HMS Empress of India (1891)
Encyclopedia
HMS Empress of India was a pre-dreadnought battleship of the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 and part of the eight-ship Royal Sovereign
Royal Sovereign class battleship
The Royal Sovereign class was a class of pre-dreadnought battleships of the British Royal Navy. The class comprised seven ships built to the same design: HMS Royal Sovereign, , HMS Ramilles, HMS Repulse, HMS Resolution, HMS Revenge, and HMS Royal Oak, and a half-sister built to a modified design: ....

 class. She was laid down at Pembroke Dockyard on 9 July 1889 and launched by the Duchess of Connaught on 7 May 1891. Initially known as HMS Renown, her name was changed before completion at Chatham
Chatham Dockyard
Chatham Dockyard, located on the River Medway and of which two-thirds is in Gillingham and one third in Chatham, Kent, England, came into existence at the time when, following the Reformation, relations with the Catholic countries of Europe had worsened, leading to a requirement for additional...

 on 11 September 1893. She served as the flagship of the second-in-command of the Channel Fleet
Channel Fleet
The Channel Fleet was the Royal Navy formation of warships that defended the waters of the English Channel from 1690 to 1909.-History:The Channel Fleet dates back at least to 1690 when its role was to defend England against the French threat under the leadership of Edward Russell, 1st Earl of...

. She was sunk as a target 4 November 1913 in Lyme Bay
Lyme Bay
Lyme Bay is an area of the English Channel situated in the southwest of England between Torbay in the west and Portland in the east. The counties of Devon and Dorset front onto the bay,-Geology:...

.

Technical characteristics

HMS Empress of India was ordered under the Naval Defence Act Programme of 1889. She was laid down at Pembroke Dockyard on 9 July 1889 and launched by the Duchess of Connaught on 7 May 1891. She was then transferred to Chatham
Chatham Dockyard
Chatham Dockyard, located on the River Medway and of which two-thirds is in Gillingham and one third in Chatham, Kent, England, came into existence at the time when, following the Reformation, relations with the Catholic countries of Europe had worsened, leading to a requirement for additional...

, where she was completed in August 1893. Initially to be known as HMS Renown, her name was changed before her completion.
Empress of India displaced 14,150 tons and was 380 feet (115.8 m) long with a beam of 75 feet (22.9 m) and a draught of 27 feet 6 inches. Engined by Humphrys and Tennant she produced 13000 hp and could make 18 knots (35.3 km/h). At full strength she carried a complement of 712. At the time of their completion, she and the other ships in her class were perhaps the best all-round battleships in the world. Their greater freeboard enhanced their sea going capabilities, enabling them to engage the enemy in rougher seas than previous designs, an important consideration in the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...

 and North Atlantic; however, they tended to develop a heavy roll in some conditions, and after HMS Resolution
HMS Resolution (1892)
HMS Resolution was a Royal Sovereign-class predreadnought battleship of the Royal Navy.-Technical characteristics:Resolution was laid down by Palmers on 14 June 1890, launched on 28 May 1892, and completed in November 1893.. She was long and had a maximum cruising speed of...

 rolled badly in heavy seas in 1893, the class was nicknamed the "Rolling Ressies," a name which stuck even though the problem was quickly corrected by the fitting of bilge keels. The ships were also faster and better armoured than their predecessors and carried a potent secondary armament but these features inevitably increased their weight, with previous battleships seldom topping 10,000 tonnes. Her main armament consisted of four 13.5-inch (343-mm) guns in two barbettes with a secondary set of ten 6-inch (152-mm) guns. She also sported an array of smaller guns and seven 18-inch (457-mm) torpedo
Torpedo
The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...

 tubes. She had a partial belt of 18-inch- (457-mm-) thick steel.

Operational history

HMS Empress of India commissioned at Chatham on 11 September 1893 to relieve battleship
Battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...

 HMS Anson
HMS Anson (1886)
HMS Anson was a pre-dreadnought battleship of the British Royal Navy, and was the last member of the Admiral-class to be laid down....

 as flagship
Flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...

 of the second-in-command of the Channel Fleet
Channel Fleet
The Channel Fleet was the Royal Navy formation of warships that defended the waters of the English Channel from 1690 to 1909.-History:The Channel Fleet dates back at least to 1690 when its role was to defend England against the French threat under the leadership of Edward Russell, 1st Earl of...

