Bellerophon-class battleship

Class overview
HMS Bellerophon
Operators:	Royal Navy
Preceded by:	HMS Dreadnought
Succeeded by:	St. Vincent class
Cost:	about £1,600,000 plus £116,300 for guns
Built:	1906–09
In service:	1909–21
In commission:	1909–21
Completed:	3
Retired:	3
General characteristics
Type:	Dreadnought battleship
Displacement:	18,800 tons (load) 22,102 tons (full load)
Length:	160.3 m (526 ft) overall
Beam:	25.2 m (83 ft)
Draught:	8.3 m (27.2 ft)
Propulsion:	Parsons turbines, direct drive on four shafts 18 Babcock & Wilcox or Yarrow boilers 23,000 ihp
Speed:	Bellerophon: 21.25 knots (39.4 km/h) at 25,061 ihp (18,688 kW) Superb: 21.56 knots (39.9 km/h) at 27,407 ihp (20,437 kW) Temeraire: 21.55 knots (39.9 km/h) at 26,966 ihp (20,109 kW)
Range:	5,720 nmi (10,590 km) at 10 knots (19 km/h)
Complement:	733
Armament:	10 × BL 12-inch (304.8 mm) Mk X guns (5 × 2) 16 × BL 4-inch (101.6 mm) Mk VII guns 4 × 3-pounder guns 3 × 18 inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes
Armour:	Belt: 5–10 in (127–254 mm) Barbettes: 5–9 in (127–229 mm) Conning tower: 8–11 in (203–280 mm) Turrets: 11 in (280 mm) Deck: ½–4 in (15–102 mm)

The Bellerophon class was a class of three dreadnought battleships that were built in the United Kingdom prior to World War I, and served in the Royal Navy during the war. The Bellerophons were based on the previous HMS Dreadnought, with a second tripod mast and other changes. The lead ship, HMS Bellerophon, was laid down on the same day of Dreadnought's final completion, which was also built at Portsmouth Dockyard.

Design

Left elevation view from Jane's, 1915. Darkened areas show armour.

Plan view facing left from Jane's, 1919.

Changes to the hull gave a more complete internal protection and allowed the larger ships to make the same speed with the same powerplant. While Dreadnought had bulkheads that protected only the magazines, the Bellerophons had complete bulkheads running longitudinally through the ship. The 12-pounder guns that had been added to Dreadnought for protection from torpedo boats were recognised as being insufficient and their secondary armament was made up of 4-inch (102 mm) guns. A mainmast added ahead of the aft funnel was still affected by the plume of the fore funnel and was not considered a success. These changes did require some compromises in the design resulting in thinner armour, reducing the belt armor from 11 to 10 inches (254 mm), and a reduced coal bunkerage, which limited the steaming endurance.

General characteristics

The Bellerophon's design was virtually identical to that of the preceding Dreadnought, with some minor improvements.^[1] The tripod foremast, which on Dreadnought was behind the forward funnel, was positioned in front of the forward funnel so that lookouts stationed on the observation platform could be out of the smoke plume.^[1] A second tripod mast was placed in front of the second funnel.^[2]

The ships of the Bellerophon class were 160.3 m (526 ft) long. They had a beam of 25.2 m (83 ft), a draught of 8.3 m (27 ft), and normally displaced 18,800 tonnes with a maximum displacement of 22,102 tonnes.^[3]

Propulsion

The Bellerophon class had the same propulsion design as the previous Dreadnought. The ships were powered by four-shaft Parsons turbines in 18 coal-fired boilers. The ships' powerplants delivered at a rated 23,000 shp.^[4]

Armament

The Bellerophon's armament featured an improved second battery. Sixteen 4 in (10 cm) guns replaced the twenty-seven 3 in (7.6 cm) guns on Dreadnought. However, the main armament was the same having ten 12 in (30 cm) guns in five twin turrets.^[3]

Construction

Ship	Builder	Engine builder	Laid down	Launched	Commissioned
Ship	Builder	Engine builder	Laid down	Launched	Commissioned
HMS Bellerophon	Portsmouth Dockyard, Portsmouth, England	Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Parsons turbines	6 December 1906	27 July 1907	20 February 1909^[1]
HMS Superb	Armstrong Elswick Works, Newcastle upon Tyne, England	Wallsend Co., Parsons turbines	6 February 1907	7 November 1907	9 June 1909^[1]
HMS Temeraire	Devonport Dockyard, Plymouth, England	Hawthorn Leslie and Company, Parsons turbines	1 January 1907	24 August 1907	15 May 1909^[1]

Footnotes

1 2 3 4 5 Gardiner and Gray, p. 22.
↑ Miller, p. 145.
1 2 Miller, p. 144.
↑ http://www.maritimequest.com/warship_directory/great_britain/pages/battleships/bellerophon_class.htm

References

Gardiner, Robert; Gray, Randal, eds. (1984). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships: 1906–1922. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-907-3.
Miller, David (2001). Illustrated Directory of Warships of the World. Osceola: Salamander Books. ISBN 0-7603-1127-7.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bellerophon class battleship.

World War I Naval Combat - HMS Bellerophon
MaritimeQuest Bellerophon Class Overview
Dreadnought Project Technical material on the weaponry and fire control for the ships

Bellerophon-class battleships

Bellerophon Superb Temeraire

Preceded by: HMS Dreadnought Followed by: St. Vincent class

List of dreadnought battleships of the Royal Navy

British naval ship classes of the First World War

Aircraft/Seaplane carriers	Empress^S^V Riviera^S^V Engadine^S^V Ark Royal^S Ben-my-Chree^S^V Campania^S^V Raven II^S^V Anne^S^V Vindex^S^V Manxman^S^V Furious^M Pegasus^S^V Nairana^S^V Argus^S^V Vindictive^S^V

Dreadnought battleships	Dreadnought^S Bellerophon St Vincent Neptune^S Colossus Orion King George V Erin^S Agincourt^S Iron Duke Canada^S Queen Elizabeth Revenge

Pre-dreadnought battleships	Royal Sovereign Majestic Canopus Formidable Duncan King Edward VII Swiftsure Lord Nelson

Battlecruisers	Invincible Indefatigable Lion Queen Mary^S Tiger^S Renown Courageous Admiral^S^C Incomparable^X

Armoured cruisers	Cressy Drake Monmouth Devonshire Duke of Edinburgh Warrior Minotaur

Heavy cruisers	Hawkins

Light cruisers	Town^G Arethusa C^{G, C} Danae^C Emerald^A

Protected cruisers	Apollo Astraea Eclipse Blake Pearl Edgar Powerful Diadem Arrogant Pelorus Highflyer Challenger Topaze

Scout cruisers	Adventure Forward Pathfinder Sentinel Boadicea Blonde Active

Destroyer flotilla leaders	Swift^S Faulknor Marksman Parker Admiralty (or Scott)^C Thornycroft (or Shakespeare)^C

Destroyers	A^G B^G C^G D^G E^G F Cricket^G G H I K L Admiralty M Hawthorn M Thornycroft M Yarrow M Yarrow Later M R^G S^{G, C} Talisman V and W^{G, C}

Monitors	Marshal Ney Abercrombie Lord Clive Humber Gorgon M15 M29 Erebus

Minesweepers	Flower Racecourse Hunt 24^C

Gunboats	Fly Insect

Submarines	A B C D E F G H^C J K L^C M^C R^C Swordfish^S V

A All completed after the war C One or more completed after the war G Grouping of several classes M converted from Courageous class S Single ship of class V Conversions X Cancelled

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