Illustration of Theseus shelling Turkish positions in 1915
Upon commission in 1896, Theseus was part of the Special Flying Squadron, which had been formed in response to a war scare with Germany,[1] following which she was posted to the Mediterranean Fleet.
In January 1897 Theseus was ordered from the Mediterranean to join Rear Admiral Sir Harry Rawson's fleet that had been sent to West Africa for a punitive expedition against Benin. The force was assembled off the coast of Benin by 3 February, with landings taking place on 9 February. Benin City was captured on 18 February and the force re-embarked on the ships of the fleet on 27 February.[2] The ship's crew suffered badly from Malaria as a result of her service during the Benin expedition, and when Theseus was refitted at Chatham later that year she required a thorough disinfection.[3]
She served in the Mediterranean until late April 1902, when she left Malta homebound to pay off,[4] arriving at Plymouth on 6 May,[5] and Chatham three days later. She was paid off into the Medway Fleet Reserve on 28 May 1902.[6]
She was a tender ship to Cambridge from 1905 to 1913. In February 1913, Theseus joined the Queenstown Training Squadron.
When war broke out in 1914, Theseus joined the 10th Cruiser Squadron. In late August Russian forces in the Baltic captured copies of the German Navy codebook and Theseus was dispatched from Scapa Flow to Alexandrovosk in order to collect the copies offered to the British. Although she arrived on 7 September, due to mixups she did not depart until 30 September and returned to Scapa with two Russian couriers and the documents on 10 October. The books were formally handed over to the First Lord, Winston Churchill, on 13 October, and subsequently exploited by the cryptanalysts of Room 40.[7]
Theseus rejoined 10th Cruiser Squadron, which on 15 October was on patrol off Aberdeen, deployed in line abreast at intervals of about 10 nautical miles (19 kilometres). Theseus was unsuccessfully attacked by the German submarine U-17. The flotilla was ordered to proceed at full speed to the northwest in response to this attack, but no response to the order was heard from Theseus's sister shipHawke. Hawke had been torpedoed by the German submarine U-9 several hours earlier and had quickly capsized and sank out of sight of the rest of the flotilla.[8][9][10] Only 70 of Hawke's 594 crew survived.
Theseus was rearmed, along with bulges to her hull, which were added to enable her to take part in the Dardanelles Campaign. In 1916 she was deployed to the Mediterranean and was then sent to the White Sea. In 1918 she was sent to the Aegean Sea to become a depot ship. In 1919, Theseus had her final deployment, when she was sent to the Black Sea. She returned to the UK in 1920 and was scrapped the following year in Germany.
^Corbett, Julian S. (2013) [Originally published by Longmans, Green and Co.: London, 1920]. "History of the Great War - Naval Operations, Volume 1, To the Battle of the Falklands, December 1914 (Part 1 of 2)". Naval-History.net. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
Roger Chesneau and Eugene M. Kolesnik, ed., Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905, (Conway Maritime Press, London, 1979), ISBN0-85177-133-5
Clowes, William Laird (1903). The Royal Navy: A History from the Earliest Times to the Death of Queen Victoria. Vol. VII. London: Sampson Low, Marston and Company Ltd.
"Engines of H.M.S. Theseus and Royal Arthur" (PDF). The Engineer. Vol. 77. 23 March 1894. p. 249.
Massie, Robert K. (2007). Castles of Steel: Britain, Germany and the Winning of the Great War at Sea. London: Vintage Books. ISBN978-0-099-52378-9.
Monograph No. 19: Tenth Cruiser Squadron I(PDF). Naval Staff Monographs (Historical). Vol. VII. The Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division. 1922. pp. 5–66.
"Trials of H.M.S. Theseus" (PDF). The Engineer. Vol. 76. 22 December 1893. p. 596.