. She participated in annual manoeuvres in the Irish Sea
Irish Sea
The Irish Sea separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is connected to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel, and to the Atlantic Ocean in the north by the North Channel. Anglesey is the largest island within the Irish Sea, followed by the Isle of Man...

 and English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...

 as a unit of "Blue Fleet" from 2 August 1894 to 5 August 1894. In June 1895, she was among the ships representing the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 at the opening of the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal in Germany. That summer, she again took part in annual manoeuvres, held from 24 July 1895 to 30 August 1895. She was last commissioned in the Channel Fleet in December 1895 by Captain Angus MacLeod. On 7 June 1897, she ended her Channel Fleet service, paying off at Chatham.

On 8 June 1897, Empress of India recommissioned for Mediterranean Fleet
Mediterranean Fleet
Several countries have or have had a Mediterranean Fleet in their navy. See:* Mediterranean Fleet * French Mediterranean Fleet* Mediterranean Squadron * United States Sixth Fleet...

 service. Before departing, she took part in the Fleet Review for the Diamond Jubilee
Diamond Jubilee
A Diamond Jubilee is a celebration held to mark a 60th anniversary in the case of a person or a 75th anniversary in the case of an event.- Thailand :...

 of Queen Victoria at Spithead
Spithead
Spithead is an area of the Solent and a roadstead off Gilkicker Point in Hampshire, England. It is protected from all winds, except those from the southeast...

 on 26 June 1897.

Empress of India arrived at Malta to begin her Mediterranean service in August 1897. In August and September 1898, she was part of the International Squadron
International Squadron
The International Squadron can refer to:*International Squadron, a fighter unit led by Claire Chennault in China*120 Squadron of the Israeli Air Force*International Squadron a 1941 film starring Ronald Reagan...

 blockading Crete
Crete
Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...

 during the Greco-Turkish uprising there. On 24 December 1900, she recommissioned at Malta for further Mediterranean service, which ended when she was relieved by battleship HMS Implacable
HMS Implacable (1899)
HMS Implacable was a Formidable-class battleship of the British Royal Navy, the second ship of the name.-Technical Description:HMS Implacable was laid down at Devonport Dockyard on 13 July 1898 and launched on 11 March 1899 in a very incomplete state to clear the building way for construction of...

 on 14 September 1901.

On 12 October 1901, Empress of India paid off at Devonport
Devonport, Devon
Devonport, formerly named Plymouth Dock or just Dock, is a district of Plymouth in the English county of Devon, although it was, at one time, the more important settlement. It became a county borough in 1889...

, but she recommissioned on 13 October 1901 to relieve battleship HMS Howe
HMS Howe (1885)
HMS Howe was an Admiral-class battleship of the Royal Navy, the last of the Admiral-class to be completed.Along with her sisters, , and , she was a progressive development of the design of . She carried a main armament of four guns, compared to the guns carried in the earlier ship...

 at Queenstown, Ireland, as both port guard ship and flagship of the Senior Naval Officer Coast of Ireland. She left this duty in early 1902 to undergo an extensive refit.

Empress of India was attached to the Home Squadron on 7 May 1902, in which she served as flagship in port and as flagship of the second-in-command when the squadron was at sea. She participated in the Coronation Fleet Review of King Edward VII in August 1902, at which she was the flagship of Admiral Pelham Aldrich
Pelham Aldrich
Pelham Aldrich CVO was a Royal Navy officer and explorer, who became Admiral Superintendent of Portsmouth Docks.-Biography:...

. She served as flagship of "B Fleet" during combined manoeuvres of the Home Fleet, Mediterranean Fleet, and Channel Fleet off Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

 from 5 August 1903 to 9 August 1903, but her port engine broke down for 14 hours during the manoeuvres and the fleet had to leave her behind. Her sister ship HMS Royal Oak
HMS Royal Oak (1892)
HMS Royal Oak was a pre-dreadnought Royal Navy battleship of the seven-ship Royal Sovereign class.-Technical Characteristics:Royal Oak was ordered under the Naval Defence Act Programme of 7 March 1889 and built by Cammell Laird at Birkenhead at a cost of £977,996. She was launched on 5 November 1892...

 relieved her as flagship of the second-in-command of the Home Fleet on 1 June 1904, and she became a private ship
Private ship
Private ship is a term used in the British Royal Navy to describe that status of a commissioned warship in active service that is not currently serving as the flagship of a flag officer . The term in no way implies any type of private ownership of the vessel, but is more akin to private...

