HMS Sir Thomas Picton (1915)

HMS Sir Thomas Picton was a First World War Royal Navy Lord Clive-class monitor. Sir Thomas Picton was the only Royal Navy ship ever named for Sir Thomas Picton, a British general of the Peninsular War who was killed at the Battle of Waterloo. The ship's original 12" main battery was stripped from the obsolete Majestic-class battleship HMS Mars.

Sir Thomas Picton c. 1916
History
United Kingdom
NameSir Thomas Picton
NamesakeSir Thomas Picton
BuilderHarland and Wolff, Belfast
Yard number481
Laid down16 January 1915
Launched30 September 1915
Completed4 November 1915
Decommissioned1921
FateScrapped, 1921
General characteristics
Class and typeLord Clive-class monitor
Displacement6,150 tons
Length335 ft (102.1 m)
Beam87 ft (26.5 m)
Draught9.7 ft (3.0 m)
Propulsion2 shafts, reciprocating steam engines, 2 boilers, 2,310 hp
Speed6.5 knots (12.0 km/h; 7.5 mph)
Complement187
Armament

The Lord Clive-class monitors were originally built in 1915 to engage German shore artillery in occupied Belgium during the First World War. Sir Thomas Picton, however was differently employed, being dispatched to the Eastern Mediterranean upon completion for service with the fleet there alongside her sister Earl of Peterborough. Early in 1916 she shelled Turkish positions at the Dardanelles and during the remainder of the war was active against Turkish units in Egypt, Palestine and Turkey itself.

Following the armistice in November 1918, Sir Thomas Picton and her sisters were put into reserve pending scrapping, as the reason for their existence ended with the liberation of Central Power-held coastlines. In 1921 Sir Thomas Picton was scrapped along with all her sisters.

References

  • Buxton, Ian (2008) [1978]. Big Gun Monitors. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84415-719-8.
  • Colledge, J. J.; Wardlow, Ben & Bush, Steve (2020). Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of All Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy from the 15th Century to the Present (5th ed.). Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-5267-9327-0.
  • Dittmar, F. J.; Colledge, J. J. (1972). British Warships 1914–1919. London, UK: Ian Allan. ISBN 978-0-7110-0380-4.
  • Preston, Antony (1985). "Great Britain and Empire Forces". In Gray, Randal (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. pp. 1–104. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
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