HMS Neptune (1909)

Arrangement of Neptune's main-gun turrets, bow to the right

Neptune was equipped with ten 50-calibre breech-loading (BL) 12-inch (305 mm) Mark XI guns in five hydraulically powered 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.[5] The guns had a maximum elevation of +20° which gave them a range of 21,200 yards (19,385 m). They fired 850-pound (386 kg) projectiles at a muzzle velocity of 2,825 ft/s (861 m/s) at a rate of two rounds per minute.[7] The ship carried 100 shells per gun.[5]

The ship's aft 12-inch gun turrets

Neptune was the first British dreadnought with her secondary armament of sixteen 50-calibre BL four-inch (102 mm) Mark VII guns installed in unshielded single mounts in the superstructure.[8][Note 1] This change was made to address the problems that plagued the turret-roof locations used in earlier battleships. Notably, the exposed guns were difficult to work when the main armament was in action as was replenishing their ammunition. Furthermore, the guns could not be centrally controlled to coordinate fire at the most dangerous targets.[11] The guns had a maximum elevation of +15° which gave them a range of 11,400 yd (10,424 m). They fired 31-pound (14.1 kg) projectiles at a muzzle velocity of 2,821 ft/s (860 m/s).[12] They were provided with 150 rounds per gun. Four quick-firing three-pounder (1.9 in (47 mm)) Hotchkiss saluting guns were also carried. The ships were equipped with three 18-inch (450 mm) submerged torpedo tubes, one on each broadside and another in the stern, for which 18 torpedoes were provided.[5]

Neptune, 1911. The gunnery director is the round object halfway up the foremast. Torpedo nets and their supporting booms are visible on the side of the hull.

The control positions for the main armament were located in the spotting tops at the head of the fore and mainmasts. Data from a nine-foot (2.7 m) Barr and Stroud coincidence rangefinder located at each control position was input into a Dumaresq mechanical computer and electrically transmitted to Vickers range clocks located in the transmitting station located beneath each position on the main deck, where it was converted into elevation and deflection data for use by the guns. The target's data was also graphically recorded on a plotting table to assist the gunnery officer in predicting the movement of the target. The turrets, transmitting stations, and control positions could be connected in almost any combination.[13]

Neptune was the first British dreadnought to be built with a gunnery director, albeit an experimental prototype designed by Vice-Admiral Sir Percy Scott. This was mounted on the foremast, underneath the spotting top and electrically provided data to the turrets via pointer on a dial, which the turret crewmen only had to follow. The director layer fired the guns simultaneously which aided in spotting the shell splashes and minimised the effects of the roll on the dispersion of the shells.[14] The ship's director was later replaced as a new one was ordered in 1913 and installed by May 1916.[15]

Additional nine-foot rangefinders, protected by armoured hoods, were added for each gun turret in late 1914.[16] Furthermore, the ship was fitted with Mark I Dreyer Fire-control Tables by early 1916 in each transmission station that combined the functions of the Dumaresq and the range clock.[17]

Neptune had a waterline belt of Krupp cemented armour that was 10 inches (254 mm) thick between the fore and aftmost barbettes that reduced to 2.5 inches (64 mm) before it reached the ships' ends. It covered the side of the hull from the middle deck down to 4 feet 4 inches (1.3 m) below the waterline where it thinned to 8 inches (203 mm) amidships. Above this was a strake of 8-inch armour. The forward oblique 5-inch (127 mm) bulkheads connected the amidships portion of waterline and upper armour belts once they reached the outer portions of the forward barbette. Similarly the aft bulkhead connected the armour belts to the rearmost barbette, although it was 8 inches thick. The three centreline barbettes were protected by armour 9 inches (229 mm) thick above the main deck and thinned to 5 inches (127 mm) below it. The wing barbettes were similar except that they had 10 inches of armour on their outer faces. The gun turrets had 11-inch (279 mm) faces and sides with 3-inch roofs.[5]

The three armoured decks ranged in thickness from 1.25 to 3 inches (32 to 76 mm) with the greater thicknesses outside the central armoured citadel. The front and sides of the conning tower were protected by 11-inch plates, although the rear and roof were 8 inches and 3 inches thick respectively. The torpedo control tower aft had 3-inch sides and a 2-inch roof. Neptune had two longitudinal anti-torpedo bulkheads that ranged in thickness from 1 to 3 inches (25 to 76 mm) and extended from the forward end of 'A' barbette to the end of 'Y' magazine. She was the first British dreadnought to protect her boiler uptakes with 1-inch armour plates.[18] The compartments between the boiler rooms were used as coal bunkers.[19]

