King George V Class Battleship (1911)
Fire Control
Rangefinders
Evershed Bearing Indicators
All 4 units were likely fitted with this equipment before late 1914[1].
The transmitting positions were
- Conning Tower (transmitters to port and starboard with C.O.S. to select one in use)
- Gunnery control tower
- 'B' turret
- 'X' turret
The protocols for handling wooding of the turrets is outlined in the Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914[2].
Gunnery Control
The control arrangements were as follows[3].
Control Positions
- Gunnery control tower
- 'B' turret
- 'X' turret
Some ships had C.O.S.s within the control positions so they could be connected to either TS[4].
Control Groups
The five 13.5-in turrets were each a separate group with a local C.O.S.[Inference] so that it could be connected to
- Forward TS
- After TS
- Local control from officer's position within turret
Directors
Main Battery
The ships were fitted with a cam-type tripod-type director in a light aloft tower on the foremast along with a directing gun in 'X' turret[5].
The main battery could be divided into forward ('A', 'B' & 'Q') and aft ('X' & 'Y') groups for split director control[6].
A C.O.S. in the TS afforded these options[7]:
- all turrets on aloft tower
- all turrets on directing gun
- forward group on aloft tower, aft group on directing gun
Secondary Battery
The 4-in guns never had directors installed[8].
Torpedo Control
Transmitting Stations
These ships discarded the second TS found in earlier dreadnoughts and relied on a single TS[9].
Dreyer Table
King George V had a Mark III Dreyer table while the other three units received Mark II Dreyer tables[10][11]. As of June 1918, they had not been provided Dreyer Turret Control Tables[12].
Shipwide Network
Continuing the pattern established in the Colossus class, all 4 units used Vickers F.T.P. Mark III range and deflection instruments to the gun sights and Barr and Stroud (probably Mark II*[Inference]) instruments for other purposes[13].
See Also
Footnotes
- ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914, p. 36.
- ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914, p. 38.
- ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914, p. 7.
- ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914, p. 7.
- ↑ The Director Firing Handbook, 1917. pp. 88, 142.
- ↑ The Director Firing Handbook, 1917, p. 88.
- ↑ The Director Firing Handbook, 1917. p. 88.
- ↑ absent from list in The Director Firing Handbook, 1917. pp. 143.
- ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914, pp. 6-7.
- ↑ Handbook of Capt. F.C. Dreyer's Fire Control Tables, p. 3.
- ↑ Brooks, John. Dreadnought Gunnery and the Battle of Jutland, p. 166.
- ↑ absent from list in Handbook of Capt. F.C. Dreyer's Fire Control Tables, p. 3.
- ↑ Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914, pp. 72.
Bibliography
Admiralty, Gunnery Branch (1914). Handbook for Fire Control Instruments, 1914. G. 01627/14. C.B. 1030. Copy 1235 at The National Archives. ADM 186/191. Template:BibBrooksDreadnoughtGunnery Template:BibUKDirectorFiringHandbook1917 Template:BibUKDreyerTableHandbook1918