HMS Erebus (I02)
Template:Short description Template:Other ships Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English
Template:Infobox ship imageTemplate:Infobox ship careerTemplate:Infobox ship characteristicsHMS Erebus was a First World War monitor launched on 19 June 1916 and which served in both world wars. She and her sister ship Template:HMS are known as the Template:Sclass. They were named after the two bomb vessels sent to investigate the Northwest Passage as part of Franklin's lost expedition (1845–1848), in which all 129 members eventually perished.
Monitors were designed as stable gun platforms with a shallow draught to allow operations close inshore in support of land operations, and were not intended to contest naval battles. Erebus was equipped with two [[15 inch /42 (38.1 cm) Mark I naval gun|Template:Cvt/42 guns]] in a single forward turret mounted on a tall barbette to extend the range of fire to Template:Cvt.
The Erebus class were designed to outrange German heavy shore batteries and they were also fitted with highly effective anti-torpedo bulges on each side of the hull.
Background
During the First World War, the Royal Navy developed several classes of ships which were designed to give close support to troops ashore through the use of naval bombardment.<ref>Crossley 2013, c. 1; Buxton 2008, c. 1</ref> Termed monitors, they owed little to the monitors of the 19th century, though they shared the characteristics of poor seaworthiness, shallow draught and heavy armament in turrets. The size of the various monitor classes of the Royal Navy and their armaments varied greatly. The Template:Sclass was the United Kingdom's first attempt at a monitor carrying Template:Convert guns.<ref>Crossley 2013, c. 2, para. 24</ref> Following construction of the first two of the Marshall Ney-class, another four were ordered in May 1915, with the Harland and Wolff shipyard at Govan receiving a contract to construct two hulls, which were given yard numbers 492 and 493. However, all four were cancelled in June when it was realised that there were insufficient gun turrets to complete both the battleship, Template:HMS, and the monitors before 1917.<ref>Buxton 2008, c. 8.1</ref>
By August 1915, Template:HMS, the first of her class, had revealed a very poor performance in her sea trials. The monitor's engines would not start reliably and were prone to stalling,<ref>Crossley 2013, c. 2, para. 25</ref> making it impossible for the ship to achieve even the minimum standard for the trial of four hours of continuous sailing at full power. The vessel was also difficult to steer.<ref>Buxton 2008, c. 4.2, para. 3</ref> Disappointed by the failure, the Admiralty began the design of a replacement class on 6 September, which incorporated lessons learned from all of the previous classes of monitor commissioned during the war. Some of the main modifications were an increase in the power supply to guarantee a speed of Template:Convert and a change to the angles and lines of the hull to improve steering. Another significant change was to raise the top of the anti-torpedo bulge above the waterline and reduce its width; both changes would improve the stability and maneuverability of the ship at sea. The bulge was fitted along each side of the ship and was intended to absorb the impact of any explosions. To maintain protection while reducing the bulge's width, its inner compartment was made water tight and filled with 70 steel tubes, rather than leaving the inner compartment open to the sea as in previous designs.<ref name="Brown1999p148">Brown 1999, p. 148</ref><ref name="Buxton8.2p2">Buxton 2008, c. 8.2</ref>
Design and construction
The new design, which would later be named the Erebus-class, was for a vessel Template:Convert long, Template:Convert wide with a draught of Template:Convert. It would have Template:Convert loaded displacement,<ref name="Buxtonc8.3para2">Buxton 2008, c. 8.3 para. 2</ref>Template:Efn-lr with a maximum operational speed of Template:Convert produced by triple-expansion steam engines with two shafts, and a crew of 204. Power would be provided by four Babcock & Wilcox water-tube boilers, which would generate a combined Template:Convert. The monitors would have an operational range of Template:Cvt at a speed of 12Template: knots.<ref name="Buxton8.9"/>
