HMS Powerful (1895): Difference between revisions

{{Use dmy dates|date=FebruaryAugust 20112020}}

''Powerful'' was [[laid down]] by [[Vickers Limited]] in their [[Barrow-in-Furness]] [[shipyard]] on 10 March 1894<ref>Friedman, p. 343</ref> and [[Ceremonial ship launching|launched]] on 24 July 1895 by the [[Louisa Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire]].<ref>Bronze medallion showing on the obverse a ship and the words 'H.M.S. "POWERFUL"'. The reverse bears the words 'H.M.S. POWERFUL LENGTH 500 FEET 2500 HORSE POWER LAUNCHED BY HER GRACE THE DUCHESS OF DEVONSHIRE AT BARROW IN FURNESS 24TH JULY 1895 THIS MEDAL IS MADE OF BRONZE FROM H.M.S. POWERFUL'. Medallion held by the Australian War Memorial - image reference ID Number: REL/09940</ref> The ship was [[Ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 8 June 1897 with [[Captain (Royal Navy)|Captain]] the Hon. [[Hedworth Meux|Hedworth Lambton]] in command, for service on the China Station. Her departure was delayed so that she could participate in the [[Fleet review (Commonwealth realms)#Queen Victoria|fleet review]] commemorating [[Queen Victoria#Diamond Jubilee|Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee]] on 26 June and the annual fleet manoeuvres in July. During a full-power run between [[Weihaiwei under British rule|Wei Hai Wai]], [[China]], and [[Yokohama]], [[Japan]], in late July 1898, her [[Stoker (occupation)|stokers]] [[mutiny|mutinied]], but she then visited [[Lüshunkou District|Port Arthur]] without incident.<ref>Burt, p. 12</ref>

Ordered home in 1899, ''Powerful'' was diverted from the shorter route through the [[Suez Canal]] to round the southern tip of Africa in light of rising tensions between the British and the [[Boers]] in [[South Africa]]. The ship departed [[Hong Kong]], China, on 17 September and arrived at [[Naval Base Simon's Town|Simonstown]] on 13 October, two days after the [[Second Boer War]] began; Lambton having picked up a half-[[battalion]] of the [[King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry]] from the island of [[Mauritius]] on his own initiative. Her [[sister ship]], {{HMS|Terrible|1895|2}}, commanded by Captain [[Percy Scott]], arrived the following day and Scott improvised [[Gun carriage|field carriages]] for a pair of 4.7-inch (120&nbsp;mm) and a pair of ''Terrible''{{'}}s 12-pounder guns. After a request from [[Lieutenant General]] [[George White (British Army officer)|George White]], commander of the [[Siege of Ladysmith|besieged forces at Ladysmith]] for more long-range artillery, ''Powerful'' ferried all four guns to [[Durban]], reaching it on 29 November. Lambton acquired another pair of 12-pounders and led a [[naval brigade]] that reached Ladysmith on the last two trains to make it through. After the [[Relief of Ladysmith]] at the end of February, the brigade departed the town on 7 March and arrived at Simontown on the 12th. ''Powerful'' left Simonstown three days later and arrived at [[Portsmouth]] on 11 April.<ref>Burt, pp. 12–13</ref>

The naval brigade paraded for Queen Victoria at [[Windsor Castle]] on 2 May. The RN [[field gun competition]] commemorates the participation of ''Terrible'' and ''Powerful'' in the relief of Ladysmith.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.royalnavalmuseum.org/info_sheets_gun_run.htm | title = The Field Gun Run | work = Naval Traditions | publisher = Royal Naval Museum Library | year = 2000 | accessdate = 16 August 2018}}</ref> In 1921 a new Primary School in Ladysmith was named after [[Lieutenant]] Frederick Greville Egerton, a gunnery officer from ''Powerful'' who was killed at Ladysmith.<ref>{{cite web|last=McKenzie|first=R|title=History of School|url=http://pages.egerton.co.za/home/history-of-school|publisher=Egerton Primary School|accessdate=4 February 2011|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110823235524/http://pages.egerton.co.za/home/history-of-school|archivedate=23 August 2011|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Crowe|first=George|title=The commission of H.M.S. "Terrible," 1898-19021898–1902|year=1903|publisher=G Newnes|location=London|pages=199|url=https://archive.org/stream/commissionhmste00crowgoog#page/n272/mode/2up|accessdate=16 August 2018}}</ref>

