the Jade Bight early on the morning of 31 May. The fleet sailed in concert with Hipper's five battlecruisers. 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.

On 31 May, Centurion, under the command of Captain Sir Michael Culme-Seymour, was the third ship from the head of the battle line after deployment. The ship was only lightly engaged at Jutland, firing four salvos (totalling 19 armour-piercing shells) at the battlecruiser SMS Lützow at 19:16 before HMS Orion (1910) blocked Centurion's view, failing to hit her target.

Subsequent activity
Centurion was being refitted when the Grand Fleet sortied on 18 August to ambush the High Seas Fleet while it advanced into the southern North Sea, but a series of miscommunications and mistakes prevented Jellicoe from intercepting the German fleet before it returned to port. Two light cruisers were sunk by German U-boats during the operation, prompting Jellicoe to decide to not risk the major units of the fleet south of 55° 30' North due to the prevalence of German submarines and mines. The Admiralty concurred and stipulated that the Grand Fleet would not sortie unless the German fleet was attempting an invasion of Britain or there was a strong possibility it could be forced into an engagement under suitable conditions.

In April 1918, the High Seas Fleet again sortied, to attack British convoys to Norway. They enforced strict wireless silence during the operation, which prevented Room 40 cryptanalysts from warning the new commander of the Grand Fleet, Admiral Beatty. The British only learned of the operation after an accident aboard the battlecruiser SMS Moltke forced her to break radio silence to inform the German commander of her condition. Beatty then ordered the Grand Fleet to sea to intercept the Germans, but he was not able to reach the High Seas Fleet before it turned back for Germany. The ship was present at Rosyth, Scotland, when the High Seas Fleet surrendered there on 21 November.

Between the wars
By 18 December 1919, Centurion had been assigned to the 4th Battle Squadron of the Mediterranean Fleet. In March 1920, the ship was temporarily placed in reserve, but was recommissioned on 8 August. During the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War, Centurion participated in an exchange of prisoners of war with the victorious Bolsheviks in Georgia in October–November. After the destroyer HMS Tobago (1918) struck a mine near Trebizond on 12 November, she was towed from Constantinople to Malta for permanent repairs by Centurion. In April 1921, the ship was again reduced to reserve, recommissioning on 1 August 1922 before the Chanak Crisis of September. Upon her return home in April 1924, she became the flagship of the Reserve Fleet at Portsmouth and participated in a fleet review in Torbay on 26 July. Centurion was transferred to Chatham Dockyard at the end of the year and remained there through 1925.

In April 1926, the ship was chosen to replace the elderly semi-dreadnought HMS Agamemnon (1906) as the fleet's radio-controlled target ship. The conversion, costing approximately £358,088, began on 14 April at Chatham Dockyard and lasted until July 1927 when she began sea trials. She was laid up in 1931 to cut costs and was decommissioned at Portsmouth on 30 January 1932. The ship was recommissioned in 1933 and was used by the Atlantic Fleet on 1 June. She was used in September for trials with dive bombers, which made 19 hits out of 48 bombs dropped; a much higher rate than level bombing from medium or high altitudes. Centurion was refitted between November 1934 – January 1935 to repair the damage inflicted by the fleet.

World War II
In 1939–1940, the ship continued in her prewar role, although she was briefly considered for rearming in May 1940 as an anti-aircraft cruiser in support of the Norway campaign. She then served as a repair ship at Devonport before being converted into a blockship in April 1941. On 14 April, Winston Churchill suggested that a heavy naval bombardment of the Libyan city of Tripoli should be made by the Mediterranean Fleet and followed up by blocking the port with a battleship and the Admiralty suggested HMS Barham (04) and a cruiser, but Admiral Andrew Cunningham, commander of the Mediterranean Fleet, rejected the idea of using one of his active battleships and suggested Centurion instead. Upon further consideration, he assessed the chance of success as one in ten due to the difficulties of "wedging herself in exactly the right position within point blank range of the enemy guns with enemy dive bombers overhead." The ship was then modified to resemble the battleship HMS Anson (79), then building at HM Dockyard, Portsmouth.

In 1942, Centurion was transferred to the Eastern Fleet and was detached to the Mediterranean Fleet in May–June to escort Convoy M.W. 11 from Alexandria to Malta in June as part of Operation Vigorous. She was assigned in the hopes of deceiving the Axis about the presence of an operational battleship; the Italians seem to have seen through the deception by the time the convoy sailed on 13 June, although the Germans were deceived. Two days later, the ship was slightly damaged by near misses when attacked by nine dive bombers; her Oerlikon cannon shot one of them down. Centurion was scuttled as a breakwater during the Invasion of Normandy off Omaha Beach on 9 June 1944 to protect a Mulberry harbour built to supply the forces ashore.

title: HMS Centurion (1911)


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HMS Audacious (1912)

HMS Audacious was the fourth and last King George V-class battleship dreadnought battleship built for the Royal Navy in the early 1910s. After completion in 1913, she spent her brief career assigned to the Home and Grand Fleets. The ship was sunk by a German naval mine off the northern coast of County Donegal, Ireland, early during the First World War. Audacious slowly flooded, allowing all of her crew to be rescued and finally sank after the British were unable to tow her to shore. However, a petty officer on a nearby cruiser was killed by shrapnel when Audacious subsequently exploded. Even though American tourists aboard one of the rescuing ships photographed and filmed the sinking battleship, the Admiralty embargoed news of her loss in Britain to prevent the Germans from taking advantage of the weakened Grand Fleet. She is the largest warship ever sunk by naval mines.

Design and description
The King George V–class ships were designed as enlarged and improved versions of the preceding Orion-class battleships. They had an overall length of 597 ft, a beam of 89 ft and a draught of 28 ft. They displaced 25420 LT at normal load and 27120 LT at deep load. Audacious's crew numbered 860 officers and ratings in 1914.

Ships of the King George V class were 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 a total of 27000 shp and were intended to give the battleships a speed of 21 kn. Audacious carried enough coal and fuel oil to give her a range of 5910 nmi at a cruising speed of 10 kn.

