Designed for inshore operations along the sandbank-strewn Belgian coastline, Marshal Ney was equipped with two massive 15-inch (380 mm) naval guns. Originally, these guns were to have been stripped from one of the battlecruisersRenown and Repulse after they were redesigned. However, the guns were not ready, and guns intended for the battleship Ramillies were used instead.
The diesel engines used by the Marshal Ney-class ships were a constant source of technical difficulty, hampering their use. Marshal Ney in particular was—in the words of Jane's Fighting Ships—"practically a failure", on account of her MAN diesel engines being so unreliable. A contemporary description of the engines by Admiral Reginald Bacon, commander of the Dover Patrol from April 1915, shows how fault-prone they were:
" Reliability both in officer and a ship is the first thing that an Admiral values. The Marshal Ney, judged by this standard, was a hopeless sinner; but her officers and men made up for her deficiencies. Her engines not infrequently exploded when asked to start; her engine-room was scarred as if by shrapnel from the fragments of burst cylinder heads, and the escapes of the engine-room staff were miraculous. Her Chief Engineer, Mr. Swan, stuck to the engines like a Trojan and almost overcame their bad habits; and really, when talking to him, you were almost converted to the opinion that just one little alteration would make them start next time the ship was required. Added to this, when they did not burst, they usually would not start, and when once started no one liked to stop them for fear of not being able to start them again. But, without exaggeration, the more they burst and the worse they behaved, the more Mr. Swan loved them and the more cheery Captain [Hugh J.] Tweedie became."[1]
Following her poor sea trials and continued poor operational performance off the Belgian coast, it was decided to remove her 15 inch guns and place them in the hull of a new monitor. Her 15 inch turret was removed at Elswick in January 1916, where it was re-engineered to fire up to an increased angle of 30 degrees. The turret was then shipped to Belfast and fitted to Terror.[3][i]Terror would soon launch, and join the Dover Patrol together with her sister, Erebus.[5]
Marshal Ney was then rearmed with a single 9.2 in (234 mm) gun and four 6 in (152 mm) guns, all of which had been taken from Terrible. However, another refit in 1916 to 1917 saw the 9.2 inch gun removed for use ashore in France. In the large gun's place her 6 inch armament was increased to six BL 6-inch Mk XI naval guns, which had been removed from Hibernia.[6]
After her refit, Ney was relegated for service as a moored guardship at The Downs. She engaged German destroyers during a raid on Ramsgate in April 1917.
During 1919, Marshal Ney was used as a base ship at Queenborough, before being disarmed and becoming a depot ship at Fort Blockhouse from 1920. Renamed Vivid in July 1922, she then served as an accommodation ship for the stoker training section at Devonport, where she remained until 1957. She was again renamed Drake in January 1934, and Alaunia II in 1947.[7]
^There is some confusion in the sources as to the fate of Ney's turret. Jane's Fighting Ships (1919) states that it was fitted to Erebus.[4] However Buxton (2008) and Crossley (2013) both agree that Ney's turret was fitted to Terror while Erebus received a gun originally intended as a spare for Furious.
Bacon, Reginald (1919). The Dover Patrol 1915-1917. (2 vols.). New York: George H. Doran Co. Vol. 1 • Vol. 2
Buxton, Ian (2008) [1978]. Big Gun Monitors: Design, Construction and Operations 1914–1945 (2nd Revised ed.). Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN978-1-84415-719-8.
marshal, lead, ship, class, monitors, built, royal, navy, during, first, world, laid, down, renamed, after, french, field, marshal, napoleonic, wars, michel, after, service, first, world, became, depot, ship, then, accommodation, ship, between, 1922, 1947, ren. HMS Marshal Ney was the lead ship of her class of two monitors built for the Royal Navy during the First World War Laid down as M13 she was renamed after the French field marshal of the Napoleonic Wars Michel Ney After service in the First World War she became a depot ship and then an accommodation ship Between 1922 and 1947 she was renamed three times becoming successively Vivid Drake and Alaunia II She was scrapped in 1957 Marshal Ney August 1915HistoryUnited KingdomNameMarshal NeyBuilderPalmers JarrowYard number859Laid downJanuary 1915Launched17 June 1915Commissioned31 August 1915DecommissionedSeptember 1919Out of service1957RenamedFrom M 13 June 1915FateScrapped 6 October 1957General characteristicsClass and typeMarshal Ney class monitorDisplacement6 670 long tons 6 780 t standard 6 900 long tons 7 000 t full load Length355 ft 8 in 108 4 m o a Beam90 ft 3 in 27 5 m o a Draught10 ft 5 in 3 2 m Installed power1 500 bhp 1 100 kW Propulsion2 shafts 2 diesel enginesSpeed6 knots 11 km h 6 9 mph Range1 490 nmi 2 760 km 1 710 mi at 5 5 knots 10 2 km h 6 3 mph Complement187ArmamentAs built 1 twin 15 in 380 mm guns 2 single 12 pdr 3 in 76 mm AA guns 2 single 2 pdr 40 mm 1 6 in AA guns 1916 1 single 9 2 in 234 mm gun 4 single 6 in 152 mm