HMS Jupiter

HMS Jupiter was a Majestic class pre-dreadnought battleship that served as a guard ship on the east coast during 1914 before brief spells in Russia, the East Indies and Egypt. At the start of the First World War she was in dockyard hands. It had been intended to concentrate the entire Majestic class in the 7th Battle Squadron, but at the outbreak of war that plan was altered, and four of the class were posted to the Humber. HMS Jupiter would not reach the Humber until November 1914 (she was present at the Nore during the German raid on Yarmouth), by which time the Hannibal and Magnificent had moved on to Scapa Flow.

Plans of
Majestic Class Battleships

She remained on the Humber, under Admiral Ballard, Admiral of Patrols, until February 1915. On 5 February 1915 she was dispatched to Archangel. With the Dardanelles closed to allied shipping and the Baltic dominated by the Germans, Archangel was the only Russian port that could be used to send supplies to the hard pressed Russians, but in the winter Archangel is cut off by ice. HMS Jupiter was despatched to act as an icebreaker, a role she excelled at. When she reached Archangel later in February she gained the record as the earliest ship to arrive in any year. After her time in Russia, the Jupiter served in the East Indies and Egypt, ending the war back at Devonport acting as an accommodation ship.

British Battleships 1889-1904 New Revised Edition, R A Burt. Magnificent study of the Royal Navy's pre-dreadnought battleships, amongst the most powerful ships in the world when built, but seen as obsolete by the outbreak of war in 1914. Traces the development of the 'classic' pre-dreadnought design and the slow increase in the power of the secondary armament, leading up to the all-big gun ships that followed. [read full review]

Books on the First World War | Subject Index: First World War

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