HMS Blenheim (1890)
| 300px HMS Blenheim | |
| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Class and type: | Blake class armoured cruiser |
| Name: | HMS Blenheim |
| Builder: | Thames Ironworks & Shipbuilding Company, Leamouth, London |
| Laid down: | October 1888 |
| Launched: | 5 July 1890 |
| Reclassified: | Depot ship 1907 |
| Fate: | Sold for breaking up 13 July 1926 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 9,150 tons |
| Length: | 375 ft (114 m) |
| Beam: | 65 ft (20 m) |
| Propulsion: |
2 propellers 20,000 ihp (14,914 kW) |
| Speed: | 22 knots (41 km/h) |
| Armament: |
2 × BL 9.2 inch Mk VI guns (234 mm)[1] |
HMS Blenheim was a Blake class first class protected cruiser that served in the Royal Navy from 1890-1926.
Launched 5 July, 1890, she displaced 9,150 tons and her steel hull measured 375 feet (length) and 65 feet (beam) with 20,000 indicated horsepower (15,000 kW) turning 2 propellers giving a top speed of 22 knots (41 km/h). Her main armament was two BL 9.2 inch Mk VI guns (234 mm) and six QF 6 inch guns (152 mm) on the upper deck,[1] and four QF 6 inch guns in 150 mm compound armoured casemates on the main deck.[1] She also carried sixteen 3-pounders,[1] and four 14 inch torpedo tubes (two submerged and two above water).[1]
She was built by Thames Ironworks & Shipbuilding Company at Leamouth, London. The ship was named after the Battle of Blenheim.
She served as a cruiser with the Channel Squadron until May 1908 when she joined the Mediterranean Fleet as a destroyer depot ship. She was sent to Mudros in March 1915 in support of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force at the Battle of Gallipoli. She was scrapped in 1926 at Pembroke Dock.
Blenheim served in the repatriation of the remains of three dignitaries during her career:
- His Royal Highness Prince Henry of Battenberg died from malaria while on active duty onboard HMS Blonde off Sierra Leone in 1896. Blenheim repatriated his body from the Canary Islands. Her Majesty Queen Victoria appointed the commanding officer Captain Edmund S. Poe to the fourth class of the Royal Victorian Order as a mark of appreciation for this service.
- Sitting Canadian Prime Minister Sir John Thompson died in England, just after being named to HM The Queen's Privy Council in 1894 and was repatriated to Halifax, Nova Scotia by Blenheim, which was painted black for the occasion.[2]
- Former Canadian Prime Minister Sir Charles Tupper died in England in 1915 and was repatriated to Halifax by Blenheim.
Whilst being used as a depot ship, future Rear-Admiral and VC winner Eric Gascoigne Robinson served aboard her.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Jane's Fighting Ships 1900, page 91.
Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905, page 66.
Note that Jane's suggests that the 6 inch guns were probably the older 26 calibre BL guns converted to QF. However Conways confirms that the guns were 6 inch QF. - ↑ Canada info - The Right Honourable Sir John Thompson
- Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: the complete record of all fighting ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham. ISBN 9781861762818. OCLC 67375475.
- Roger Chesneau and Eugene M. Kolesnik, ed., Conway's All The Worlds Fighting Ships, 1860-1905, (Conway Maritime Press, London, 1979), ISBN 0-85177-133-5
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