. On 22 February 1905, battleship HMS Hannibal
HMS Hannibal (1896)
HMS Hannibal was a Majestic class pre-dreadnought battleship and the sixth ship to bear the name HMS Hannibal.-Technical characteristics:...

 relieved her of her Home Fleet duties entirely, and she paid off on 23 February 1905.

That same day, Empress of India recommissioned in reserve at Devonport
Devonport, Devon
Devonport, formerly named Plymouth Dock or just Dock, is a district of Plymouth in the English county of Devon, although it was, at one time, the more important settlement. It became a county borough in 1889...

 and relieved battleship HMS Barfleur
HMS Barfleur (1892)
HMS Barfleur was a predreadnought second-class battleship of the Royal Navy. She was part of the three-ship Centurion class, designed for long-range patrolling of the United Kingdom's far-flung empire. She mainly saw service in the Mediterranean and Home Fleet, along with Service at China Station,...

 as flagship of the new Fleet in Commission in Reserve at Home. In July 1905 she participated in Reserve Fleet manoeuvres. In September 1905, protected cruiser
Protected cruiser
The protected cruiser is a type of naval cruiser of the late 19th century, so known because its armoured deck offered protection for vital machine spaces from shrapnel caused by exploding shells above...

 HMS Aeolus relieved her of her duties, but she recommissioned on 31 October 1905 with a new nucleus crew to resume her Reserve Fleet duties. She then underwent a refit that lasted into 1906.

Empress of India collided with submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...

 HMS A10
HMS A10
HMS A10 was an early Royal Navy submarine.She was a member of Group Two of the first British A-class of submarines . Like all members of her class, she was built at Vickers Barrow-in-Furness.-External links:*...

 in Plymouth Sound
Plymouth Sound
Plymouth Sound, or locally just The Sound, is a bay at Plymouth in England.Its southwest and southeast corners are Penlee Point in Cornwall and Wembury Point on Devon, a distance of about 3 nautical miles . Its northern limit is Plymouth Hoe giving a north-south distance of nearly 3 nautical miles...

 on 30 April 1906.

When the Reserve Fleet was abolished in February 1907 and became the Home Fleet, Empress of India continued her service as flagship, but now for Rear Admiral, Devonport Division. On 25 May 1907 she was relieved as flagship by protected cruiser
Protected cruiser
The protected cruiser is a type of naval cruiser of the late 19th century, so known because its armoured deck offered protection for vital machine spaces from shrapnel caused by exploding shells above...

 HMS Niobe
HMS Niobe (1897)
HMS Niobe was a ship of the Diadem-class of protected cruiser in the Royal Navy. She served in the Boer War and was then given to Canada as the first ship of the then newly-created Royal Canadian Navy as HMCS Niobe. After patrol duties at the beginning of the First World War, she became a depot...

. On 28 May 1907, Empress of India recommissioned as a special service vessel. She relieved her sister ship HMS Royal Oak
HMS Royal Oak (1892)
HMS Royal Oak was a pre-dreadnought Royal Navy battleship of the seven-ship Royal Sovereign class.-Technical Characteristics:Royal Oak was ordered under the Naval Defence Act Programme of 7 March 1889 and built by Cammell Laird at Birkenhead at a cost of £977,996. She was launched on 5 November 1892...

 as parent ship of the special service vessels in November 1911.

Hopelessly outclassed by the new dreadnoughts that began to appear in 1906, Empress of India was paid off in 1912. On 2 March 1912 she left Portsmouth under tow by armoured cruiser
Armored cruiser
The armored cruiser was a type of warship of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Like other types of cruiser, the armored cruiser was a long-range, independent warship, capable of defeating any ship apart from a battleship, and fast enough to outrun any battleships it encountered.The first...

 HMS Warrior
HMS Warrior (1905)
HMS Warrior was a Duke of Edinburgh-class armoured cruiser built for the Royal Navy in the mid-1900s. She was stationed in the Mediterranean when the First World War began and participated in the pursuit of the German battlecruiser and light cruiser . Warrior was transferred to the Grand Fleet in...

 en route the Motherbank
Motherbank
The Motherbank is a shallow sandbar off the northeast coast of the county Isle of Wight in the United Kingdom. It lies in The Solent between Cowes and Ryde....

, where she was to be laid up, but she collided with the German barque
Barque
A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing vessel with three or more masts.- History of the term :The word barque appears to have come from the Greek word baris, a term for an Egyptian boat. This entered Latin as barca, which gave rise to the Italian barca, Spanish barco, and the French barge and...

