HMS Terror (I03)

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HMS Terror in 1933
Career (UK) RN Ensign
Name: HMS Terror
Operator: Naval flag of United Kingdom Royal Navy
Builder: Harland & Wolff, Govan
Laid down: 26 October 1915
Launched: 18 May 1916
Commissioned: 6 August 1916
Fate: Sunk 23 February 1941 off Darnah
General characteristics
Tonnage: 7,200 gross register tons (GRT)
Length: 405 feet (123.4 m)
Beam: 88 feet (26.8 m)
Draught: 11 ft 8 in (3.6 m)
Propulsion: Reciprocating engines, 2 shafts, 6,000 hp
Speed: 12 knots (22 km/h)
Complement: 315
Armament: 2 × 15-inch gun (1x2)
8 × 4-inch guns (8x1)
2 × 3-inch AA
8 × .50 inch Vickers machine guns (2x4)
For other ships of the same name, see HMS Terror.

HMS Terror was an Erebus-class monitor built for the Royal Navy in 1915-16 at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Govan, Scotland.

The Erebus class monitors were of 7,200 BRT displacement, 405 feet long, with a maximum speed of 12 knots produced by reciprocating engines with two shafts, and a crew of 315. The ship's armament consisted of two 15-inch main guns in a single forward turret, eight secondary 4-inch guns in eight single turrets, two 3-inch anti-aircraft guns in single turrets, as well as eight .50 inch anti-aircraft Vickers machine guns in two quadruple mounts. The class mostly served in the Naval Gunfire Support (NGS) role.

Contents

[edit] World War I service

Terror joined the Dover Patrol in August 1916 and operated against German forces on the coast of occupied Belgium. On 19 October 1917 she was torpedoed by German motor torpedo boats off Dunkirk. There were no casulties and the ship was beached before being towed back to Portsmouth. The damage took three months to repair. In April 1918 HMS Terror was in the Long Range Bombardment force for Zeebrugge raid with monitor her sister ship HMS Erebus and destroyers Termanent, Truculent, and Manly.On Friday 27 September 1918 HMS Terror along with her sister ship HMS Erebus provided gunnery support for the Fourth Battle of Ypres. In the early 1920s she was used for gunnery trials against several old warships including SMS Baden and HMS Superb[citation needed]

[edit] World War II service

At the outbreak of war in 1939 Terror was based at Singapore, supporting the defences of the major naval base there, and had to be recalled to serve in theatres closer to home.[1] She mainly served in the Mediterranean Theatre during World War II. After first using her anti-aircraft armament to help defend Malta against the first Italian Regia Aeronautica air attacks on 11 June 1940, HMS Terror played an important part in Operation Compass, the British assault against the Italian Tenth Army in Libya.

During the successful advance by the Western Desert Force (later to become the 8th Army "Desert Rats") Terror bombarded Italian land forces and fortifications, amongst others the fortified port of Bardia in eastern Libya, firing 660 rounds from her main guns. The ship also served as a water carrier for the advancing British and Commonwealth army.

HMS Terror was subjected to diving attacks by German Junkers Ju 88 bombers on 22 February 1941 after leaving Benghazi. She was badly damaged by near misses and abandoned by her crew. Although taken under tow, she sank off Darnah, Libya before reaching the Royal Navy's Mediterranean Fleet base at Alexandria, Egypt.

[edit] References

Notes
  1. ^ Roberts 2000: 138
Bibliography
  • Roberts, John: "British Warships of the Second World War", Chatham Publishing, London 2000 ISBN 1-86176-131-7

[edit] External links

Erebus-class monitor
HMS Erebus | HMS Terror |

List of monitors of the Royal Navy
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