Gun shields were fitted to the forward four-inch guns after September 1913 and the upper forward four-inch guns were enclosed. In 1914–1915, the upper amidships four-inch guns were enclosed, the forward boat girder was removed and a three-inch (76 mm) anti-aircraft (AA) gun was added on the quarterdeck. Approximately 50 long tons (51 t) of deck armour was added after the Battle of Jutland in May 1916. By early 1917, four guns had been removed from the aft superstructure and a single four-inch AA gun had been added, for a total of a dozen four-inch guns. The stern torpedo tube was removed in 1917–1918 as was the aft spotting top. A high-angle rangefinder was fitted on the remaining spotting top and a flying-off platform was installed on the 'A' turret in 1918.[20]

Between 17 and 20 July 1914 Neptune took part in a test mobilisation and fleet review 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[5] to safeguard the fleet from a possible German surprise attack.[23] In August 1914, following the outbreak of the First World War, the Home Fleet was reorganised as the Grand Fleet, and placed under the command of Admiral Jellicoe.[24] Most of it was briefly based (22 October to 3 November) at Lough Swilly, Ireland, while the defences at Scapa were strengthened. On the evening of 22 November 1914, the Grand Fleet conducted a fruitless sweep in the southern half of the North Sea; Neptune 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[25] and the ship began a refit on 11 December.[22]

The 1st Battle Squadron at sea, April 1915

Neptune's refit had concluded by the evening of 23 January 1915 as she joined the rest of the Grand Fleet when it sailed in support of Beatty's battlecruisers,[26] but the fleet was too far away participate in the ensuing Battle of Dogger Bank the following day. On 7–10 March, the Grand Fleet made a sweep in the northern North Sea, during which it conducted training manoeuvres.[Note 2] Another such cruise took place on 16–19 March; while returning home after the conclusion of the exercises, Neptune was unsuccessfully attacked by the German submarine SM U-29.[27] While manoeuvering for another attack, the submarine was spotted by Dreadnought which rammed and cut it in half. There were no survivors.[28] On 11 April, the Grand Fleet, including Neptune,[29] made a patrol in 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 the Shetland Islands on 20–21 April.[30]

The Grand Fleet conducted sweeps into the central North Sea on 17–19 May and 29–31 May without encountering any German vessels. During 11–14 June the fleet practised gunnery and battle exercises west of Shetland,[31] and trained off Shetland three days later. On 2–5 September, the fleet went on another cruise in the northern end of the North Sea, conducting gunnery drills, and spent the rest of the month performing numerous training exercises. The ship, together with the majority of the Grand Fleet, made another sweep into the North Sea from 13 to 15 October. Almost three weeks later, Neptune participated in another fleet training operation west of Orkney during 2–5 November.[32]

The fleet departed for a cruise in the North Sea on 26 February 1916; Jellicoe had intended to use the Harwich Force 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, Neptune 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.[33] During the night of 22/23 April, Neptune was accidentally rammed by the neutral merchant ship SS Needvaal in thick fog, but the battleship was only lightly damaged.[22] 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 arrived in the area only after the Germans had withdrawn. On 2–4 May, the fleet made another demonstration off Horns Reef to keep German attention focused on the North Sea.[34]

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

The German High Seas Fleet, composed of sixteen dreadnoughts, six pre-dreadnoughts and supporting ships, departed the Jade Bight early on the morning of 31 May in an attempt to lure out and destroy a portion of the Grand Fleet. The High Seas Fleet sailed in concert with Rear Admiral Franz von Hipper's five 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.[35]

On 31 May, Neptune, under the command of Captain Vivian Bernard, was assigned to the 5th Division of the 1st BS and was the nineteenth ship from the head of the battle line after deployment.[22] During the first stage of the general engagement, the ship fired two salvos from her main guns at a barely visible battleship at 18:40.[Note 3] Around the time that the High Seas Fleet was reversing course beginning at 18:55 to re-engage the Grand Fleet, Neptune fired one salvo at the crippled light cruiser SMS Wiesbaden with unknown effect. After the turn the ships of the 1st BS were the closest ones to the Germans and, at approximately 19:10, she fired four salvos at the battlecruiser SMS Derfflinger, claiming two hits, although neither can be confirmed. Shortly afterwards, the ship fired her main and secondary guns at enemy destroyers without result and then had to turn away to dodge three torpedoes. This was the last time Neptune fired her guns during the battle. She expended a total of 48 twelve-inch shells (21 high explosive and 27 common pointed, capped) and 48 shells from her four-inch guns during the battle.[36]

After the battle, the ship was transferred to the 4th Battle Squadron.[22] 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.[37]

On 22 April 1918, the High Seas Fleet sailed north for the last time in an unsuccessful attempt to intercept a convoy to Norway, and had to turn back two days later after the battlecruiser SMS Moltke suffered engine damage. The Grand Fleet sortied from Rosyth on the 24th when the operation was discovered, but was unable to catch the Germans.[38] Neptune was present at Rosyth when the German fleet surrendered on 21 November and was reduced to reserve there on 1 February 1919 as she was thoroughly obsolete in comparison to the latest dreadnoughts. The ship was listed for disposal in March 1921 and was sold for scrap to Hughes Bolckow in September 1922. She was towed to Blyth, Northumberland on 22 September to begin demolition.[22]