HMS Barham (04)

HMS Barham (04) History

To match the capabilities of the German Navy in the years leading up to World War I (1914-1918), the Royal Navy ordered the construction of a brand new six-man class fast "Super Dreadnought" battleship. This became the Queen Elizabeth class, replacing the previous Iron Duke class and adding improved qualities in armor, sea performance and firepower. The super dreadnought category was born a few years after the introduction of the HMS dreadnought in 1906, and further evolved into a type with more modern features and higher performance.

The Dreadnought rewrote the book on naval warship engineering by combining "cannon" main batteries and steam turboprops - making every previous hybrid gun battleship a "pre-dreadnought" design by default.

The Queen Elizabeth class is duly led by HMS Queen Elizabeth, followed by HMS Warspite, HMS Valiant, HMS Barham and HMS Malaya. HMS Agincourt was originally intended to be the sixth ship of the group, but was cancelled when the First World War broke out. The name was reused on another warship originally ordered by Brazil, which was purchased and seized by the Ottoman Navy while still being built by the Royal Navy for use in World War I.

HMS Barham (04) Commissioned after Admiral Charles Middleton, First Baron Barham (1726-1813) and Clydebank shipyard John Brown & Company (Yard No. 424) She builds. Her keel was laid on 24 February 1913 and the ship was launched on 31 October 1914. With the outbreak of World War I in July of that year, HMS Barham arrived just in time to see the major conflict in action.

After completing her trials and evaluations, she officially entered service on October 19, 1915.

Barham and her class maintained excellent speed as the battleships of the day. Her machine consisted of 24 boilers that powered 2 steam turbines with 56,000 horsepower driving 4 shafts. She can travel at 24 knots and have a range of up to 5,000 nautical miles. Related to this is her armament, which consists of an 8 x 15-inch main gun, spread across four twin-gun turrets, two at the front and two at the rear of the superstructure. Then there are the 14 x 6 inch (152 mm) guns mounted as single guns.

She also (later) received 2 x 3" (76 mm) 20 cwt anti-aircraft (AA) guns for local defense, also mounted on a single gun mount. Consistent with the surface warship designs of the time, Barham became so equipped Torpedo tubes, these are 4 x 21" (533 mm) launchers.

Good performance and powerful firepower make the ship an important part of the Royal Navy's operations.

She carried a crew of 1,016. As expected, her bridge is at the front of the superstructure, and two main masts break up her side profile. Her bow is pointed, and her sides arch into the stern to complete her silhouette.

Armor protection includes a thickness of 330mm at the waistband and 76mm along the deck. Their turrets were covered with steel up to 10 inches (254 mm) thick. The main turret is protected up to 330mm, and the conning tower is also protected by 330mm.

Dimensions include a length of 643.8 feet, a beam of 90.6 feet and a draft of 33 feet. Full-load displacement is 33,790 tons.

A recoverable seaplane can be transported, catapulted from gun emplacement 3, and recovered by a crane amidships.

Barham took part in the famous Battle of Jutland off the coast of Denmark (May-June 1916), which became the largest naval engagement of the war. The Allies had 28 battleships, while the enemy had 16, a combined force of British, Australian and Canadian warships. Although tactically inconclusive, the engagement marked a strategic victory for the Allies and limited the German naval engagement to large-scale surface engagements for the foreseeable future - since then they have not been allowed to Not more reliant on their submarine force. In hand-to-hand combat, Barham was hit six times, lost 26 and wounded another 46.

The damaged Barham was put on hold for repairs, which lasted until July 1916. In the spring of 1917, when she adopted the aforementioned anti-aircraft weapons, she underwent an overhaul. She continued to serve throughout the war, which ended with an armistice in November 1918.

Last February, she underwent another major overhaul.

During the interwar period, Barham sailed with the Atlantic Fleet, which was her flagship. In 1924 she became part of the British presence in the Mediterranean to ensure British interests were protected, which continued until 1929. Her next service was with the Atlantic Fleet until another overhaul in early 1931 to early 1934.

The following year, she returned to Mediterranean waters. During the second half of the decade, the class was fully upgraded to a more modern combat form, including revised superstructures, propulsion systems and equipment.

Barham is less modern than her sisters, losing two torpedo tubes in the process and replacing her anti-aircraft guns with 4 x 4" QF Mk XVI guns.

World War II (1939-1945) began in September 1939 and again pushed Britain into war with Germany. When the war broke out, Barham remained in the Mediterranean until she was recalled to the Home Fleet in December. She collided (and sank) with HMS Duchess, killing 124 people.

Later, she used a German torpedo on patrol, costing her four crew members, but her torpedo bulge blocked and she sailed into Liverpool for repairs until April 1940.

While offline, she received additional anti-air protection and was brought back into service in September, using her abilities for Operation Threat in Dakar, Senegal. Her gun was used against French warships operating under the Vichy French flag at the time. She herself suffered several direct hits from enemy fire, but reported no major losses, and was able to retaliate against coastal defense positions.

Her powers were then used to move the damaged battleship HMS Resolution to safety. From there, Barham sailed to British-controlled Gibraltar, where she lay during a manned torpedo attack by Italian naval special forces. She survived the operation and joined the Mediterranean Fleet in December 1940.

Off the coast of North Africa, HMS Barham was deployed to protect the HMS Eagle using her gun against enemy positions along the coast during her raid on Tripoli. During the New Year, she was deployed as an escort to Malta in March and joined other Royal Navy ships in the Battle of Cape Matapan that same month.

The battle, which lasted from March 27 to March 29, involved combined Anglo-Australian forces against the Italians, which ensured Allied victory and helped change the balance of naval power in the Mediterranean. Then she fought the enemy in Tripoli.

In November 1941, she was called to support the attack on the Italian naval convoy, and it was during this operation that Barham suffered her death. The German submarine U-331 had three torpedoes mounted on her side, forcing her to roll to port before a magazine store blew up - quickly sinking the ship.

The news that more than 70 percent of the crew sank with the ship -- 841 people -- was briefly publicized in order to maintain the morale of the war support.

HMS Barham (04) lost at sea on 25 November 1941.

Specification

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