The ships would be armoured to a similar standard to the Template:Sclass, which were launched in April 1915.<ref name="Buxton8.9"/> Deck armour would range from Template:Convert on the forecastle, through Template:Convert on the upper deck and Template:Convert over the magazine and belt.<ref name="Buxton8.2p4">Buxton 2008, c. 8.2, para. 4</ref> With the main 15 in guns being originally intended for use on a battleship, the armour for the turret was substantially thicker than elsewhere in the design; with Template:Convert on the front, Template:Convert on the other sides and Template:Convert on the roof.<ref name="Buxton8.2p4"/><ref name="Buxton8.9"/> The main gun's barbette would be protected by Template:Convert of armour.<ref name="Buxton2.2">Buxton 2008, c. 2.2, para. 1</ref> The conning tower was protected by Template:Convert of armour on the sides and Template:Convert on the roof.<ref>Buxton 2008, c. 2.11</ref> Each anti-torpedo bulge was Template:Convert wide with an outer air-filled compartment Template:Convert wide and an inner compartment Template:Convert wide containing the steel tubes.<ref name="Buxton8.2p2"/>
Orders for two vessels of the new design were placed with Harland and Wolff on 29 September with reinstated yard numbers 492 and 493, which were renamed respectively Erebus and Template:HMS on 13 October. Erebus was laid down at Harland and Wolff's shipyard in Govan on 12 October 1915 and launched on 19 June 1916.<ref name="GovanConstruct">Buxton 2008, c. 8.3</ref>
The ship's main armament consisted of two [[BL 15 inch Mk I naval gun|BL 15Template: in Mk I naval guns]] in a single forward turret. Erebus's turret was originally a spare for the battlecruiser Template:HMS, which was prepared in case the new [[BL 18-inch Mk I naval gun|BL 18Template: in Mk I naval guns]] intended for the larger vessel were ineffective.<ref>Crossley 2013, c. 2, para. 29</ref>Template:Efn-lr Learning from the earlier experience with Ney, the turrets were adjusted to increase elevation to 30 degrees, which would add greater firing range.<ref name="GovanConstruct"/>
Erebus conducted sea trials on 1 September, during which the ship was faster than her sister at Template:Convert compared to Template:Convert for Terror. However, under service conditions the maximum speed that could be achieved for both vessels was Template:Convert with a clean hull or Template:Convert with a fouled hull. Erebus was completed and commissioned on 2 September.<ref>Buxton 2008, c. 8.3, para. 3 & c. 8.9</ref>
Service history
First World War
During the First World War, Erebus bombarded German naval forces based at the Belgian ports of Ostend and Zeebrugge.
On 28 October 1917, she was damaged by a remote controlled German FL-boat, and suffered the loss of Template:Cvt of anti-torpedo bulge.
Inter-war period
In 1919, Erebus took part in the British Invasion of Russia providing gunfire support in the White Sea and in the Baltic Sea.
In 1921, she took part in gunnery trials against the surrendered German battleship Template:SMS. She then served as a gunnery training ship between the two world wars. After a refit completed in August 1939, she was earmarked as guardship at Cape Town, but due to the outbreak of World War II this did not occur.
Second World War
In the early war years, Erebus served with the Eastern Fleet and the Mediterranean Fleet, where she was used to run supplies to besieged Tobruk and bombard enemy concentrations. She was present at Trincomalee during the Japanese attack on the harbour there, receiving a near-miss hit from Japanese aircraft, suffering casualties.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In 1943, she was damaged while bombarding Sicily during the Allied invasion of Sicily.
Erebus was used for coastal bombardment during the Normandy Landings on 6 June 1944, firing at the batteries at Barfleur and La Pernelle. She suffered one 15-inch gun destroyed due to a premature explosion of a high explosive round in the bore.<ref>navweaps.com Accessed 14 January 2008. HMS Roberts suffered in the same way. The fault was traced to defective fuses in some US-built shells</ref>
On 10 August 1944, she was used against the defenders of the harbour at Le Havre. She was damaged by the battery at Clos des Ronces and was out of action for some time. In November 1944, she supported Operation Infatuate, the amphibious assault on Walcheren, Netherlands.
She was scrapped in July 1946. It is believed that one of ErebusTemplate:' 15-inch guns was used to equip Template:HMS, the Royal Navy's last battleship.<ref>The 15 inch Guns of HMS Vanguard</ref>