Armament and armour
Like the Orion class, the King George Vs were equipped with 10 breech-loading (BL) 13.5 in Mark V guns in five hydraulically powered twin-gun turrets. There were a pair of superfiring turrets fore and aft of the superstructure and another amidships, all on the centreline. Their secondary armament consisted of 16 BL 4 in Mark VII guns. Eight of these were mounted in the forward superstructure, four in the aft superstructure, and four in casemates in the side of the hull abreast of the forward main-gun turrets, all in single mounts. The ships were equipped with three 21-inch (533 mm) submerged torpedo tubes, one on each broadside and another in the stern, for which 14 torpedoes were provided.

The King George V–class ships were protected by a waterline 12 in armoured belt that extended between the end barbettes. Their decks ranged in thickness between 1 in and 4 inches with the thickest portions protecting the steering gear in the stern. The main battery turret faces were 11 in thick, and the turrets were supported by 10 in barbettes.

Modifications
Audacious was fitted with a fire-control director on the roof of the spotting top before her loss.

Construction and career
Ordered under the 1910–1911 Naval Estimates, Audacious was the third ship of her name to serve in the Royal Navy. The ship was laid down by Cammell Laird at their shipyard in Birkenhead on 23 March 1911 and launched on 14 September 1912. She was completed in August 1913 at a cost of £1,918,813, but was not commissioned until 15 October, joining her sister ships in the 2nd Battle Squadron. All four sisters represented the Royal Navy during the celebrations of the re-opening of the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal in Germany in June 1914.

World War I
Between 17 and 20 July, Audacious took part in a test mobilisation and fleet review as part of the British response to the July Crisis. Arriving at the Isle of Portland on 25 July, she was ordered to proceed with the rest of the Home Fleet to Scapa Flow off the coast of Scotland four days later to safeguard the fleet from a possible surprise attack by the Imperial German Navy. Following the start 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. The following month, the ship was refitted at HM Dockyard, Devonport, and rejoined the Grand Fleet at the beginning of October.

Sinking
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 were reinforced. On 16 October, the 2nd Battle Squadron was sent to Loch na Keal on the western coast of Scotland. The squadron departed for gunnery practice off Tory Island, Ireland, on the morning of 27 October and Audacious struck a mine at 08:45, laid a few days earlier by the German auxiliary minelayer SS Berlin (1908). Captain Cecil Dampier, thinking that his ship had been torpedoed, hoisted the submarine warning; in accordance with instructions the other dreadnoughts departed the area, leaving the smaller ships behind to render assistance.

The explosion occurred 16 ft under the bottom of the ship, approximately 10 ft forward of the transverse bulkhead at the rear of the port engine room. The engine room and the outer compartments adjacent to it flooded immediately, with water spreading more slowly to the central engine room and adjoining spaces. The ship rapidly took on a list to port of up to 15 degrees, which was reduced by counter-flooding compartments on the starboard side, so that by 09:45, the list ranged up to only nine degrees as she rolled in the heavy swell. The light cruiser HMS Liverpool (1909) stood by, while Jellicoe ordered every available destroyer and tug out to assist, but did not send out any battleships to tow Audacious because of the supposed submarine threat. Having intercepted the stricken dreadnought's distress calls, the White Star ocean liner RMS Olympic arrived on the scene.

The ship could make 9 kn and Dampier believed that he had a chance of making the 25 mi to land and beaching the ship, so he turned Audacious south and made for Lough Swilly. The ship had covered 15 mi when the rising water forced the abandonment of the centre and starboard engine rooms and she drifted to a stop at 10:50. Dampier ordered all non-essential crew to be taken off, boats from Liverpool and Olympic assisting, and only 250 men were left aboard by 14:00. At 13:30, Captain Herbert Haddock, the captain of Olympic, suggested that his ship attempt to take Audacious in tow. Dampier agreed, and with the assistance of the destroyer HMS Fury (1911), a tow line was passed 30 minutes later. The ships began moving, but the line snapped as Audacious repeatedly tried to turn into the wind. Liverpool and the newly arrived collier SS Thornhill then attempted to take the battleship in tow, but the lines broke before any progress could be made.

Vice-Admiral Sir Lewis Bayly, commander of the 1st Battle Squadron, arrived on the scene in the ocean boarding vessel Cambria and took over the rescue operation. Upon learning that two ships had been mined in the area the day before, and that there was no threat from submarines, Jellicoe ordered the pre-dreadnought battleship HMS Exmouth (1901) to sail at 17:00 for an attempt to tow Audacious. Dampier ordered all but 50 men to be removed at 17:00 and Bayly, Dampier and the remaining men on the ship were taken off at 18:15 with dark approaching.

Just as Exmouth was coming up on the group at 20:45, Audacious heeled sharply, paused, and then capsized. She floated upside down with the bow raised until 21:00, when an explosion occurred that threw wreckage 300 ft into the air, followed by two more. The explosion appeared to come from the area of 'B' magazine and was probably caused by one or more high-explosive shells falling from their racks and exploding, then igniting the cordite in the magazine. A piece of armour plate flew 800 yd and killed a petty officer on Liverpool. This was the only casualty in connection with the sinking.

Aftermath
Jellicoe immediately proposed that the sinking be kept a secret, to which the Board of Admiralty and the British Cabinet agreed, an act open to ridicule later on. For the rest of the war, Audacious' name remained on all public lists of ship movements and activities. The many Americans on board Olympic were beyond British jurisdiction and discussed the sinking. Many photos, and even one moving picture, had been taken. By 19 November, the loss of the ship was accepted in Germany. Jellicoe's opposite number in Germany, Reinhard Scheer, wrote after the war, "In the case of the Audacious we approve of the English attitude of not revealing a weakness to the enemy, because accurate information about the other side's strength has a decisive effect on the decisions taken."

On 14 November 1918, shortly after the war ended, a notice officially announcing the loss appeared in The Times:

"H.M.S. Audacious. A Delayed Announcement.

The Secretary of the Admiralty makes the following announcement:— H.M.S. Audacious sank after striking a mine off the North Irish coast on October 27, 1914. This was kept secret at the urgent request of the Commander-in-Chief, Grand Fleet, and the Press loyally refrained from giving it any publicity."