guns 2 single 12 pdr AA guns 2 single 2 pdr AA guns 1918 6 single 6 in 152 mm guns 2 single 3 in 76 mm AA guns 2 single 2 pdr AA gunsArmourBelt 4 in 102 mm Barbette 8 in 203 mm Turret 13 in 330 mm Deck 1 4 in 25 102 mm Conning tower 6 in 152 mm Contents 1 Design 2 Service 3 Footnotes 4 References 4 1 Notes 4 2 BibliographyDesign EditDesigned for inshore operations along the sandbank strewn Belgian coastline Marshal Ney was equipped with two massive 15 inch 380 mm naval guns Originally these guns were to have been stripped from one of the battlecruisers Renown and Repulse after they were redesigned However the guns were not ready and guns intended for the battleship Ramillies were used instead The diesel engines used by the Marshal Ney class ships were a constant source of technical difficulty hampering their use Marshal Ney in particular was in the words of Jane s Fighting Ships practically a failure on account of her MAN diesel engines being so unreliable A contemporary description of the engines by Admiral Reginald Bacon commander of the Dover Patrol from April 1915 shows how fault prone they were Reliability both in officer and a ship is the first thing that an Admiral values The Marshal Ney judged by this standard was a hopeless sinner but her officers and men made up for her deficiencies Her engines not infrequently exploded when asked to start her engine room was scarred as if by shrapnel from the fragments of burst cylinder heads and the escapes of the engine room staff were miraculous Her Chief Engineer Mr Swan stuck to the engines like a Trojan and almost overcame their bad habits and really when talking to him you were almost converted to the opinion that just one little alteration would make them start next time the ship was required Added to this when they did not burst they usually would not start and when once started no one liked to stop them for fear of not being able to start them again But without exaggeration the more they burst and the worse they behaved the more Mr Swan loved them and the more cheery Captain Hugh J Tweedie became 1 Service EditAssigned to the Dover Patrol Marshal Ney served with her sister ship Marshal Soult 2 Following her poor sea trials and continued poor operational performance off the Belgian coast it was decided to remove her 15 inch guns and place them in the hull of a new monitor Her 15 inch turret was removed at Elswick in January 1916 where it was re engineered to fire up to an increased angle of 30 degrees The turret was then shipped to Belfast and fitted to Terror 3 i Terror would soon launch and join the Dover Patrol together with her sister Erebus 5 Marshal Ney was then rearmed with a single 9 2 in 234 mm gun and four 6 in 152 mm guns all of which had been taken from Terrible However another refit in 1916 to 1917 saw the 9 2 inch gun removed for use ashore in France In the large gun s place her 6 inch armament was increased to six BL 6 inch Mk XI naval guns which had been removed from Hibernia 6 After her refit Ney was relegated for service as a moored guardship at The Downs She engaged German destroyers during a raid on Ramsgate in April 1917 During 1919 Marshal Ney was used as a base ship at Queenborough before being disarmed and becoming a depot ship at Fort Blockhouse from 1920 Renamed Vivid in July 1922 she then served as an accommodation ship for the stoker training section at Devonport where she remained until 1957 She was again renamed Drake in January 1934 and Alaunia II in 1947 7 She arrived at Thos W Ward s shipyard at Milford Haven on 6 October 1957 for breaking up Footnotes Edit There is some confusion in the sources as to the fate of Ney s turret Jane s Fighting Ships 1919 states that it was fitted to Erebus 4 However Buxton 2008 and Crossley 2013 both agree that Ney s turret was fitted to Terror while Erebus received a gun originally intended as a spare for Furious References EditNotes Edit Bacon 1919 vol 1 p 62 Bacon 1919 vol 1 pp 61 64 Buxton 2008 c 8 3 para 2 Parkes amp Prendergast 1919 p 90 Bacon 1919 vol 1 p 63 Buxton 2008 c 4 4 para 6 Buxton 2008 c 4 5 para 4 Bibliography Edit Bacon Reginald 1919 The Dover Patrol 1915 1917 2 vols New York George H Doran Co Vol 1 Vol 2 Buxton Ian 2008 1978 Big Gun Monitors Design Construction and Operations 1914 1945 2nd Revised ed Barnsley UK Seaforth Publishing ISBN 978 1 84415 719 8 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 Publishing ISBN 978 1 86176 281 8 Crossley Jim 2013 Monitors of the Royal Navy How the Fleet Brought the Great Guns to Bear Barnsley UK Pen amp Sword ISBN 978 1 78383 004 6 Dittmar F J amp Colledge J J British Warships 1914 1919 Ian Allan London 1972 ISBN 0 7110 0380 7 Dunn Steve R 2017 Securing the Narrow Sea The Dover Patrol 1914 1918 Barnsley UK Seaforth Publishing ISBN 978 1 84832 251 6 Gray Randal ed Conway s All the World s Fighting Ships 1906 1921 Conway Maritime Press London 1985 ISBN 0 85177 245 5 Parkes Oscar Prendergast Maurice eds 1969 1919 Jane s Fighting Ships 1919 Fighting Ships New York Arco Publishing Co ISBN 978 0 71534 716 4 OCLC 1902851 Retrieved 23 December 2019 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title HMS Marshal Ney amp oldid 1114802708, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