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January 01, 1970
theseus, 1892, other, ships, with, same, name, theseus, theseus, edgar, class, protected, cruiser, royal, navy, edgars, were, similar, smaller, versions, blake, class, theseus, launched, leamouth, london, 1892, commissioned, january, 1896, history, united, kin. For other ships with the same name see HMS Theseus HMS Theseus was an Edgar class protected cruiser of the Royal Navy The Edgars were similar but smaller versions of the Blake class Theseus was launched at Leamouth London in 1892 and commissioned on 14 January 1896 History United Kingdom NameHMS Theseus NamesakeTheseus BuilderThames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company Laid down16 July 1890 Launched8 September 1892 Commissioned14 January 1896 FateSold for breaking up 8 November 1921 General characteristics Class and typeEdgar class cruiser Displacement7 350 tons Length387 5 ft 118 1 m Beam60 ft 18 m Draught23 ft 7 0 m PropulsionFour boilers two cylinder vertical triple expansion engines two shafts 12 000 horsepower 8 900 kW Speed20 knots 37 km h Range10 000 nautical miles 19 000 km at 10 knots 19 km h Complement544 Armament2 BL 9 2 inch 234 mm guns 10 QF 6 inch 152 mm guns 12 6 pounder 57 mm guns 5 3 pounder 47 mm guns 4 18 inch 450 mm torpedo submerged tubes Contents 1 Service history 2 References 3 Sources 4 External linksService history edit nbsp Illustration of Theseus shelling Turkish positions in 1915 Upon commission in 1896 Theseus was part of the Special Flying Squadron which had been formed in response to a war scare with Germany 1 following which she was posted to the Mediterranean Fleet In January 1897 Theseus was ordered from the Mediterranean to join Rear Admiral Sir Harry Rawson s fleet that had been sent to West Africa for a punitive expedition against Benin The force was assembled off the coast of Benin by 3 February with landings taking place on 9 February Benin City was captured on 18 February and the force re embarked on the ships of the fleet on 27 February 2 The ship s crew suffered badly from Malaria as a result of her service during the Benin expedition and when Theseus was refitted at Chatham later that year she required a thorough disinfection 3 She served in the Mediterranean until late April 1902 when she left Malta homebound to pay off 4 arriving at Plymouth on 6 May 5 and Chatham three days later She was paid off into the Medway Fleet Reserve on 28 May 1902 6 She was a tender ship to Cambridge from 1905 to 1913 In February 1913 Theseus joined the Queenstown Training Squadron When war broke out in 1914 Theseus joined the 10th Cruiser Squadron In late August Russian forces in the Baltic captured copies of the German Navy codebook and Theseus was dispatched from Scapa Flow to Alexandrovosk in order to collect the copies offered to the British Although she arrived on 7 September due to mixups she did not depart until 30 September and returned to Scapa with two Russian couriers and the documents on 10 October The books were formally handed over to the First Lord Winston Churchill on 13 October and subsequently exploited by the cryptanalysts of Room 40 7 Theseus rejoined 10th Cruiser Squadron which on 15 October was on patrol off Aberdeen deployed in line abreast at intervals of about 10 nautical miles 19 kilometres Theseus was unsuccessfully attacked by the German submarine U 17 The flotilla was ordered to proceed at full speed to the northwest in response to this attack but no response to the order was heard from Theseus s sister ship Hawke Hawke had been torpedoed by the German submarine U 9 several hours earlier and had quickly capsized and sank out of sight of the rest of the flotilla 8 9 10 Only 70 of Hawke s 594 crew survived Theseus was rearmed along with bulges to her hull which were added to enable her to take part in the Dardanelles Campaign In 1916 she was deployed to the Mediterranean and was then sent to the White Sea In 1918 she was sent to the Aegean Sea to become a depot ship In 1919 Theseus had her final deployment when she was sent to the Black Sea She returned to the UK in 1920 and was scrapped the following year in Germany References edit Clowes 1903 p 435 Clowes 1903 pp 440 443 Naval Matters Past and Prospective Chatham Dockyard The Marine Engineer and Naval Architect 1 August 1897 p 185 Naval amp Military intelligence The Times No 36751 London 25 April 1902 p 8 Naval amp Military intelligence The Times No 36761 London 7 May 1902 p 10 Naval amp Military intelligence The Times No 36779 London 28 May 1902 p 9 Beesly 1982 pp 5 6 Corbett Julian S 2013 Originally published by Longmans Green and Co London 1920 History of the Great War Naval Operations Volume 1 To the Battle of the Falklands December 1914 Part 1 of 2 Naval History net Retrieved 24 May 2014 Massie 2007 p 139 Naval Staff Monograph No 19 1922 pp 20 22Sources editBeesly Patrick 1982 Room 40 British Naval Intelligence 1914 1918 Long Acre London Hamish Hamilton Ltd ISBN 0 241 10864 0 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 Roger Chesneau and Eugene M Kolesnik ed Conway s All the World s Fighting Ships 1860 1905 Conway Maritime Press London 1979 ISBN 0 85177 133 5 Clowes William Laird 1903 The Royal Navy A History from the Earliest Times to the Death of Queen Victoria Vol VII London Sampson Low Marston and Company Ltd Engines of H M S Theseus and Royal Arthur PDF The Engineer Vol 77 23 March 1894 p 249 Massie Robert K 2007 Castles of Steel Britain Germany and the Winning of the Great War at Sea London Vintage Books ISBN 978 0 099 52378 9 Monograph No 19 Tenth Cruiser Squadron I PDF Naval Staff Monographs Historical Vol VII The Naval Staff Training and Staff Duties Division 1922 pp 5 66 Trials of H M S Theseus PDF The Engineer Vol 76 22 December 1893 p 596 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Theseus ship 1894 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title HMS Theseus 1892 amp oldid 1196514688, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