A Royal Navy review board judged that a contributory factor in the loss was that Audacious was not at action stations, with water-tight doors locked and damage-control teams ready. Attempts were made to use the engine-circulating pumps as additional bilge pumps, but the rapid rise of water prevented this. Although hatches were open at the time of the explosion, it was claimed that all were closed before rising water reached them. Apart from the damage to the bottom of the ship, water was found to have spread through bulkheads because of faulty seals around pipes and valves, broken pipes and hatches which did not close properly.

Naval historian John Roberts stated that the incident revealed the design flaws in the Royal Navy's damage-control plans for the King George V-class battleships and the other recent dreadnought classes. In the first several class of dreadnoughts, the engine-circulating pumps had connections to the bilges to allow them to pump water overboard in case of flooding, but these were eliminated as useless in the ships designed after 1907. Furthermore, the ship's auxiliary machinery was almost entirely steam powered, which meant that the steering, hydraulics and primary electrical systems were all disabled as flooding progressed in Audacious.

Two months after the battleship's loss, the Royal Navy ordered that additional bilge pumps and piping connecting the engine-circulating pumps to the bilges be added to all the dreadnoughts of the St Vincent-class battleship and Indefatigable-class battlecruiser classes and later. Additional pumps were ordered to be fitted to the submerged torpedo rooms as well as additional valves in the ventilation ducts to limit any flooding. It is uncertain how much of this was actually carried out in the older ships as space was limited as was their availability to get the work done.

The wreck of Audacious was filmed for the television show Deep Wreck Mysteries on the History Channel in 2008. The programme featured an investigation of the wreck and the circumstances of its loss by nautical archaeologist Innes McCartney and naval historian Bill Jurens. The diveable wreck lies upside down at a depth of 58 - 68 m in clear water at 55.53778°N, -7.40917°W, some 17 mi north-east of Tory Island. 'B' turret and part of its barbette were blown clear of the wreck by the explosion.

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title: HMS Audacious (1912)


text:
HMS Ajax (1912)

HMS Ajax was the third of four King George V-class battleship dreadnought battleships built for the Royal Navy in the early 1910s. After commissioning in 1913, 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 war, Ajax was assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet, where she took part in the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War in the Black Sea in 1919–1920. The ship was deployed to Turkish waters during the Chanak Crisis of September–October 1922. Ajax was placed in reserve in 1924 before being sold for scrap two years later in accordance with the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty.

Design and description
The King George V-class ships were designed as enlarged and improved versions of the preceding Orion-class battleship. They had an overall length of 597 ft, a beam of 89 ft and a draught of 28 ft. They displaced 25420 LT at normal load and 27120 LT at deep load. Ajax's crew numbered 869 officers and ratings upon completion.

Ships of the King George V class were powered by two sets of Parsons direct-drive steam turbines, each driving two shafts, using steam provided by 18 Babcock & Wilcox boilers. The turbines were rated at 27000 shp and were intended to give the battleships a speed of 21 kn. During her sea trials on 12–13 May 1913, Ajax reached a maximum speed of 21.2 kn from 29250 shp. She carried enough coal and fuel oil to give her a range of 6310 nmi at a cruising speed of 10 kn.

Armament and armour
Like the Orion class, the King George Vs were equipped with 10 breech-loading (BL) 13.5 in 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 4 in Mark VII guns. Eight of these were mounted in the forward superstructure, four in the aft superstructure, and four in casemates in the side of the hull abreast of the forward main gun turrets, all in single mounts. Four 3-pounder (47 mm) 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 14 torpedoes were provided.

The King George V-class ships were protected by a waterline 12 in armoured belt that extended between the end barbettes. Their decks ranged in thickness between 1 in and 4 inches with the thickest portions protecting the steering gear in the stern. The main battery turret faces were 11 in thick, and the turrets were supported by 10 in barbettes.

Modifications
A fire-control director was installed on the roof of the spotting top shortly after completion in 1913; her original pole foremast was reinforced by short tripod legs to stiffen it and allow it to bear the weight of the director. By October 1914, a pair of 3 in anti-aircraft (AA) guns had been added. Approximately 80 LT of additional deck armour was added after the Battle of Jutland. By April 1917, the 4-inch guns had been removed from the hull casemates as they were frequently unusable in heavy seas. The casemates were plated over and some of the compartments were used for accommodations. Her stern torpedo tube was removed in 1917–1918 and a flying-off platform was fitted on the roof of 'B' turret during 1918.

Construction and career
Ajax, named after the mythological hero, Ajax, was the fifth ship of her name to serve in the Royal Navy. Ordered under the 1910–1911 Naval Estimates, the ship was laid down by Scotts Shipbuilding & Engineering at their shipyard in Greenock on 27 February 1911 and launched on 21 March 1912. She was completed a year later at a cost of £1,889,387, but was not commissioned until 31 October 1913, joining her sister ships in the 2nd Battle Squadron (BS). All four sisters represented the Royal Navy during the celebrations of the re-opening of the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal, held in conjunction with Kiel Week, in Kiel, Germany, in June 1914.

World War I
Between 17 and 20 July 1914, Ajax 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. 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 Admiral Sir John Jellicoe. While conducting training exercises a few weeks later, the ship had problems with one of her turrets and had to return to Scapa for repairs. At the beginning of October, the ship began a brief refit at HM Dockyard, Devonport. 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 October the 2nd 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 HMS Audacious (1912) struck a mine, laid a few days earlier by the German auxiliary minelayer SS Berlin (1908). Thinking that the ship had been torpedoed by a submarine, the other dreadnoughts, including Ajax, 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; Ajax 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.

The interned German ocean liner SS Kronprinzessin Cecilie, HMS Princess, served as a dummy for Ajax from 1 November 1914 until 9 January 1916 when she began her conversion into an armed merchant cruiser. She was based in Loch Ewe, on the western coast of Scotland, and patrolled in the Atlantic.

