HMS Iron Duke was a dreadnought battleship of the Royal Navy, the lead ship of her class, named in honour of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington. She was built by Portsmouth Dockyard, and her keel laid in January 1912. Launched ten months later, she was commissioned into the Home Fleet in March 1914 as the fleet flagship. She was armed with a main battery of ten guns and was capable of a top speed of .
Iron Duke served as the flagship of the Grand Fleet during the First World War, including at the Battle of Jutland. There, she inflicted significant damage on the German battleship early in the main fleet action. In January 1917, she was relieved as fleet flagship. After the war, Iron Duke operated in the Mediterranean as the flagship of the Mediterranean Fleet. She participated in both the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War in the Black Sea and the Greco-Turkish War. She also assisted in the evacuation of refugees from Smyrna. In 1926, she was assigned to the Atlantic Fleet, where she served as a training ship.
Iron Duke remained on active duty for only a few more years; in 1930, the London Naval Treaty specified that the four Iron Duke-class battleships be scrapped or otherwise demilitarised. Iron Duke was therefore converted into a gunnery training ship; her armour and much of her armament was removed to render her unfit for combat. She served in this capacity until the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939, when she was moored in Scapa Flow as a harbour defence ship. In October, she was badly damaged by German bombers and was run aground to avoid sinking. She continued to serve as an anti-aircraft platform for the duration of the war, and was eventually refloated and broken up for scrap in the late 1940s.
Design
The four Iron Duke-class battleships were ordered in the 1911 building programme, and were an incremental improvement over the preceding . The primary change between the two designs was the substitution of a heavier secondary battery in the newer vessels. Iron Duke was long overall and had a beam of and an average draught of . She displaced as designed and up to at full load. Her propulsion system consisted of four Parsons steam turbines, with steam provided by eighteen Babcock & Wilcox boilers. The engines were rated at and produced a top speed of . Her cruising radius was at a more economical . Iron Duke had a crew of 995 officers and ratings, though during wartime this grew to up to 1,022.Preston, p. 31
Iron Duke was armed with a main battery of ten BL Mk V naval guns mounted in five twin gun turrets. They were arranged in two superfiring pairs, one forward and one aft; the fifth turret was located amidships, between the funnels and the rear superstructure. Close-range defence against torpedo boats was provided by a secondary battery of twelve BL 6-inch Mk VII guns. The ship was also fitted with a pair of QF 3-inch 20 cwt anti-aircraft guns and four 3-pounder guns."Cwt" is the abbreviation for hundredweight, 20 cwt referring to the weight of the gun. As was typical for capital ships of the period, she was equipped with four torpedo tubes submerged on the broadside.
Iron Duke was protected by a main armoured belt that was thick over the ship's ammunition magazines and engine and boiler rooms, and reduced to toward the bow and stern. Her deck was thick in the central portion of the ship, and reduced to elsewhere. The main battery turret faces were thick, and the turrets were supported by thick barbettes.
Service history Iron Duke was laid down at Portsmouth Dockyard on 12 January 1912 and launched on 12 October of that year. After completing fitting-out work, she began sea trials on 25 November 1913.Burt, p. 216 The ship was completed in March 1914, and she joined the Home Fleet after completing her trials. In the Home Fleet, she served as the flagship of Admiral Sir George Callaghan.Preston, p. 32 On 29 July 1914, as war loomed on the Continent, Iron Duke and the rest of the Home Fleet was ordered to proceed to Scapa Flow from Portland to safeguard the fleet from a possible German surprise attack.Massie, p. 19
World War I
In August 1914, after the outbreak of World War I, the Home Fleet was reorganised as the Grand Fleet; Iron Duke remained the flagship of the fleet, now under Admiral Sir John Jellicoe. On the evening of 22 November 1914, the Grand Fleet conducted a fruitless sweep in the southern half of the North Sea; Iron Duke stood with the main body in support of Vice Admiral David Beatty's 1st Battlecruiser Squadron. The fleet was back in port in Scapa Flow by 27 November.Jellicoe, pp. 163–165 Iron Duke and most of the fleet initially remained in port during the German raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby on 16 December 1914, though the 3rd Battle Squadron was sent to reinforce the British forces in the area. After receiving further information about the possibility of the rest of the German fleet being at sea, Jellicoe gave the order for the fleet to sortie to try to intercept the Germans, though by that time they had already retreated.Jellicoe, pp. 177–179 Iron Duke went to sea with the 2nd and 4th Battle Squadrons for gunnery practice north of the Hebrides on 23 and 24 December.Jellicoe, p. 182 The following day, the rest of the fleet joined Iron Duke for a sweep in the North Sea, which concluded on 27 December.Jellicoe, pp. 183–184
