HMS Queen Mary

Career
Ordered:	1910 Naval Programme
Laid down:	6 March 1911
Launched:	20 March 1912
Commissioned:	September 1913 (completed in August 1913)
Fate:	Exploded and sunk at Jutland on 31 May 1916
General characteristics
Displacement:	26,770 tons normal/31,650 tons full load
Length:	703.5 ft (214 m)
Beam:	89 ft (27.1 m)
Draught:	28 ft (8.5 m)
Propulsion:	42 Yarrow boilers Parsons steam turbines 4 shafts, 75,000 shp (56 MW)
Speed:	27.5 knot (51 km/h)
Range:	5,610 nautical miles (10,390 km) at 10 knots (19 km/h)
Complement:	997 to 1,275
Armament:	8 x 13.5 in (343 mm) (4x2) 16 x 4 in (102 mm) (16x1) 1 x 3 in/20 AA 1 x 6 pdr Hotchkiss 2 x 21 in (533 mm) submerged torpedo tubes

HMS Queen Mary was a battlecruiser of the British Royal Navy. She was similar to the Lion class, though she differed in details from her half-sisters. Upon commissioning, she joined the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron. On 28 August 1914, she took part in the 1st Battle of Heligoland Bight. She was under refit at the time of the Dogger Bank battle, so she did not take part in that engagement. After completing her refit, she re-joined the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron.

Queen Mary explodes during the Battle of Jutland

She was under the command of Captain Cecil I. Prowse at the Battle of Jutland on 31 May 1916. Due to her more modern rangefinders, her gunnery was more accurate than the rest of the Royal Navy battlecruisers, and she was firing full broadsides. She had fired about 150 13.5 in shells, putting one of Derfflinger's turrets out of commission, then she switched fire and focussed 4 hits on the SMS Seydlitz. The mighty Seydlitz hit back, first striking Queen Mary above the right gun on 'Q' turret; this gun was out of action, but the left gun kept firing. Shortly after, more 30.5 cm (12 inch) shells hit her forward near 'A' and 'B' turrets, and another hit 'Q' turret. The forward magazine exploded, the ship listed to port, and more explosions followed as the ship was sinking. The battlecruiser behind her, Tiger, was showered with hot debris from the explosion. All but nine of her 1,266 crew were lost (two of the survivors were picked up by German ships). Moritz von Egidy, captain of the Seydlitz, wrote:

Soon the British light cruisers came in view, and behind them dense clouds of smoke. Then tripod masts and huge hulls loomed over the horizon. There they were again, our friends from Dogger Bank. At 1545 hours we opened fire. After a short time, HMS Indefatigable exploded, followed 20 minutes later by HMS Queen Mary, our target as Tactical Number Three. The spectacle was overwhelming, there was a moment of complete silence, then the calm voice of a gunnery observer announced "Queen Mary blowing up", at once followed by the order "Shift target to the right" given by the gunnery officer in the same matter-of-fact tone as at normal gunnery practice. ^[1]

She should not be confused with the ocean liner RMS Queen Mary, though both were named after Mary of Teck. Her wreck was discovered in 1991 and rests partly upside-down, on sand, 60 meters down. Much equipment is scattered about the wreck. Queen Mary is a Protected War Grave.

References

• Robert Gardiner, ed., Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921 (Conway Maritime Press, London, 1985)
• John Roberts, Battlecruiser, (Chatham Publishing, London, 1997), ISBN 1-86176-006-X, ISBN 1-55750-068-1

External links

• Maritimequest HMS Queen Mary Photo Gallery. Includes striking photo of her explosion at Jutland.
• High precision 3D model at Dreadnought Project Model page
• Information page at worldwar1.co.uk