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 Ajax and her sisters HMS King George V (1911) and HMS Centurion (1911), and stood with the main body in support of Beatty's four battlecruisers. As the 2nd BS was departing Scapa Flow in the darkness, Ajax collided with a trawler, but suffered no significant damage.

The screening forces of each side blundered into each other during the early morning darkness of 16 December in heavy weather. 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.

1915–1916
Jellicoe's ships, including Ajax, conducted gunnery drills on 10–13 January 1915 west of the Orkneys and the Shetland Islands. On the evening of 23 January, the bulk of the Grand Fleet sailed in support of Beatty's battlecruisers, but Ajax 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.

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 Shetland 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, Ajax participated in another fleet training operation west of Orkney during 2–5 November and repeated the exercise at the beginning of December.

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, Ajax 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.

Battle of Jutland

In an attempt to lure out and destroy a portion of the Grand Fleet, the High Seas Fleet, composed of sixteen dreadnoughts, six pre-dreadnoughts and supporting ships, departed the Jade Bight early on the morning of 31 May. The fleet sailed in concert with Hipper's five battlecruisers. 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.

On 31 May, Ajax, under the command of Captain George Baird, was the second ship from the head of the battle line after deployment. She fired one salvo of six common pointed, capped shells at the battlecruisers of the I Scouting Group shortly after 19:00, but had to cease fire immediately afterwards when her view was obstructed by the ships of the 4th Light Cruiser Squadron. That was the only time that the ship fired her weapons during the battle.

Subsequent activity
The Grand Fleet sortied on 18 August to ambush the High Seas Fleet while it advanced into the southern North Sea, but a series of miscommunications and mistakes prevented Jellicoe from intercepting the German fleet before it returned to port. Two light cruisers were sunk by German U-boats during the operation, prompting Jellicoe to decide to not risk the major units of the fleet south of 55° 30' North due to the prevalence of German submarines and mines. The Admiralty concurred and stipulated that the Grand Fleet would not sortie unless the German fleet was attempting an invasion of Britain or there was a strong possibility it could be forced into an engagement under suitable conditions.

In April 1918, the High Seas Fleet again sortied, to attack British convoys to Norway. They enforced strict wireless silence during the operation, which prevented Room 40 cryptanalysts from warning the new commander of the Grand Fleet, Admiral Beatty. The British only learned of the operation after an accident aboard the battlecruiser SMS Moltke forced her to break radio silence to inform the German commander of her condition. Beatty then ordered the Grand Fleet to sea to intercept the Germans, but he was not able to reach the High Seas Fleet before it turned back for Germany. The ship was present at Rosyth, Scotland, when the High Seas Fleet surrendered there on 21 November.

By 18 July 1919, Ajax was assigned to the 4th Battle Squadron of the Mediterranean Fleet and was refitting in Malta. In February 1920, she assisted in the Evacuation of Odessa, Russia, and returned to Constantinople, Turkey, on 12 February. Vice-Admiral Sir John de Robeck, Commander-in-chief of the Mediterranean Fleet, hoisted his flag in Ajax on 18 April and the ship sailed to the Caucasus to allow him to investigate the situation there as the Bolsheviks advanced. After his arrival two days later, the ship briefly bombarded Bolshevik positions near Sochi before arriving back at Constantinople on 25 April. At the beginning of June, Ajax was in Sevastopol, although she was in Batumi, Georgia, by 22 June, where she remained until 9 July to cover the evacuation of the city by White forces.

De Robeck hoisted his flag again in Ajax in February 1921 as he voyaged from Malta to Smyrna, Turkey, Constantinople, and Lemnos before the ship returned to Malta before the end of the month. During the Chanak Crisis, she was ordered to Smyrna in September 1922, together with much of the rest of the Mediterranean Fleet. After the Armistice of Mudanya ended the crisis, Ajax proceeded to Malta for a refit. When the last Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, Mehmed VI, was deposed in 1922, he was conveyed to Mecca aboard Ajax. The ship returned to Devonport in April 1924 and was placed in reserve. She was paid off and placed on the disposal list in October 1926 to meet the tonnage limitations of the Washington Naval Treaty. On 10 December, Ajax was sold to the Alloa Shipbreaking Company and arrived at Rosyth four days later to be broken up.

title: HMS Ajax (1912)


text:
Pitch Black (film)

Pitch Black (titled The Chronicles of Riddick: Pitch Black on later re-releases) is a 2000 American science fiction horror film directed by David Twohy and co-written by Twohy and brothers Ken and Jim Wheat from a story conceived by the latter. The film stars Vin Diesel, Radha Mitchell, Cole Hauser, and Keith David. Dangerous criminal Riddick (Diesel) is being transported to prison in a spacecraft, and escapes when the spaceship is damaged by comet debris and crash lands on an empty desert planet. When predatory creatures begin attacking the survivors, Riddick joins forces with them to escape the planet.

Pitch Black was the final film credit of PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, which merged with Universal Pictures during production. It was shot on a modest budget of US$23 million. Pitch Black was released on February 18, 2000, by USA Films and received mixed reviews from critics, who praised some inventive elements, the film's visual style, and Diesel's performance, but criticized a failure to fully expand on the core premise and some cliched characterizations. It was a sleeper hit, grossing over $53 million worldwide, and started a franchise centered on the antihero Riddick. A sequel, The Chronicles of Riddick, was released in 2004 by Universal, with Diesel back as the title character and Twohy returning as writer and director. A third film, titled Riddick, was released in 2013, with Diesel and Twohy reuniting again.

Plot
In the distant future, the spaceship Hunter-Gratzner is transporting passengers in cryostasis. Among them is Abu "Imam" al-Walid, a Muslim preacher guiding three young pilgrims to New Mecca; a teenage boy named Jack; a pair of prospectors named Shazza and Zeke; a rich merchant named Paris; and a bounty hunter posing as a law enforcement officer, William J. Johns, who is escorting notorious criminal Richard B. Riddick. Riddick has surgically modified eyes that are highly sensitive to light. Micrometeoroids rupture the ship's hull, killing the captain and sending the ship off course. The ship's first officer, Owens, and the docking pilot, Carolyn Fry, attempt to land the ship on a nearby planet. As the ship falls apart, Fry decides to dump the passenger section to reduce weight, but Owens stops her. The vessel crashes into the planet's surface, most of the passengers are killed, and Owens is fatally wounded. Riddick escapes into the desert despite Johns's attempts to keep him restrained.

