|
HMS ''Leviathan'' was one of four armoured cruisers built for the Royal Navy around 1900. She was assigned to the China Station upon completion and then served in the Mediterranean Fleet in 1905–06. She was assigned to the 7th Cruiser Squadron in 1907 before she was briefly reduced to reserve. ''Leviathan'' was recommissioned in 1909 for service with the 4th Cruiser Squadron before she was placed in reserve in 1913. Recommissioned in mid-1914, she was assigned to the 6th Cruiser Squadron of the Grand Fleet at the beginning of World War I. She spent most of the rest of the year searching for German commerce raiders and escorting convoys before she became flagship of the 1st Cruiser Squadron. In early 1915, she was reassigned to the 6th Cruiser Squadron before she became flagship of the North America and West Indies Station in March. ''Leviathan'' retained that position for the next three years until she was relieved as flagship in early 1918 and began escorting convoys from North America to Britain. She was placed in reserve in 1919 and sold for scrap in early 1920. ==Design and description== ''Leviathan'' was designed to displace . The ship had an overall length of , a beam of and a deep draught of . She was powered by two 4-cylinder triple-expansion steam engines, each driving one shaft, which produced a total of and gave a maximum speed of . The engines were powered by 43 Belleville boilers.〔Chesneau & Kolesnik, p. 69〕 She carried a maximum of of coal and her complement consisted of 900 officers and enlisted men.〔Friedman 2012, p. 336〕 Her main armament consisted of two breech-loading (BL) in single gun turrets, one each fore and aft of the superstructure.〔 They fired shells to a range of .〔Friedman 2011, pp. 71–72〕 Her secondary armament of sixteen BL 6-inch Mk VII guns was arranged in casemates amidships. Eight of these were mounted on the main deck and were only usable in calm weather.〔Friedman 2012, pp. 243, 260–61〕 They had a maximum range of approximately with their shells.〔Friedman 2011, pp. 80–81〕 A dozen quick-firing (QF) 12-pounder 12 cwt guns were fitted for defence against torpedo boats. Two additional 12-pounder 8 cwt guns could be dismounted for service ashore.〔Friedman 2012, pp. 250, 336〕 ''Leviathan'' also carried three 3-pounder Hotchkiss guns and two submerged torpedo tubes.〔 At some point during the way, the ship probably had all of the lower casemates for her six-inch guns plated over and six of them remounted on the upper deck so they could be used in heavy weather. Several twelve-pounders were removed to make room for the six-inch guns.〔Friedman 2012, p. 247〕 The ship's waterline armour belt had a maximum thickness of and was closed off by transverse bulkheads. The armour of the gun turrets and their barbettes was 6 inches thick while the casemate armour was 5 inches thick. The protective deck armour ranged in thickness from and the conning tower was protected by of armour.〔 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 Leviathan (1901)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|