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HMS ''General Wolfe'', also known as ''Wolfe'', was a ''Lord Clive''-class monitor which was built in 1915 for shore-bombardment duties in the First World War. Her class of eight ships was armed by four obsolete ''Majestic''-class pre-dreadnoughts which had their 12-inch guns and mounts removed, modified and installed in the newly built monitors. ''Wolfe'' spent her entire war service with the Dover Patrol, bombarding the German-occupied Belgian coastline, which had been heavily fortified. In the spring of 1918 she was fitted with an gun, with which she made the longest-range firing in the history of the Royal Navy - - on a target at Snaeskerke, Belgium. After the war, she was laid up before being stripped and put up for sale in 1920. She was finally scrapped in 1923. ==Background and construction== The outbreak of the First World War and the rapid fall of Belgium into German hands meant that for the first time in decades the North Sea between the United Kingdom and Europe would not be wholly surrounded by friendly or neutral powers. In order to harass the Germans occupying the Belgian coast, and to prevent the use of ports by Imperial German Navy warships, vessels were needed which could traverse the shallow coastal waters and bombard the enemy. At this time aircraft were still relatively primitive and therefore orders were placed for shallow-draught vessels with long-range guns, the ''Abercrombie''-class monitors. The speed with which the ''Abercrombie'' class of monitor had commenced construction, coupled with the prospect of large-scale shore bombardment presented by the entry of the Ottoman Empire into the First World War led to Winston Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty and political head of the Royal Navy writing to First Sea Lord Jacky Fisher 11 December 1914; There were however no spare usable guns. Three 13.5-inch guns and mountings were free after the sinking of HMS ''Audacious'', but there were no turrets available. Although 15-inch guns and turrets would later be re-allocated to monitors, at this time it was not thought to be a feasible option while the ''Queen Elizabeth'' class and ''Revenge''-class battleships were being completed. It was then suggested that the guns and barbettes of the obsolete pre-dreadnought ''Majestic''-class battleships be removed and placed in the monitors while the older ships were utilised as transports and hulks. Admiral Percy Scott, the foremost gunnery expert in the navy was consulted, who recommended that if the elevation of the guns was increased from their then limit of 13.5° to 30° then a comfortable range of could be reached. Five of the monitors were allocated to the firm of Harland and Wolff, to be constructed at their Belfast and Govan yards. Another, which became HMS ''Prince Rupert'' was built at William Hamilton & Company of Port Glasgow and another at Scotts' shipyard at Greenock. This left the monitor provisionally named ''M9''. Initially the order for her went to Fairfield's on 23 December 1914. Due to a mass re-allocation of resources caused by the halting of capital ship construction, the construction of the former battleship, now the battlecruiser building at Fairfield was speeded up, while capacity at Palmer's in the North of England had been increased by the transfer of HMS ''Repulse'' to Clydebank. The order for ''M9'' was therefore given to Palmer's Hebburn-on-Tyne yard on 6 January 1916 who also received the order for its two 4-cylinder triple-expansion engines. Before ''M9'' was laid down at Hebburn, it was decided from which ship she would receive her main-armament. On 1 January 1915 it was decided that HMS ''Victorious'' would surrender one of her two 12-inch turrets, which was converted ''in situ'' by the Elswick Ordnance Company on Tyneside and then removed by crane - waiting dockside at Elswick until the monitor was launched and ready to have it fitted. The hull form was similar to the ''Abercrombie'' class, except that due to the lighter main armament the hull could be made slighter narrower and shorter, which meant that even with bulges she would be able to berth in most docks - a severe handicap for most monitors. ''M9'', so named as it was the ninth monitor laid down for the Royal Navy, was originally intended to be named simply ''Wolfe'' after the victor of the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, James Wolfe. On 15 February 1915 she was renamed ''Sir James Wolfe''〔 before receiving the name she would be launched under, ''General Wolfe'', on 8 March.〔 In common with all her sister-ships, which were named for famous British soldiers, the title was most often dropped leaving the name only, hence "''Wolfe''".〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「HMS General Wolfe (1915)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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