The survivors explore their surroundings, noticing that the planet's three suns keep it in perpetual daylight. They find an abandoned geological research settlement, with a water well and a dropship that lacks power to fly. Zeke goes missing, and Riddick is suspected; while searching for Zeke, Fry escapes from aggressive photosensitive creatures after finding Zeke's remains in their cave. Johns recaptures Riddick and offers him a deal: if he helps the survivors escape the planet, Johns will allow him to go free. The group takes a power cell to the dropship. One of the young pilgrims is ambushed and eaten while exploring the settlement. An orrery shows that an eclipse is imminent and the creatures will be free to hunt above ground. They realize the geologists must have been all killed by the creatures during the last eclipse. Johns informs Fry that Riddick is a capable pilot and could abandon them, and Riddick reveals that Johns is actually a bounty hunter and morphine addict who denied Owens the drug in his final moments.

The group returns to the crash site on a solar-powered sand truck to salvage more power cells for the dropship before the eclipse, but it begins as they get there. Creatures pour out of the ground and devour Shazza and another pilgrim. With his enhanced sight, Riddick agrees to lead the group to the dropship on foot through the darkness. They build a rig from the ship's lighting rods as protection; Paris accidentally destroys the rig and is devoured. Riddick reveals to the group that Jack is actually female pretending to be a boy and the scent of her menstrual blood is drawing the attention of the creatures; Johns suggests to Riddick that they use her as bait. Instead, Riddick fights and wounds Johns and leaves him to die as a distraction. The rest of the group pushes on as Riddick drags the power cells behind him.

After Imam's last acolyte is killed and rainfall starts putting out their improvised torches, Riddick hides the others in a cave and goes to start the dropship himself. Inside the cave, the group discovers bioluminescent worms, which they stuff in bottles to use as light. Fry leaves the cave and finds Riddick powering the ship, ready to leave. She pleads with him to help her rescue the others, but instead he offers to take her with him. Riddick is soon persuaded to return after Fry answers his question that she would die for them, and they retrieve Imam and Jack, but Riddick is separated and wounded by the predators; Fry goes back for him but a creature stabs and carries her off. Riddick makes it to the ship and delays engaging the engines to incinerate as many creatures as possible. In space, Jack asks Riddick what they should tell the authorities about him; he tells her to say that Riddick died on the planet.

Cast

 * Vin Diesel as Richard B. Riddick. A former mercenary, soldier and pilot, turned infamous criminal and murderer. Riddick has surgically altered eyes that allow him to see in the dark but cause him immense pain in light; he wears goggles at all times to protect them.
 * Radha Mitchell as Carolyn Fry, a docking pilot for the transport ship Hunter-Gratzner. She has a moment of weakness during the emergency landing and tries to sacrifice the ship's passenger section to save herself. Her regret over this decision causes her to become obsessed with getting the survivors off the planet.
 * Cole Hauser as William J. Johns, a bounty hunter and morphine addict posing as a lawman. He is exceptionally selfish and willing to do whatever he can to save his own hide.
 * Rhiana Griffith as Jack, a young girl who disguises herself as a boy to fit in. She idolizes Riddick, and shaves her head and wears goggles to copy his look.
 * Keith David as Abu "Imam" al-Walid, a devout Muslim who is travelling to New Mecca. He is accompanied by three boys named Ali, Hassan, and Suleiman.
 * Lewis Fitz-Gerald as Paris P. Ogilvie, an antiques dealer who sells weaponry and art.
 * Claudia Black as Sharon "Shazza" Montgomery, a free settler who is travelling across the universe looking for a new home.
 * John Moore as John "Zeke" Ezekiel, Shazza's companion.
 * Simon Burke as Greg Owens, First Officer of the Hunter-Gratzner. During the ship's emergency landing, he stops Fry from dumping the passengers.
 * Les Chantery as Suleiman
 * Sam Sari as Hassan
 * Firass Dirani as Ali
 * Ric Anderson as Total Stranger, a surviving passenger shot dead by Zeke, who mistakes him for Riddick.
 * Vic Wilson as Captain Tom Mitchell, who dies in the crash of the Hunter-Gratzner

Production
According to Ken and Jim Wheat, the original concept of Pitch Black was suggested by David Madden during his tenure in Interscope Communications. His initial premise was: "[t]ravelers visit a planet where multiple suns mean perpetual daylight, but when an eclipse brings darkness, ghosts emerge." These "ghost" antagonists survived the first draft, but were later replaced by physical predators. Interscope approached David Twohy with the concept, letting him direct if he could refine the screenplay. Twohy had worked on an early version of Alien 3, and was aware that Pitch Black concept had similarities to that franchise. He proposed changes to character arcs in the script. Said Twohy: "I've got three characters in this film who not only change from where they begin but also change from where you expect them to end up ... I had three leads, and they each thought they were the lead, which made for a lot of ego problems on the set. But ego problems are not always a bad thing."

Most of the filming, including all of the external locations, took place in and around Coober Pedy, South Australia. It was winter in the region, and rain before the shoot caused filming delays. Most interior sequences were shot at the Village Roadshow Studios, in Oxenford, Queensland. In Los Angeles, New Deal Studios were used for miniature photography and the interior sequence of the spaceship crash. To highlight the different suns for some of the daytime sequences, the filmmakers used a bleach bypass process during post-production.

Reception
Pitch Black opened in 1,832 theaters on 18 February 2000, grossing $11,577,688 over its opening weekend and ranking 4th at the box office. The film has a domestic gross of $39,240,659 and an international gross of $13,947,000, giving it a worldwide total of $53,187,659.

