As the first three battlecruisers neared
completion, a second trio was planned. In
order to produce the ships as quickly as
possible, and to bring down the costs and
make them more palatable to Parliament, they
were to be a slightly modified version of
the preceding class. Parliament agreed to
one more ship in the 1908 Estimates, while
Australia and New Zealand each ordered another.
The extent of New Zealand's involvement was
to pay for the vessel under the Commonwealth
Defense Program, while Australia also paid
for the running costs of the third vessel.
This vessel thus came under control of that
Dominion nation, and carried the designation
of HMAS, though the Royal Navy had the right
to withdraw the vessel from the Pacific if
such a move did not endanger the defense
of Australia in any way.
The economy of the program was provided by
repeating the hull of the Invincible, with
an identical armor scheme, and simply stretching
it by 25 feet to allow for better arcs of
fire for the amidships turrets. While these
ships ended up being the least expensive
capital ships ever built, and were thus considered
to be an excellent return on the investment,
the error of repeating the Invincible design
was inexcusable. The high freeboard and overly-large
fuel capacity consumed too much tonnage,
while the level of protection was completely
inadequate.
In 1908 it became known that German was also
building battlecruisers, so a British battlecruiser
would no longer just be facing enemy cruisers.
Protection against 11 and 12-inch guns was
clearly called for, and the original battlecruiser
concept of a "cruiser killer" was
already obsolete. But like the Invincible
Class before them, Fisher sold the program
to the public and Parliament by overstating
the ship's level of protection. Everyone
not "in the know" thought that
the Indefatigable Class ships were the equivalent
to the German Von der Tann, when in reality
the German ship carried 4 more inches of
belt armor and 2 inches more of deck armor.
Indefatigable blew up at Jutland, while the
other two vessels served until being discarded
under the Washington Treaty.
| Laid down Indefatigable: 23 Feb 1909 New Zealand: 20 Jun 1910 Australia: 23 Jun 1910 |
Launched Indefatigable: 28 Oct 1911 New Zealand: 1 Jul 1911 Australia: 25 Oct 1911 |
Completed Indefatigable: Feb 1911 New Zealand: Nov 1912 Australia: Jun 1913 |
Commissioned Indefatigable: 24 Feb 1911 New Zealand: 9 Nov 1912 Australia: 21 Jun 1913 |
| Fate Indefatigable: Sunk battle of Jutland New Zealand: Sold Dec 1922 Australia: Scuttled 1923 |
Builders Indefatigable: Devonport DY New Zealand: Fairfield Australia:John Brown |
Complement 900 |
|
| Displacement 18150 tons stanard, 22150 tons max |
Dimensions 590' x 80' |
Draught 30' |
|
| Main guns 8 x 12" (4 x 2) |
Secondary guns As built: 16 x 4" (16 x 1) 1916: 14 x 4" (14 x 1) |
Light Weapons 4 x 3pdr |
Torpedo tubes As built: 3 x 18" 1916: 2 x 18" |
| Armour Belt: 2" - 6" Turrets: 4" - 7" Deck: 1" - 2.5" C.T.: 10" |
|||
| Machinery 31 x Babcock & Wilcox boilers 4 x Parsons steam turbines Power output 47135shp Shafts 4 |
|||
| Speed 26kts |
Range 6330NM @ 10kts 2290NM @ 23kts |
Fuel 3170 tons coal |
|
HMS Indefatigable:
Dec 1913 Transfered to Med to counter German
Goeben
Aug 1914 hunt for Goeben
3 Nov 1914 Bombarded Cape Helles
Jan 1915 Refit at Malta
Feb 1915 Joined Grand Fleet
31 May 1916 Battle of Jutland, blew up under
fire from German Von der Tann, 1,017 killed
Wreck extensively salvaged in secret during
the 1950s, possibly by a German company
Today no part of the wreck larger than 15
feet long remains.
HMS New Zealand:
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HMAS Australia:
Follow this link for history
