The Last Century of Sea Power, Volume 1: From Port Arthur to Chanak, 1894–1922

Appendix Conclu.1 The Battleships, Battlecruisers, Aircraft Carriers, and Cruisers with the British Navy, 1913 and 1935

THIS APPENDIX AND ITS presentation of 1913 and 1935 “orders of battle” have been drawn primarily from the Brassey annuals for those years, but it should be noted that what is not given is a complete and comprehensive listing of all the capital ships and cruisers that served in the British Navy on and between those two dates. Warships that post-dated 1913 and that were not in service in 1935 are not cited. But if such a matter presents little in the way of difficulty, there is the question of the accuracy of the Brassey list. For example, the 1913 list does not include the first-class cruisers (1897) Andromeda and Niobe and secondclass cruiser (1892) Bonaventure. The Niobe and Bonaventure served as depot ships after 1910 and therefore rightfully are not included in the 1913 list, but the Andromeda seems to have remained in service until September 1913, when it became a training ship at Pembroke. It would seem that perhaps it should have been included in the lists alongside the Dido and Pandora, while the second-class cruiser (1902) Encounter seems to have been in service in 1913 and throughout the First World War, being transferred to the Australian Navy in order to serve as a depot ship in 1919. Why it was excluded from the Brassey 1913 list is not clear, but what has been given here is those lists, E. & O. E. These returns list warships on two separate counts, wartime losses with date of loss and when ships were placed in reserve, lost from whatever cause other than enemy action, or reduced to reserve or secondary duties, for example, to accommodation, base, training or target ship, or tender, or stricken or sold, whichever was the earlier. It should be noted, however, that these returns may not be wholly consistent. The records for the capital ships, pre-dreadnoughts, and armored cruisers are probably accurate in terms of when units ceased being in commission in terms of their original status, though some inconsistencies may remain. For example, the Tiger was a gunnery training ship for five years after 1924 before returning to full capital ship status for two more years before being stricken, sold, and scrapped; assigning it the date of 1931 may well be considered erroneous, while the Centurion and Iron Duke served in various capacities other than battleships into the Second World War. Many of the entries given here may well seem “early” in comparison with standard sources that give closing dates when stricken, sold, or scrapped. appendix conclu.1 the battleships, battlecruisers, aircraft carriers, and cruisers with the british navy, 1913 and 1935 appendix conclu.1 361 I. TABULAR REPRESENTATION OF CATEGORIES OF WARSHIP REGARDING LOSSES AND DECOMMISSIONING Capital Ships Predreadnoughts Armored Cruisers Other Cruisers A B A B A B A C 36 40 34 95 1913 - - - - - - - 2 1914 1 - 1 - 5 - 5 6 1915 - - 6 - 2 - - 1 1916 3 - 2 7 4 - 3 1 1917 1 - 1 4 1 - 1 1 1918 - - 1 2 - 1 2 1 1919 - 10 - 7 - - - 2 1920 - 2 - 6 - 12 - 22 1921 - 1 - 3 - 5 - 28 1922 - 5 - - - 2 - 4 5 18 11 29 12 20 11 68 1923 - 1 - - - 1 - 5 1924 - 2 - - - 1 - 1 1925 - - - - - - - 1926 - - - - - - - 3 1927 - - - - - - - 2 1928 - - - - - - - 1 1929 - 2 - - - - - 1 1930 - 1 - - - - - 1 1931 - 2 - - - - - 2 - 8 - - - 2 - 16 Remaining - 5± - - - - - Key : A: Ships lost to all causes in the course of the First World War. B: Ships stricken or sold, lost from whatever cause other than enemy action, or reduced to reserve or secondary duties, for example, to accommodation, base, training or target ship or tender. C: Ships stricken or sold, or lost to any cause other than enemy action.± These ships were the Barham, Malaya, Queen Elizabeth, Valiant, and the Warspite, but of these only the Queen Elizabeth and Warspite had been laid down prior to 1 January 1913. 362 not so much finis as . . . But the record for the other cruisers has proved much more difficult to ascertain, and the returns herein relate to selling and scrapping and “other” losses and thus may not be wholly consistent with reference to the other three categories of warships. The warships listed under reserve, other duties, and stricken or sold are cited in terms of year and also when they were completed, and in the case of “other cruisers” have been taken from various editions of Jane’s Fighting Ships...