Critical response
At review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, it has a 60% approval rating based on 114 reviews, with an average rating of 5.70/10. The site's consensus reads: "Despite an interesting premise (and a starmaking turn from Vin Diesel), Pitch Black is too derivative and formulaic to fully recommend to sci-fi or action fans". On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 49 out of 100, based on 29 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

James Berardinelli of ReelViews gave the film 3 out of 4 stars and stated, "It's not an especially challenging part, but Diesel handles it with aplomb." BBC.com gave the film 3 out of 5 stars and stated it as "an entertainment and quite a good one too." Peter Bradshaw of Guardian gave the film a positive review and stated that the film "undoubtedly has something interesting about it, and that something can be summarized in two words: Vin Diesel." Nathan Rabin of A.V. Club gave the film a positive review and stated that the film "falters a bit in its last half-hour" and "reduces Diesel to delivering a pithy one-liner-but for the most part, it's terrific."

San Francisco Chronicle gave the film 0 out of 4 stars and called the film "a tiresome experience." Austin Chronicle gave the film 2 out of 5 stars and called the film "a very streamlined exercise in interplanetary mayhem and the logistics of the body count." Roger Ebert of Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 2 out of 4 stars, stating Pitch Black was inferior to Twohy's The Arrival (1996) and adding: "how sad it is that humans travel countless light years away from Earth, only to find themselves inhabiting the same tired generic conventions."

Home media
Pitch Black was released on VHS and DVD on October 10, 2000 by Universal Studios Home Video. It was re-released on DVD in 2004 as The Chronicles of Riddick: Pitch Black. It was released on HD DVD on July 11, 2006, and on Blu-ray on March 31, 2009. The disc contains the theatrical edition and an unrated director's cut edition, containing 3 more minutes of extra material. A LaserDisc release was also planned, but cancelled by mid-2001 due to waning support for that format. In 2020, the year of the film’s 20th Anniversary, Arrow Video released Pitch Black on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray.

Sequels
The movie's sequel, The Chronicles of Riddick (2004), was also directed by David Twohy. To tie in with the sequel, the film was novelized under the name The Chronicles of Riddick: Pitch Black, which was written by Frank Lauria.

A short animated movie released the same year, The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury (2004), was directed by Peter Chung. Dark Fury bridges the gap between Pitch Black and Chronicles of Riddick.

Riddick, a live-action sequel to The Chronicles of Riddick, opened on September 6, 2013, with both David Twohy and Vin Diesel attached. The sequel ties in more closely to the original Pitch Black.

Riddick: Furya, the fourth installment was announced in February 2023. Vin Diesel will again appear in the film and David Twohy has written the script and will direct the film.

Prequel
Into Pitch Black (2000) is a Sci-Fi Channel special that includes clips from Pitch Black and takes place before and after the events of the film. Inconsistencies with the storyline of later sequels have made it non-canonical.

Video games
The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay, a game for the Xbox and the PC, was released in 2004 to critical acclaim. A remake of Butcher Bay, including a new campaign, was released for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC on 7 April 2009, under the title The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena.

title: Pitch Black (film)


text: Template:Orion class battleship

title: Template:Orion class battleship


text:
HMS Orion (1910)

HMS Orion was the lead ship of her class 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, generally serving as a flagship. 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, Orion was transferred to back to the Home Fleet for a few months before she was assigned to the Reserve Fleet. She served as a gunnery training ship from mid-1921 until she was listed for disposal the following year. The ship was sold for scrap in late 1922 and subsequently broken up.

Design and description
The Orion-class ships were designed in response to the beginnings of the Anglo-German naval arms race and were much larger than their predecessors of the Colossus-class battleship 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 581 ft, a beam of 88 ft and a deep draught of 31 ft. They displaced 21922 LT at normal load and 25596 LT at deep load as built; by 1918 Orion's deep displacement had increased to 29108 LT. Her crew numbered 754 officers and ratings as of 1914.

The Orion class was powered by two sets of Parsons direct-drive steam turbines, each driving two shafts, using steam provided by 18 Babcock & Wilcox boilers. The turbines were rated at 27000 shp and were intended to give the battleships a speed of 21 kn. During her sea trials in September 1911, Orion reached a maximum speed of 21.3 kn from 30552 shp. The ships carried enough coal and fuel oil to give them a range of 6730 nmi at a cruising speed of 10 kn.

Armament and armour
The Orion class was equipped with 10 breech-loading (BL) 13.5 in 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 4 in Mark VII guns. These guns were split evenly between the forward and aft superstructure, all in single mounts. Four 47 mm 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 12 in armoured belt that extended between the end barbettes. Their decks ranged in thickness between 1 in and 4 inches with the thickest portions protecting the steering gear in the stern. The main battery turret faces were 11 in thick, and the turrets were supported by 10 in barbettes.

Modifications
In 1914 the shelter-deck guns were enclosed in casemates. By October 1914, a pair of 3 in anti-aircraft (AA) guns had been added. A fire-control director was installed on a platform below the spotting top in April–May 1915. 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. In mid-to-late 1917, Orion was the only battleship in the Royal Navy to receive a director for her secondary armament. Two flying-off platforms were fitted aboard the ship during 1917–1918; these were mounted on 'B' and 'Q' turret roofs and extended onto the gun barrels. A high-angle rangefinder was fitted in the forward superstructure by 1921.

Construction and career
Orion, named after the mythological hunter, Orion, was the fourth ship of her name to serve in the Royal Navy (RN). The ship was laid down at HM Dockyard, Portsmouth on 29 November 1909. She was launched on 20 August 1910, and was commissioned on 2 January 1912. Including her armament, her cost is variously quoted at £1,855,917 or £1,918,773. Orion was assigned to the 2nd division of the Home Fleet as the flagship of Rear-Admiral Sir Herbert King-Hall, the division's second-in-command. The ship was slightly damaged on 7 January when the pre-dreadnought battleship HMS Revenge (1892) broke loose from her moorings and collided with Orion's bow. The division was redesignated as the 2nd Battle Squadron (BS) on 1 May. The ship, together with her sister ships HMS Thunderer (1911) and HMS Monarch (1911), participated in the Parliamentary Naval Review on 9 July at Spithead. They then participated in training manoeuvres. King-Hall was relieved by Rear-Admiral Rosslyn Wemyss on 29 October. On 13 November, the ship participated in comparative gunnery trials with Thunderer to evaluate the effectiveness of the latter's gunnery director. Thunderer decisively outshot Orion, although some of her success was because her director was above the smoke that obscured the target from Orion's guns. The test was repeated in better conditions on 4 December and Orion performed much better, apparently beating Thunderer. 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. Wemyss was relieved in his turn by Rear-Admiral Sir Robert Arbuthnot, 4th Baronet on 28 October. Captain Frederic Dreyer assumed command of Orion that same day. On 4 November, Orion, Thunderer, the dreadnought HMS King George V (1911) and the predreadnought HMS King Edward VII fired at and sank the target ship HMS Empress of India to give their crews experience in firing live ammunition against a real ship.

