HMS Superb (1907)

The Bellerophon class was equipped with ten breech-loading (BL) 12-inch (305 mm) Mk X guns in five twin-gun turrets, three along the centreline and the remaining two as wing turrets. The centreline turrets were designated 'A', 'X' and 'Y', from front to rear, and the port and starboard wing turrets were 'P' and 'Q' respectively. The secondary, or anti-torpedo boat armament, comprised 16 BL 4-inch (102 mm) Mk VII guns in single mounts. Two of these guns were each installed on the roofs of the fore and aft centreline turrets and the wing turrets in unshielded mounts, and the other eight were positioned in the superstructure.[6][Note 2] The ships were also fitted with three 18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes, one on each broadside and the third in the stern.[3]

The Bellerophon-class ships had a waterline belt of Krupp cemented armour that was 10 inches (254 mm) thick between the fore and aftmost barbettes. The three armoured decks ranged in thicknesses from 0.75 to 4 inches (19 to 102 mm). The main battery turret faces were 11 inches (279 mm) thick, and the turrets were supported by 9–10 inches (229–254 mm) thick barbettes.[10]

The guns on the forward turret roof were transferred to the superstructure in 1914 and the guns from the wing turrets were remounted in the aft superstructure in 1914–1915; all of the four-inch guns in the superstructure were enclosed to better protect their crews. In addition, a single three-inch (76 mm) anti-aircraft (AA) gun was added on the former searchlight platform between the aft turrets. Shortly afterwards, the guns on the aft turret were removed as were one pair from the superstructure. Around the same time another three-inch AA gun was added to the aft turret roof.[11]

By May 1915, a fire-control director had been installed high on the forward tripod mast[12] and approximately 23 long tons (23 t) of additional deck armour was added after the Battle of Jutland a year later. By April 1917, Superb had exchanged the three-inch AA gun on 'Y' turret for a four-inch gun and the stern torpedo tube had been removed. In 1918 a high-angle rangefinder was fitted, the starboard aft four-inch gun was removed and the four-inch AA gun was moved to the quarterdeck. By this time, the ship mounted 11 four-inch guns, plus one three- and one four-inch AA gun. After the war ended, both AA guns were removed.[13]

Superb took part in a test mobilisation and fleet review between 17 and 20 July 1914 as part of the British response to the July Crisis. Arriving in Portland on 27 July, she was ordered to proceed with the rest of the Home Fleet to Scapa Flow two days later[17] to safeguard the fleet from a possible German surprise attack.[18] Captain Price Lewes relived Hope on 28 July.[19] In August, following the outbreak of World War I, the Home Fleet was reorganised as the Grand Fleet, and placed under the command of Admiral John Jellicoe. Most of it was briefly based (22 October to 3 November) at Lough Swilly, Ireland, while the defences at Scapa were strengthened.[20] Lewes was relieved on 4 November for reasons of ill-health and died five days later from a kidney disease. Captain Rudolf Bentinck assumed command of the ship on the 6th.[19] On the evening of 22 November, the Grand Fleet conducted a fruitless sweep in the southern half of the North Sea, during which Superb stood with the main body in support of Vice-Admiral David Beatty's 1st Battlecruiser Squadron. The fleet was back in port in Scapa Flow by 27 November.[20][Note 3] The 1st BS cruised north-west of the Shetland Islands and conducted gunnery practice on 8–12 December. Four days later, the Grand Fleet sortied during the German raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby, but failed to make contact with the High Seas Fleet. Superb and the rest of the Grand Fleet conducted another sweep of the North Sea on 25–27 December.[21]

The 1st Battle Squadron at sea, April 1915

The ship departed Scapa Flow to have her turbines repaired at Portsmouth on 18 January 1915 and rejoined her squadron on 11 March.[22] During this time, Captain Edmond Hyde Parker relieved Bentinck.[16] On 7–10 March, the Grand Fleet made a sweep in the northern North Sea, during which it conducted training manoeuvres. Another such cruise took place on 16–19 March. On 11 April, the fleet patrolled the central North Sea and returned to port on 14 April; another patrol in the area took place on 17–19 April, followed by gunnery drills off Shetland on 20–21 April. It made further sweeps into the central North Sea on 17–19 May and 29–31 May without encountering any German vessels.[23] Superb had to be escorted from Devonport on 16 June after the completion of her refit.[24][Note 4] The Grand Fleet conducted training off Shetland beginning on 11 July. On 2–5 September, the fleet went on another cruise in the northern end of the North Sea and conducted gunnery drills. Throughout the rest of the month, the fleet was performing numerous training exercises before making another sweep into the North Sea on 13–15 October. Almost three weeks later, Superb participated in another fleet training operation west of Orkney during 2–5 November.[25] Five days later, the ship was transferred to the 4th Battle Squadron.[17]