 Winderhudder and had to return to Portsmouth for repairs. She finally arrived at the Motherbank in May 1912 and was laid up, awaiting disposal.

Sinking

On 4 November 1913, she was used as a target ship
Target ship
A target ship is a vessel — typically an obsolete or captured warship — used for naval gunnery practice or for weapons testing.-Rationale:Sinking redundant warships is an effective way of testing new weapons and warships in as realistic a manner as possible. Whilst practice torpedoes are fired...

 in firing trials in Lyme Bay
Lyme Bay
Lyme Bay is an area of the English Channel situated in the southwest of England between Torbay in the west and Portland in the east. The counties of Devon and Dorset front onto the bay,-Geology:...

 that were primarily intended to give officers and men an idea of the effect of live shell against a real target. A secondary objective was to look at the problems caused by several ships firing at the same target at the same time: the first ship to engage the stationary Empress of India was the cruiser Liverpool, this was followed by three battleships Thunderer, Orion and King Edward VII, and finally four battleships Neptune, King George V, Thunderer, and Vanguard. By 16:45 "the Empress of India was blazing furiously and down by the stern, sinking at" 18:30. She had received 44 12-in and 13.5-in hits and "it is not surprising that an elderly ship sank", though the intention had been to repeat the firing at longer range. "When she sank, she landed upside-down on the seabed, and some salvage was soon carried out by a Jersey company which owns the rights to the vessel. The big hole in her side was made not by the shell that sank her, but by salvage divers blowing out a condenser." The wreck is accessible; and is an advanced dive for recreational divers. Details of the firing are given in the table below.
Ship firing Type of ship Range Firing order Ammunition Fired Hits Citation
Liverpool
HMS Liverpool (1909)
HMS Liverpool was a 4,800 ton Town-class light cruiser of the British Royal Navy commissioned in 1909. Named for the port city of Liverpool, the cruiser served continuously in home waters subordinated to the Home Fleet from 1909 through the initial stages of the First World War.During the war,...

Cruiser 4750 yd (4,343.4 m) First 6 in HE shell 16 7
4 in HE shell 66 22
Thunderer
HMS Thunderer (1911)
HMS Thunderer was the third Orion class battleship built for the Royal Navy and was the last vessel to be constructed by Thames Iron Works. She was the last and largest warship ever built on the River Thames, and after her completion her builders declared bankruptcy.By a margin of £1000, she was...


Orion
HMS Orion (1910)
HMS Orion was a dreadnought battleship of the Royal Navy. Launched in 1910, she was the lead ship of her class; she was the first so-called "super-dreadnought", being the first British dreadnought to mount guns of calibre greater than twelve inches, and the first British dreadnought to have...

Battleship 9800 yd (8,961.1 m) Second 13.5 in common shell 40 17
King Edward VII
HMS King Edward VII
HMS King Edward VII, named after King Edward VII, was the lead ship of her class of Royal Navy pre-dreadnought battleships.-Technical characteristics:HMS King Edward VII was laid down at Devonport Dockyard on 8 March 1902...

Battleship 9800 yd (8,961.1 m) Second 12 in common shell 16 5
9.2 in common shell 18 7
6 in common shell 27 5
Neptune
HMS Neptune (1909)
HMS Neptune was a Royal Navy dreadnought battleship, intended to be the lead ship of three Neptune-class battleships, but the subsequent two ships had slightly thicker belt armour and were reclassified as the Colossus class.-Design:...


King George V
HMS King George V (1911)
The first HMS King George V was a King George V-class of 1911 dreadnought, with a displacement of 23,400 tonnes and an armament of ten 13.5 inch guns in twin gun turrets and a secondary armament of sixteen 4 inch guns and had a crew complement of 870, though this increased...


Thunderer
HMS Thunderer (1911)
HMS Thunderer was the third Orion class battleship built for the Royal Navy and was the last vessel to be constructed by Thames Iron Works. She was the last and largest warship ever built on the River Thames, and after her completion her builders declared bankruptcy.By a margin of £1000, she was...


Vanguard
HMS Vanguard (1909)
The eighth HMS Vanguard of the British Royal Navy was a St Vincent-class battleship, an enhancement of the "" design built by Vickers at Barrow-in-Furness...

Battleship 8000–10000 yd (7,315.2–9,144 m) Third 13.5 in and 12 in common shell 95 22
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