World War I
Between 17 and 20 July 1914, Orion 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. 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 Admiral Sir John Jellicoe. On 8 August, Orion was towing a target for the dreadnought HMS Ajax (1912) and Monarch when the latter reported that she had been unsuccessfully attacked by a torpedo and the gunnery exercise was terminated. Almost two weeks later, the ship began having serious problems with her condensers and Jellicoe ordered that they be retubed while she was detached to the coaling base at Loch Ewe, on the northwest coast of Scotland. Orion rejoined the Grand Fleet on 9 September. 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 October the 2nd 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 HMS Audacious (1912) struck a mine, laid a few days earlier by the German armed merchant cruiser SS Berlin (1908). Thinking that the ship had been torpedoed by a submarine, the other dreadnoughts were ordered away from the area, while smaller ships rendered assistance. Shortly afterwards, Orion had to be sent to Greenock for repairs to her turbine mounts.

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 predreadnoughts 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 Orion and her sisters, Monarch and HMS Conqueror (1911), and the four battlecruisers of Vice-Admiral Sir David Beatty.

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. One of these occurred when Orion's lookouts spotted the light cruiser SMS Stralsund and failed to engage because Arbuthnot refused to allow the ship to open fire without a command from Warrender.

1915–1916
Jellicoe's ships, including Orion, conducted gunnery drills on 10–13 January 1915 west of Orkney and the Shetland Islands. Rear-Admiral Arthur Leveson relieved Arbuthnot on 15 January. On the evening of 23 January, the bulk of the Grand Fleet sailed in support of Beatty's battlecruisers, but Orion 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. Orion was given a brief refit in late April in Devonport.

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 Shetland 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, Orion participated in another fleet training operation west of Orkney during 2–5 November and repeated the exercise at the beginning of December.

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, Orion 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.

Battle of Jutland

In an attempt to lure out and destroy a portion of the Grand Fleet, the High Seas Fleet, composed of sixteen dreadnoughts, six pre-dreadnoughts and supporting ships, departed the Jade Bight early on the morning of 31 May. The fleet sailed in concert with Hipper's five battlecruisers. 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.

On 31 May, Orion, under the command of Captain Oliver Backhouse, was the lead ship of the 2nd Division of the 2nd BS and was the fifth ship from the head of the battle line after deployment. During the first stage of the general engagement, the ship fired four salvos of armour-piercing, capped (APC) shells from her main guns at the battleship SMS Markgraf at 18:32, scoring one hit that knocked out a 15 cm gun and killed or disabled its crew. About 19:15, she engaged the battlecruiser SMS Lützow at a range of 18700 - 19800 yd with six salvos of APC shells and claimed to straddle her with the last two salvos. These last salvos were actually fired at the destroyer SMS G38 which was screening the battlecruiser and laying a smoke screen. Lützow was also fired at by Monarch during this time and was hit five times between the sisters. They knocked out two of her main guns, temporarily knocked out the power to the sternmost turret as well as causing a fair amount of flooding. This was the last time that Orion fired her guns during the battle, having expended a total of fifty-one 13.5-inch APC shells.

Subsequent activity
The Grand Fleet sortied on 18 August to ambush the High Seas Fleet while it advanced into the southern North Sea, but a series of miscommunications and mistakes prevented Jellicoe from intercepting the German fleet before it returned to port. Two light cruisers were sunk by German U-boats during the operation, prompting Jellicoe to decide to not risk the major units of the fleet south of 55° 30' North due to the prevalence of German submarines and mines. The Admiralty concurred and stipulated that the Grand Fleet would not sortie unless the German fleet was attempting an invasion of Britain or there was a strong possibility it could be forced into an engagement under suitable conditions. Rear-Admiral William Goodenough assumed command of the division on 5 December and Captain Eric Fullerton relieved Backhouse on the 14th.

In April 1918, the High Seas Fleet again sortied, to attack British convoys to Norway. They enforced strict wireless silence during the operation, which prevented Room 40 cryptanalysts from warning the new commander of the Grand Fleet, Admiral Beatty. The British only learned of the operation after an accident aboard the battlecruiser SMS Moltke forced her to break radio silence to inform the German commander of her condition. Beatty then ordered the Grand Fleet to sea to intercept the Germans, but he was not able to reach the High Seas Fleet before it turned back for Germany. The ship was present at Rosyth, Scotland, when the High Seas Fleet surrendered there on 21 November and she remained part of the 2nd BS through 1 March 1919.

By 1 May, Orion had been assigned to the 3rd BS of the Home Fleet and was serving as the flagship for Rear-Admiral Sir Douglas Nicholson, second-in-command of the squadron. On 1 November, the 3rd BS was disbanded and Orion was transferred to the Reserve Fleet at Portland, together with her sisters. Nicholson still hoisted his flag aboard her, although he was now commander of the Reserve Fleet there. Nicholson hauled down his flag on 1 April 1920 and the ship was transferred back to Portsmouth by 14 September. Orion then became the flagship of the Reserve Fleet, which was commanded by Vice-Admiral Richard Phillimore. In June 1921 she became a gunnery training ship at Portland. On 12 April 1922, she was paid off and placed on the disposal list in accordance with the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty. On 19 December Orion was sold for scrap to Cox and Danks and she arrived at Upnor in February 1923 to begin demolition.

title: HMS Orion (1910)


text:
HMS Monarch (1911)

HMS Monarch was the second of four Orion-class battleship 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 Colossus-class battleship 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 581 ft, a beam of 88 ft and a deep draught of 31 ft. They displaced 21922 LT at normal load and 25596 LT at deep load as built; by 1918 Monarch's deep displacement had increased to 28556 LT. Her crew numbered 738 officers and ratings upon completion and 750 as of 1914.