The fleet departed for a cruise in the North Sea on 26 February 1916; Jellicoe had intended to use the Harwich Force of cruisers and destroyers to sweep the Heligoland Bight, but bad weather prevented operations in the southern North Sea. As a result, the operation was confined to the northern end of the sea. Another sweep began on 6 March, but had to be abandoned the following day as the weather grew too severe for the escorting destroyers. On the night of 25 March, Superb and the rest of the fleet sailed from Scapa Flow to support Beatty's battlecruisers and other light forces raiding the German Zeppelin base at Tondern. By the time the Grand Fleet approached the area on 26 March, the British and German forces had already disengaged and a strong gale threatened the light craft, so the fleet was ordered to return to base. On 21 April, the Grand Fleet conducted a demonstration off Horns Reef to distract the Germans while the Imperial Russian Navy relaid its defensive minefields in the Baltic Sea. The fleet returned to Scapa Flow on 24 April and refuelled before proceeding south in response to intelligence reports that the Germans were about to launch a raid on Lowestoft, but only arrived in the area after the Germans had withdrawn. On 2–4 May, the fleet conducted another demonstration off Horns Reef to keep German attention focused on the North Sea.[26] When the dreadnought Emperor of India began a refit later that month, she was relieved by Superb as the flagship of the 3rd Division of the 4th BS, commanded by Rear-Admiral Alexander Duff.[17]

Maps showing the manoeuvres of the British (blue) and German (red) fleets on 31 May – 1 June 1916

In an attempt to lure out and destroy a portion of the Grand Fleet, the High Seas Fleet, composed of 16 dreadnoughts, 6 pre-dreadnoughts, and supporting ships, departed the Jade Bight early on the morning of 31 May. The fleet sailed in concert with Rear Admiral Franz von Hipper's 5 battlecruisers. The Royal Navy's Room 40 had intercepted and decrypted German radio traffic containing plans of the operation. In response the Admiralty ordered the Grand Fleet, totalling some 28 dreadnoughts and 9 battlecruisers, to sortie the night before to cut off and destroy the High Seas Fleet.[27]

On 31 May Superb was the eleventh ship from the head of the battle line after deployment.[17] During the first stage of the general engagement, the ship opened fire with her main guns at 18:26[Note 5] at the crippled light cruiser SMS Wiesbaden, claiming several hits. At 19:17, the ship fired seven salvos at the battlecruiser SMS Derfflinger, but did not make any hits. This was the last time that the ship fired her guns during the battle. She received no damage and fired a total of 54 twelve-inch shells (38 high explosive and 16 common pointed, capped) during the battle.[28]

The Grand Fleet sortied on 18 August to ambush the High Seas Fleet while it advanced into the southern North Sea, but a series of miscommunications and mistakes prevented Jellicoe from intercepting the German fleet before it returned to port. Two light cruisers were sunk by German U-boats during the operation, prompting Jellicoe to decide to not risk the major units of the fleet south of 55° 30' North due to the prevalence of German submarines and mines. The Admiralty concurred and stipulated that the Grand Fleet would not sortie unless the German fleet was attempting an invasion of Britain or there was a strong possibility it could be forced into an engagement under suitable conditions.[29] Superb was refitting at this time and did not participate in this action.[30] On 2 January 1918, Hyde Parker was relieved by Captain Sidney Drury-Lowe[16] before he was transferred to command the battleship Monarch on 3 April.[31] The ship began a refit that same month before recommissioning in June.[17] Captain Stephen Radcliffe assumed command of the ship on 22 June and remained in command until 15 December 1919.[16]

A painting by Frank Henry Mason of Superb leading the Allied fleet through the Dardanelles to Constantinople in 1918

In October 1918, Superb and her sister ship, Temeraire, were transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet[32] and Superb became the flagship of its commander, Vice-Admiral Sir Somerset Gough-Calthorpe, upon her arrival at Mudros on 31 October. The ship led an Allied squadron that entered the Ottoman capital, Constantinople, on 13 November, following the Armistice of Mudros. A month later, Gough-Calthorpe tasked Superb to provide a crew for the Russian destroyer Derzky, which had been turned over to the Allies by the Germans after the Armistice of 11 November. On 4 December, the ship conveyed Gough-Calthorpe to Odessa, Russia, to inspect the situation there; he made another such visit to Port Said, Egypt, in late March 1919.[33]

The following month, she was relieved and sailed for England, and was reduced to reserve at Sheerness upon her arrival on 26 April as she was thoroughly obsolete in comparison to the latest dreadnoughts. Superb became a gunnery training ship in September, until she was relieved of that duty in December. The ship was listed for disposal on 26 March 1920 at the Nore and was used for gunnery experiments in December. Beginning in May 1922, she was used as a target ship for the next several months. In December, she was sold to Stanlee Shipbreaking Company, but was not towed to Dover for demolition until 7 April 1923.[17]