HMS Agincourt 1914 (Pictures)

From the birth of the Dreadnought to the period immediately after the end of World War I.
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hammy
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Re: HMS Agincourt 1914 (Pictures)

Post by hammy »

The other choices would be France , USA , or Italy , but these were viewed at the time as very much in the second rank of builders , not so much on the quality of the ships they could produce , rather than the capacity in terms of the number of shipyards capable of building you a dreadnought battleship .
In Britain , more than a dozen .
The German yards could only build about two ships to Britains five , in all types and classes , and were working fairly flat out in the decade leading up to WW1 .
Not so in Britain , where spare capacity remained well into the war .
By the time Agincourt was being ordered the 12 inch twin turrets were being superseeded in the British Navy , and with older pre-dreadnoughts starting to be taken out of commission I suspect that a fair amount of spares , finished items rejected by British admiralty inspectors , and surplus material " kicking about at the back of the yard " could be incorporated into the ship .
( None of this stuff necessarily being particularly defective ) .
As schemed , Agincourt was not intended to lie in the line of battle for sustained action against a first rate foe and perhaps needs to be compared with Minas Gerais / Sao Paulo , Moreno / Rivadavia , Dante Alighieri / Caio Duilio / Conte di Cavour , and Courbet types , as her putative "opponents" .
The fact that the gun system worked well is a tribute to the sound design of the 12 inch twin , perfected long before , and the liking for the gun persisted up to the Washington treaty , where a British proposal to limit all new battleships to 12 inch weapons was made .
Does anyone know if the French style lavatory pans were replaced in a refit , or did the poor British matelots have to carry on squatting ? ( Bloody difficult to maintain your balance while she is pitching her forefoot right out of the water , as in the photo ! I expect there were several tobacco pouches that fell down the 'ole , to cries of " Oh dear me ! " ) ;-0
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Kyler
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Re: HMS Agincourt 1914 (Pictures)

Post by Kyler »

If the bathroom problem was fixed or not I don't really know.

From what materials I have found so far online or in books, when the British seized the ship in 1914, the RN crew was not happy with the accomidations. I would suspect during 1914 and later these were changed to standard British style bathrooms.

"The Big Battleship. the Curious Career of H.M. S Agincourt" written in 1966 would be a good source. Oddly Indianapolis Public Library has a copy of the book, but since I don't live there I was able to check it out. It would most likely have the answer to that question.
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Gary
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Re: HMS Agincourt 1914 (Pictures)

Post by Gary »

The squat toilet sitution would be the same with HMS Erin I think.

All faults aside, a picture of Agincourt with her 7 main turrets is always nice to look at :wink:
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RF
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Re: HMS Agincourt 1914 (Pictures)

Post by RF »

It also registers the buyer in as a friendly country to Britain because of the provision of spares, technical knowledge etc pretty useful to Britain in WW1 inobtaining access to Brazilian ports and naval facilities. And of course Brazil did join the Allies in October 1917.

Not building ships for foreign customers, with whom Germany could have gained some influence, was a major blunder on the Kaisers' part.
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Nelson Ott
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Re: HMS Agincourt 1914 (Pictures)

Post by Nelson Ott »

RF wrote: Not building ships for foreign customers, with whom Germany could have gained some influence, was a major blunder on the Kaisers' part.
That's true, especially if we take into view that Brazil already had a large population of German descendants by the beginning of the 20th century.

SMS Von Der Tann visited Brazil (Rio de Janeiro) in 1911 and some members of her crew were allowed to go as far as the city of Blumenau (with a large German population) in the south of the country, to meet relatives.

Regards

Nelson
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Gary
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Re: HMS Agincourt 1914 (Pictures)

Post by Gary »

I read somewhere that the wardroom on Agincourt was ridiculously large.
I don doubt it was highly spectacular to witness her unleash a 14 gun broadside but her ability to withstand battle damage worries me.
Not a ship I would have wanted to have been on in a fierce battle!
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RF
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Re: HMS Agincourt 1914 (Pictures)

Post by RF »

But there again having 14 guns does I suppose offer the protection of disposing of an enemy more quickly....
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chrispaper1
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Re: HMS Agincourt / Isles of Scilly visit ?

Post by chrispaper1 »

Was HMS Agincourt ever deployed to the western approaches and visit the Isles of Scilly? If so dates please. CP.
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RF
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Re: HMS Agincourt 1914 (Pictures)

Post by RF »

It would appear not. HMS Agincourt was assigned in 1914 to the 1st Battle Squadron of the Grand Fleet so would be North Sea based (at Rosyth). As such the ship took part in the Battle of Jutland on 31 May 1916.

In 1917 the ship was transferred to the 2nd Battle Squadron of the Grand Fleet and remained North Sea based.
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