Abercrombie class monitor

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Abercrombie-class

General Characteristics
Displacement:	6,150 tons
Length:	320 ft 116 m
Beam:	90 ft 27.4 m
Draught:	3 m
Propulsion:	2 shaft verticl triple expansion steam engines, 2 boilers 2000hp
Speed:	7 knots
Range:
Complement:	198
Armament:	Two 14-inch/45 guns Two 6-inch guns Two 12 pdr guns
Armour:	4 inch belt, 8 inch barbette, 10 inch turret, 2 inch deck
Aircraft:	1 seaplane (designed but seldom carried)

The Abercrombie class of monitors served in the Royal Navy during the First World War.

[edit] History

The four ships in this class came about when the contracted supplier, Bethlehem Steel in the United States, of the main armament for the Greek battleship Salamis being built in Germany was unable to supply due to the British blockade. They offered the 14-inch twin gun turrets for sale to the Royal Navy. To use them, a monitor hull was quickly designed and built and the ships laid down and launched within 6 months. The rushed design resulted in a very poor speed even for a monitor. The single main gun turret was forward of a tripod mast which was itself in front of a single funnel.

During the planning and build they were to be the Styx class named after four American figures; General Ulysses S. Grant, General Robert E. Lee, Admiral David Farragut and General Stonewall Jackson. As the United States was a neutral power using these names was undiplomatic and they were renamed M1 to M4 before receiving their final names.

The design included a seaplane for spotting the guns, but it was found that land based aircraft were more effective (as monitors they would never operate in the open sea) and storing the seaplane on top of the turret meant it had to be removed to avoid damage even if not required before the guns could fire.

[edit] Ships

Abercrombie, built by Harland and Wolff, Belfast, paid off after the Armistice and sold in 1927.
Havelock, built by Harland and Wolff, Belfast, sold in 1927.
Raglan, built by Harland and Wolff, Govan, sunk off Imbros in January 1918.
Roberts, built by Swan Hunter, Wallsend, sold in 1936 after many years as a drillship.