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Abercrombie
Class Monitors. Soon after the outbreak of World war
One the president of the Bethlehem Steel company contacted
Winston Churchill the First Lord of the admiralty. on the 3rd of
November 1914. and offered for sale Four Twin Turrets armed with two
14-inch Guns in each. (This guns were originally for the Greek Naval
ship Salamis, but would never get their destination due to the British Blockade.
) Winston Churchill saw the possibility. The Royal navy were in need of
shallow draft ships with the armament for heavy shore bombardment.
The Admiralty purchased the guns and set to work in investigating
the potential of producing Four monitors. The final design
was rushed through without thorough testing including tank
tests. the final ships were unwieldy and slow.
Initially they were called the Styx class but soon
were allocated M1 - to M4. These names remained until February 1915,
when it was arranged to give them American names to acknowledge the guns
US Origins. M! was to be Admiral Farragut, M2 General Grant, M3
was to be Robert E Lee M4 was to be Stonewall Jackson. But because
the guns were sold to Britain, which was a flagrant breach of US
Neutrality they were horridly renamed. M1 was to be HMS
Abercrombie, M2 HMS Havelock, M3 was to be called Lord raglan but the
name was shortened to HMS raglan, M4 was to be called Earl Roberts but
again shortened to HMS Roberts. These four ships had been designed
to carry seaplanes but did not carry them for very long as it was found
that land based aircraft called do naval sea spotting more efficiently,
also the aircraft which were fitted on top of the turret, had to be
hoisted off and over the side, while the ships guns were used to protect
the aircraft against blast damage. In September 1917 HMS
Abercrombie experimented with a Sopwith Schneider, and HMS Ragland on
two occasions carried seaplanes, In October 1916 a Short166 and In
September 1917 a Short 184, HMS Roberts also carried a Short 166
in September 1915 for a few weeks.
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| HMS Abercrombie |
15th April 1915 |
Sold in 1927. |
| HMS Havelock |
29th April 1915 |
Sold in 1927. |
| HMS Raglan |
29th April 1915 |
Sunk on 20th January 1918. |
| HMS Roberts |
15th April 1915 |
Sold in 1936. |
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HMS Abercrombie |
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HMS Abercrombie, 1919.
A
large image size 10" x 7" approx, is available. Reproduced
from the original negative / photo under license from MPL, the copyright
holder. A signed numbered certificate is supplied. Price
£25. Order photograph here Order Code
XMP636
Original
republished © MPL Photograph (Postcard Size). Price £5 Click here
to order. Order Code MP636 |
HMS Abercrombie, 1919.
A
large image size 10" x 7" approx, is available. Reproduced
from the original negative / photo under license from MPL, the copyright
holder. A signed numbered certificate is supplied. Price
£25. Order photograph here Order Code
XMP637
Original
republished © MPL Photograph (Postcard Size). Price £5 Click here
to order. Order Code MP637 |
|
HMS Havelock |
|
HMS Havelock, at breakers, 1927.
A
large image size 10" x 7" approx, is available. Reproduced
from the original negative / photo under license from MPL, the copyright
holder. A signed numbered certificate is supplied. Price
£25. Order photograph here Order Code
XMP638
Original
republished © MPL Photograph (Postcard Size). Price £5 Click here
to order. Order Code MP638 |
|
HMS Raglan |
|
HMS Raglan, 1915.
A
large image size 10" x 7" approx, is available. Reproduced
from the original negative / photo under license from MPL, the copyright
holder. A signed numbered certificate is supplied. Price
£25. Order photograph here Order Code
XMP639
Original
republished © MPL Photograph (Postcard Size). Price £5 Click here
to order. Order Code MP639 |
HMS Raglan, 1915.
A
large image size 10" x 7" approx, is available. Reproduced
from the original negative / photo under license from MPL, the copyright
holder. A signed numbered certificate is supplied. Price
£25. Order photograph here Order Code
XMP640
Original
republished © MPL Photograph (Postcard Size). Price £5 Click here
to order. Order Code MP640 |
|
You ask for details of former crew of the Raglan. Attached is a picture of Charles Thomas Grant of Brighton, killed in the
final action off Imbros (Details from an email)
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Built by Harland and Wolff, at Belfast and laid down on the
1st December 1914, launched 29h April 1915 and completed in June
1915. and commissioned June 1915, It went straight to the Dardanelle's
(in company with the cruiser HMS Diana) to carry out bombardment duties
and became part of the 1st division between September 1915 to January
1916. After the evacuation form the Dardanelle's HMS Raglan served in
the Aegean . At Port Said she was involved in operation against the
Turks in Southern Palestine, returning to Imbros in January 1917. Along
with HMS Abercrombie her duty was to Guard against the possible breakout
of the German ships Breslau and Goeben. forming the 2nd detached Squadron
along with some smaller monitors.. On the Morning of the 20th January
1920. HMS Raglan was being shelled by accurate fire from the
Breslau soon followed by shots form the Goeben. She quickly became
engulfed in Fire and after being abandoned she sank in shallow water.
she lost a total of 127 dead during the action. Later the Guns and other
valuable equipment was salvaged. |
|
HMS Roberts |
|
HMS Roberts with Short 166 on board, 1915.
A
large image size 10" x 7" approx, is available. Reproduced
from the original negative / photo under license from MPL, the copyright
holder. A signed numbered certificate is supplied. Price
£25. Order photograph here Order Code
XMP641
Original
republished © MPL Photograph (Postcard Size). Price £5 Click here
to order. Order Code MP641 |
HMS Roberts, 1915.
A
large image size 10" x 7" approx, is available. Reproduced
from the original negative / photo under license from MPL, the copyright
holder. A signed numbered certificate is supplied. Price
£25. Order photograph here Order Code
XMP642
Original
republished © MPL Photograph (Postcard Size). Price £5 Click here
to order. Order Code MP642 |
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Naval Historians and Enthusiasts
Notice board
This notice board and notice boards
for individual ships of the Abercrombie Class. This has been set up for people to contact each other
as well as exchange information about ships of the Royal Navy.
This is done as a service, and is not in any way connected to any
official websites of any of the ships or The Royal Navy
MESSAGES
HMS RAGLAN ANTONIO
PORTELLI.. My husband's great grandfather
Antonio Portelli from Malta was on HMS Raglan when it sunk on that
fateful day, leaving my husband's grandfather a toddler of 2
orphaned. My husband's grandfather , himself a veteran of World
War II, is now nearly 88 yrs old, and basically has no idea what
happened to his father on that day, only today I have found out that the
name of the ship was HMS Raglan. It would be really kind of you if
you could send us any information as to the fate of this ship, or where
it sank, or any other info you might have, however vague. You
would really make our grandpa happy. JACK KNIGHT.. I was looking
for information on my Grandmothers
Brother. We believe 'Jack Knight' served on the Raglan. Any
information very welcome as we are trying to trace
family ancestry.
JOHN ERNEST RODDAM. My great uncle served on HMS Raglan and was
killed on the 20th January 1918 in the Aegean. if anyone has any
photos of the ship or any further information please contact Louise Carr |
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