as [[flag captain]] to [[Wilmot Fawkes|Sir Wilmot Fawkes]] as [[Commander-in-Chief]] [[Australia Station]]. At the time ''Powerful'' was commissioning as flagship on the Australia Station.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.navyhistory.org.au/admiral-sir-lionel-halsey-gcmg-gcvo-kcie-cb-dljp-1872-1949/|title = Admiral Sir Lionel Halsey, GCMG, GCVO, KCIE, CB, DLJP 1872-19491872–1949 | last = Grazebrook |first = Lieutenant Commander A. W. | publisher = Naval Historical Society of Australia | accessdate = 19 March 2008}}</ref> Halsey remained in that post until 1908.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.kcl.ac.uk/lhcma/locreg/HALSEY.shtml |title = HALSEY, Sir Lionel (1872-19491872–1949), Admiral |publisher = Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives |accessdate = 19 March 2008}}</ref>

At the beginning of December 1905, ''Powerful'' was at [[Fremantle, Western Australia|Fremantle]] in [[Western Australia]].<ref>{{cite web | url = http://innopac.slwa.wa.gov.au/record=b1770389 | title = HMS Powerful at Fremantle, 1&nbsp;December 1905 [picture] | publisher = State Library of Western Australia | accessdate = 19 March 2008}}</ref> On 10 October 1907 the ship took aboard a new crew in [[Colombo]], [[Ceylon]].<ref name=b13/> On 3 February 1908 the first [[trans-Tasman]] [[radio transmission]] was made via ''Powerful'' which was in the [[Tasman Sea]].<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.caslon.com.au/austelecomsprofile1.htm | title = Australasian telecommunications: beginnings | publisher = Caslon Analytics | year = 2005 | accessdate = 18 March 2008 | url-status = dead | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20080327003112/http://www.caslon.com.au/austelecomsprofile1.htm | archivedate = 27 March 2008 | df = dmy-all }}</ref> A ''[[Sydney Morning Herald]]'' journalist, [[Charles Bean]], joined the ship in August 1908 as a special correspondent to report the visit of sixteen American warships —– the [[Great White Fleet]]. Bean wrote a book, ''With the Flagship in the South'' (London, 1909), based on his reports and had it published at his own expense.<ref>{{Australian Dictionary of Biography |last= Inglis |first= K.S. |authorlink= Ken Inglis |year= 1979 |id= A070225b |title= Bean, Charles Edwin Woodrow (1879 - 19681879–1968) |accessdate= 19 March 2008}}</ref> ''Powerful'' took aboard a new crew in Colombo on 12 January 1910. In 1911 ''Powerful'' visited [[Auckland]], [[New Zealand]] to inspect the facilities and Captain [[Edward Bruen]] recommended the setting up of a naval stores facility.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.rnzncomms.net.nz/navy/documents/history/navalrepairfacilities.html | title = DEVELOPMENT OF NAVAL REPAIR FACILITIES AT AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND 1841-19621841–1962 From a Lecture by J.A. Bell, AMRINA Deputy Constructive Manager HMNZ Dockyard Devonport | last = Bell | first = J. A. | year = 1962 | accessdate = 19 March 2008 | publisher = RNZN Communicators' Association | url-status = dead | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20070927201129/http://www.rnzncomms.net.nz/navy/documents/history/navalrepairfacilities.html | archivedate = 27 September 2007 | df = dmy-all }}</ref>

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