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The First World War Monitors were shallow draft ships carrying one or two large guns. They were designed for coastal bombardment duties, especially off the coast of Belgium, where battleships could not easily reach. The eight classes of monitors used by the British during the First World War came from a variety of sources – the Humber class ships had been built as river monitors for Brazil, the Gorgon class as coastal battleships for the Norwegians. Their guns also came from a variety of sources – some were spare at the beginning of the war, others were removed from older battleships or modified cruisers while the 14in guns carried by the Abercrombie class monitors had been donated by Charles M. Schwab, the President of Bethlehem Steel, an American company.
The shallow draft and low speed of the monitors made them very poor deep sea sailors, but despite this they saw service in some unexpected places. They made their most important contributions off the coast of Belgium, but they also took part in the bombardment of the Dardanelles and even reached German East Africa, taking part in the operations against the German cruiser Königsberg, in the shallow Rufiji River. This type of monitor was very much a product of the First World War. Only two more were built for the Royal Navy after the war, the two ships of the Roberts class of 1941-1943.
Name |
Size (loaded) |
Speed |
Biggest guns |
Built |
Ships |
1,520 |
9.5kts |
2x6in, 2x4.7in |
1913-1914 |
3 |
|
6,150t |
10kts |
2x14in |
1914-1915 |
4 |
|
6,150t |
6.5kts |
2x12in |
1915 |
8 |
|
6,900t |
6kts |
2x15in |
1915 |
2 |
|
5,746t |
12kts |
2x9.2in |
1914-1918 |
2 |
|
M 15 |
650t |
11kts |
1x9.2in |
1915 |
14 |
M 29 |
580t |
9kts |
2x6in |
1915 |
5 |
Erebus |
8,450t |
12kts |
2x15in |
1916 |
2 |