|
HMS ''New Zealand'' was one of three s built for the defence of the British Empire. Launched in 1911, the ship was funded by the government of New Zealand as a gift to Britain,〔 and she was commissioned into the Royal Navy in 1912. She had been intended for the China Station, but was released by the New Zealand government at the request of the Admiralty for service in British waters. During 1913, ''New Zealand'' was sent on a ten-month tour of the British Dominions, with an emphasis on a visit to her namesake nation. She was back in British waters at the start of World War I, and operated as part of the Royal Navy's Grand Fleet, in opposition to the German High Seas Fleet. During the war, the battlecruiser participated in all three of the major North Sea battles—Heligoland Bight, Dogger Bank, and Jutland—and was involved in the response to the inconclusive Raid on Scarborough, and the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight. ''New Zealand'' contributed to the destruction of two cruisers during her wartime service and was hit by enemy fire only once, sustaining no casualties; her status as a "lucky ship" was attributed by the crew to a Māori piupiu (warrior's skirt) and hei-tiki (pendant) worn by the captain during battle. After the war, ''New Zealand'' was sent on a second world tour, this time to allow Admiral John Jellicoe to review the naval defences of the Dominions. In 1920, the battlecruiser was placed in reserve. She was broken up for scrap in 1922 in order to meet Britain's tonnage limit in the disarmament provisions of the Washington Naval Treaty. ==Design== The ''Indefatigable'' class was not a significant improvement on the preceding ; the main difference was the enlargement of the dimensions to give the ships' two wing turrets a wider arc of fire. The ships were smaller and not as well protected as the contemporary German battlecruiser and subsequent German designs. While ''Von der Tann''s characteristics were not known when the lead ship of the class, , was laid down in February 1909, the Royal Navy obtained accurate information on the German ship before work began on ''New Zealand'' and her sister ship .〔Roberts, pp. 28–29〕 ''New Zealand'' had an overall length of , a beam of , and a draught of at deep load. She displaced at load and at deep load.〔Roberts, pp. 43–44〕 The battlecruiser's Parsons direct-drive steam turbines were designed to produce , propelling the ship at . However, during trials in 1912, the turbines produced over , which allowed ''New Zealand'' to reach . The ship carried approximately of coal, and an additional of fuel oil; this was sprayed on the coal to increase its burn rate.〔Roberts, pp. 76, 80〕 This gave her a range of at a speed of .〔 The ship carried eight BL 12-inch Mk X guns in four twin gun turrets. Two turrets were mounted fore and aft on the centreline, identified as 'A' and 'X' respectively. The other two were wing turrets mounted amidships and staggered diagonally: 'P' was forward and to port of the centre funnel, while 'Q' was situated starboard and aft. Each wing turret had a limited ability to fire to the opposite side, but if the ship was full broadside to her target she could bring all eight main guns to bear. Her secondary armament consisted of sixteen 4-inch BL Mk VII guns positioned in the superstructure.〔Roberts, pp. 81–84〕 She mounted two 18-inch submerged torpedo tubes, one on each side aft of 'X' barbette, and twelve torpedoes were carried.〔Campbell (1978), p. 14〕 ''New Zealand''s 'A' turret was fitted with a rangefinder at the rear of the turret roof. It was also equipped to control the entire main armament in the event that the normal fire control positions were knocked out or communication between the primary positions and the gun layers was disabled.〔Roberts, pp. 90–91〕 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 New Zealand (1911)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|