alternatehistory.com
Hoods thoughts
0316, North Sea, 22 June 1916
Sleep would not come for Rear Admiral Horace Hood. He had a number of concerns over the practices and composition of Beatty's battlecruiser force, some over the Grand Fleet as a whole. In particular, for the battlecruiser force, a lack of opportunity to practice gunnery, with no ranges available near their main base, Rosyth. For that reason alone, he had taken every opportunity available to avail his own command of such opportunities and his own ships had only returned to Rosyth from Scapa Flow after such practice of the 14th.
His own three ships of the Invincible Class were the weakest in Beatty's force. They mounted the same 8 12inch Mark X guns as their near sisters of the Indefatigable Class, however, the amidships turrets of the Invincible Class ships were positioned too close together in the interests of saving weight and therefore speed and this did not allow them to fire across the deck, reducing the broadside to six guns only. The Invincible Class ships were poorly protected by a waterline belt of only 6 inches, itself only running from the rear X turret to just forward of A turret. Past A turret the belt decreased to only 4 inches. The main battery guns and their supporting barbettes carried only 7 inches and very little of her overall armour was below the waterline. It was quite apparent to Hood that his three ships were delicate beasts.
Nor was that the only concern. RN cordite charges were stored in pairs in metal container in the magazines. The igniters in the charges were protected by a thick paper cover that was removed prior to loading. Hood had seen the crews regularly remove the paper caps in the magazines as opposed to waiting until loading, which was all to often to lead to a trail of propellant all the way from the gun turret to the magazine, a far from ideal practice and he had used his time at Scapa to strictly forbid such a practice one he had become aware of it. It had not, however, spread to the rest of Beatty's command. The Battle of Dogger Bank and it's attendant disappointments had been blamed on the slow rate of fire, yet Hood was more of the opinion that lack of gunnery and signals practice was more to blame. Hood had also made closure of the magazine door except when ammunition was being passed through mandatory. This was not enforced in other ships, again due to a manna for more speed of loading. Ammunition stockpiling outside the magazines was another dangerous practice that had become common, despite the almost loss of the cruiser Kent at Falkland Islands in 1914. It was officially banned by the Admiralty, but widely condoned, especially by Beatty.
Hood was unaware of other lurking problems, firstly, the very nature of the RN propellant charges themselves. They degraded much faster than those of the High Seas Fleet and were therefore much more likely to explode spontaneously. Changes later in the war were to ameliorate these problems, but never completely solve them. Secondly, the quality of heavy shells was not all it should have been. Tests conducted as early as April 1914 showed that there were serious problems with RN armour piercing shells. This showed that the shells could not reliably penetrate heavy armour, even head on at closer ranges. At long ranges where the angle was 30 degrees or more many AP shells disintegrated on even 6 inches of armour. Yet nothing was done with these findings until much later. It was not until later in the war the new "greenboy" shells removed the defective lyddite bursters and shellite was added instead.
No, there were issues to be sure, but one thing the RN had on it's side, Hood was sure, was tradition, training and the will to win. Losing was unthinkable. He had trained his own squadron to what he felt was now it's peak. In any case, weight of metal was always a decisive factor. There was a reason the big battalions always won. Beatty's force would consist of ten ships. If the High Seas Fleet's scouting force was to be encountered, they would have only half that number of ships. This time, unlike Dogger Bank, they would not escape.
Sleep would not come for Rear Admiral Horace Hood. He had a number of concerns over the practices and composition of Beatty's battlecruiser force, some over the Grand Fleet as a whole. In particular, for the battlecruiser force, a lack of opportunity to practice gunnery, with no ranges available near their main base, Rosyth. For that reason alone, he had taken every opportunity available to avail his own command of such opportunities and his own ships had only returned to Rosyth from Scapa Flow after such practice of the 14th.
His own three ships of the Invincible Class were the weakest in Beatty's force. They mounted the same 8 12inch Mark X guns as their near sisters of the Indefatigable Class, however, the amidships turrets of the Invincible Class ships were positioned too close together in the interests of saving weight and therefore speed and this did not allow them to fire across the deck, reducing the broadside to six guns only. The Invincible Class ships were poorly protected by a waterline belt of only 6 inches, itself only running from the rear X turret to just forward of A turret. Past A turret the belt decreased to only 4 inches. The main battery guns and their supporting barbettes carried only 7 inches and very little of her overall armour was below the waterline. It was quite apparent to Hood that his three ships were delicate beasts.
Nor was that the only concern. RN cordite charges were stored in pairs in metal container in the magazines. The igniters in the charges were protected by a thick paper cover that was removed prior to loading. Hood had seen the crews regularly remove the paper caps in the magazines as opposed to waiting until loading, which was all to often to lead to a trail of propellant all the way from the gun turret to the magazine, a far from ideal practice and he had used his time at Scapa to strictly forbid such a practice one he had become aware of it. It had not, however, spread to the rest of Beatty's command. The Battle of Dogger Bank and it's attendant disappointments had been blamed on the slow rate of fire, yet Hood was more of the opinion that lack of gunnery and signals practice was more to blame. Hood had also made closure of the magazine door except when ammunition was being passed through mandatory. This was not enforced in other ships, again due to a manna for more speed of loading. Ammunition stockpiling outside the magazines was another dangerous practice that had become common, despite the almost loss of the cruiser Kent at Falkland Islands in 1914. It was officially banned by the Admiralty, but widely condoned, especially by Beatty.
Hood was unaware of other lurking problems, firstly, the very nature of the RN propellant charges themselves. They degraded much faster than those of the High Seas Fleet and were therefore much more likely to explode spontaneously. Changes later in the war were to ameliorate these problems, but never completely solve them. Secondly, the quality of heavy shells was not all it should have been. Tests conducted as early as April 1914 showed that there were serious problems with RN armour piercing shells. This showed that the shells could not reliably penetrate heavy armour, even head on at closer ranges. At long ranges where the angle was 30 degrees or more many AP shells disintegrated on even 6 inches of armour. Yet nothing was done with these findings until much later. It was not until later in the war the new "greenboy" shells removed the defective lyddite bursters and shellite was added instead.
No, there were issues to be sure, but one thing the RN had on it's side, Hood was sure, was tradition, training and the will to win. Losing was unthinkable. He had trained his own squadron to what he felt was now it's peak. In any case, weight of metal was always a decisive factor. There was a reason the big battalions always won. Beatty's force would consist of ten ships. If the High Seas Fleet's scouting force was to be encountered, they would have only half that number of ships. This time, unlike Dogger Bank, they would not escape.
- johnboy
- Word Count: 720