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 27000 shp and were intended to give the battleships a speed of 21 kn. During her sea trials on 9 December 1911, Monarch reached a maximum speed of 21.9 kn from 32277 shp. The ships carried enough coal and fuel oil to give them a range of 6730 nmi at a cruising speed of 10 kn.

Armament and armour
The Orion class was equipped with 10 breech-loading (BL) 13.5 in 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 4 in Mark VII guns. These guns were split evenly between the forward and aft superstructure, all in single mounts. Four 3-pounder (47 mm) 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 12 in armoured belt that extended between the end barbettes. Their decks ranged in thickness between 1 in and 4 inches with the thickest portions protecting the steering gear in the stern. The main battery turret faces were 11 in thick, and the turrets were supported by 10 in barbettes.

Modifications
In 1914 the shelter-deck guns were enclosed in casemates 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 3 in 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.

Construction and career
Monarch, named after a third-rate ship of the line, Monarque, that had been captured from the French in 1747, was the third ship of her name to serve in the Royal Navy. The ship was laid down by Armstrong Whitworth at their shipyard in Elswick on 1 April 1910 and launched on 30 March 1911. 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. The ship, together with her sister ships HMS Thunderer (1911) and HMS Orion (1910), 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.

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. 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. 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. SMU U-15 (Germany), 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. 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 HMS Audacious (1912) struck a mine, laid a few days earlier by the German armed merchant cruiser SS Berlin (1908). 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 Shetland 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.

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. 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.

Battle of Jutland

In an attempt to lure out and destroy a portion of the Grand Fleet, the High Seas Fleet, composed of sixteen dreadnoughts, six pre-dreadnoughts and supporting ships, departed the Jade Bight early on the morning of 31 May. The fleet sailed in concert with Hipper's five battlecruisers. 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.

On 31 May, Monarch, under the command of Captain George Borrett, was the sixth ship from the head of the battle line after deployment. During the first stage of the general engagement, the ship fired three salvos of armour-piercing, capped (APC) shells from her main guns at a group of five battleships at 18:32, scoring one hit on the dreadnought SMS König that knocked out a 15 cm gun, temporarily disabled three boilers and started several small fires. At 19:14, she engaged the battlecruiser SMS Lützow at a range of 17300 - 18450 yd with five salvos of APC shells and claimed to straddle her with the last two salvos. Lützow was also fired at by Orion during this time and was hit five times between the sisters. They knocked out two of her main guns, temporarily knocked out the power to the sternmost turret and caused a fair amount of flooding. This was the last time that Monarch fired her guns during the battle, having expended a total of fifty-three 13.5-inch APC shells.

Subsequent activity
The Grand Fleet sortied on 18 August to ambush the High Seas Fleet while it advanced into the southern North Sea, but a series of miscommunications and mistakes prevented Jellicoe from intercepting the German fleet before it returned to port. Two light cruisers were sunk by German U-boats during the operation, prompting Jellicoe to decide to not risk the major units of the fleet south of 55° 30' North due to the prevalence of German submarines and mines. The Admiralty concurred and stipulated that the Grand Fleet would not sortie unless the German fleet was attempting an invasion of Britain or there was a strong possibility it could be forced into an engagement under suitable conditions.

In April 1918, the High Seas Fleet again sortied, to attack British convoys to Norway. They enforced strict wireless silence during the operation, which prevented Room 40 cryptanalysts from warning the new commander of the Grand Fleet, Admiral Beatty. The British only learned of the operation after an accident aboard the battlecruiser SMS Moltke forced her to break radio silence to inform the German commander of her condition. Beatty then ordered the Grand Fleet to sea to intercept the Germans, but he was not able to reach the High Seas Fleet before it turned back for Germany. The ship was present at Rosyth, Scotland, when the High Seas Fleet surrendered there on 21 November and she remained part of the 2nd BS through 1 March 1919.

By 1 May, Monarch had been assigned to the 3rd BS of the Home Fleet. On 1 November, the 3rd BS was disbanded and Monarch was transferred to the Reserve Fleet at Portland, together with her sisters. The ship had been transferred back to Portsmouth by 18 March 1920. She was temporarily recommissioned during the summers of 1920 and 1921 to ferry troops to the Mediterranean and back. On 5 May 1922, Monarch was paid off and placed on the disposal list in accordance with the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty. Put up for sale in August, the ship was later withdrawn and attached to the gunnery school at HMS Vernon (shore establishment) as a hulk.

Monarch was paid off on 13 June 1923 and she was converted into a target ship at HM Dockyard, Portsmouth in October 1923. A replica of the underwater side protection of the Nelson-class battleships added to test the blast effects of large bombs detonating alongside the hull. A device consisting of 2081 lb of TNT (representing the explosives in a 4000 lb aerial bomb) was exploded at a depth of 40 ft and 7 ft from her side. Although damaged, the structure remained watertight after the test. The following year, live bombs of various sizes were dropped on the ship by Airco DH.9A bombers with little effect. Bombs were then positioned and detonated internally to evaluate their effects. On 20 January 1925, Monarch was towed out from Plymouth by dockyard tugs into Hurd's Deep in the English Channel, approximately 50 nmi south of the Isles of Scilly. On 21 January she was attacked by a wave of Royal Air Force bombers, which scored several hits; this was followed by four C-class cruiser light cruisers firing six-inch (152-mm) shells, and the destroyer HMS Vectis (D51), using her 4-inch guns. For the finale, the fast battleships HMS Hood (51) and HMS Repulse (1916) and the five Revenge-class battleships opened fire with their 15-inch (381-mm) guns. The number of hits on Monarch is unknown, but after nine hours of shelling she finally sank at 22:00. after a final hit by HMS Revenge (06).

title: HMS Monarch (1911)