Iron Duke and the rest of the fleet conducted gunnery drills on 10–13 January 1915 west of Orkney and Shetland.Jellicoe, p. 190 On the evening of 23 January, the bulk of the Grand Fleet sailed in support of Beatty's Battlecruiser Fleet, but Iron Duke and the rest of the fleet did not become engaged in the ensuing Battle of Dogger Bank the following day.Jellicoe, pp. 194–196 Upon returning from the operation, Iron Duke went to Invergordon for refit; while she was away, acted as the temporary fleet flagship.Jellicoe, p. 197 The work was completed by 23 February, after which she returned to Scapa Flow.Jellicoe, p. 200 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.Jellicoe, p. 206 On 11 April, the Grand Fleet conducted a patrol in the central North Sea and returned to port on 14 April; another patrol in the area took place on 17–19 April, followed by gunnery drills off Shetland on 20–21 April.Jellicoe, pp. 211–212
The Grand Fleet conducted a sweep into the central North Sea on 17–19 May without encountering any German vessels.Jellicoe, p. 217 On 25 May, Iron Duke carried Jellicoe to Rosyth to meet with Admiral Henry Jackson, the new First Sea Lord. Iron Duke returned to Scapa Flow on 28 May, in time to participate in another sweep into the North Sea on 29–31 May.Jellicoe, pp. 218–219 After returning to Scapa Flow, Iron Duke immediately departed for Cromarty.Jellicoe, p. 220 The fleet conducted gunnery training in mid-June.Jellicoe, p. 221 Iron Duke, the 2nd Battle Squadron, and the 1st Cruiser Squadron conducted gunnery training at Cromarty on 2 August; after completing the drills, the ships returned to Scapa Flow. On 7 August, the ship again took Jellicoe to Cromarty for another meeting, this time with the Prime Minister, H. H. Asquith.Jellicoe, pp. 234–236 Iron Duke was back in Scapa Flow by 16 August.Jellicoe, p. 241
On 2–5 September, the fleet went on another cruise in the northern end of the North Sea and conducted gunnery drills.Jellicoe, p. 243 Throughout the rest of the month, the Grand Fleet conducted numerous training exercises.Jellicoe, p. 246 Iron Duke went to Invergordon on 1 October for another period of refitting—the work lasted until 11 October.Jellicoe, p. 252 Two days later, the majority of the fleet conducted another sweep into the North Sea, returning to port on 15 October.Jellicoe, p. 250 On 2–5 November, Iron Duke participated in another fleet training operation west of Orkney.Jellicoe, p. 253 Another such cruise took place on 1–4 December.Jellicoe, pp. 257–258 Later in the month, Iron Duke took part in gunnery drills, and during them, conducted an experiment of sorts to determine the accuracy of the ship's gunners. Jellicoe concluded that the "result was very satisfactory."Jellicoe, pp. 260–261
Iron Duke collided with the tanker on 12 January 1916 while in Scapa Flow, and the latter sank. The tanker had come loose during a severe gale, which had winds of up to . Iron Duke was undamaged in the accident. The typical routine of gunnery drills and squadron exercises occurred in January.Jellicoe, pp. 267–269 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.Jellicoe, p. 271 On the night of 25 March, Iron Duke and the rest of the fleet sailed from Scapa Flow to support the Battlecruiser Fleet and other light forces that raided 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 severe gale threatened the light craft. Iron Duke guided the destroyers back to Scapa while the rest of the fleet retired independently.Jellicoe, pp. 279–280
On 21 April, the Grand Fleet conducted a demonstration off Horns Reef to distract the Germans while the Russian Navy relaid its defensive minefields in the Baltic Sea.Jellicoe, p. 284 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. The Grand Fleet did not arrive in the area until after the Germans had withdrawn, however.Jellicoe, pp. 286–287Marder, p. 424 On 2–4 May, the fleet conducted another demonstration off Horns Reef to keep German attention focused on the North Sea.Jellicoe, pp. 288–290
Battle of Jutland
In an attempt to lure out and destroy a portion of the Grand Fleet, the German High Seas Fleet, composed of 16 dreadnoughts, six pre-dreadnoughts, six light cruisers, and 31 torpedo boats, departed the Jade early on the morning of 31 May. The fleet sailed in concert with Rear Admiral Franz von Hipper's five battlecruisers and supporting cruisers and torpedo boats.Tarrant, p. 62 The Royal Navy's Room 40 had intercepted and decrypted German radio traffic containing plans of the operation. The Admiralty ordered the Grand Fleet, totalling some 28 dreadnoughts and 9 battlecruisers, to sortie the night before to cut off and destroy the High Seas Fleet.Tarrant, pp. 63–64 On the day of the battle, Iron Duke steamed with the 4th Battle Squadron, and was the 9th ship in the British line.Campbell, p. 16
The initial action was fought primarily by the British and German battlecruiser formations in the afternoon,Campbell, p. 37 but by 18:00, the Grand Fleet approached the scene. At around 18:14, two large-calibre shells fell near Iron Duke but caused no damage.Campbell, pp. 121–122 Fifteen minutes later, Iron Duke had closed to effective gunnery range—some —of the German fleet, and took the dreadnought under fire. Iron Dukes first salvo fell short, but the next three were on target; the ship's gunner claimed at least six hits on the German battleship.Campbell, p. 156 In fact, they had scored seven hits on König and inflicted significant damage.Campbell, pp. 188–191