Editing Template:HMS Roberts (1915)

{{other ships|HMS Roberts}}
{{EngvarB|date=February 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2017}}
{{more footnotes needed |date=July 2012}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin |infobox caption=nodab}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image= File:HMS Roberts NARA-45513189.jpg
|Ship caption= HMS ''Roberts'' c.1918
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=United Kingdom
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}}
|Ship namesake=[[Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts|Lord Roberts]]
|Ship operator={{navy|United Kingdom}}
|Ship ordered=21 November 1914
|Ship awarded=
|Ship builder=[[Swan Hunter]], [[Wallsend]]
|Ship laid down=17 December 1914
|Ship launched=15 April 1915
|Ship commissioned=21 May 1915
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=26 May 1919
|Ship homeport=
|Ship motto=
|Ship nickname=
|Ship honours=[[Naval operations in the Dardanelles Campaign|Dardanelles 1915]]
|Ship captured=
|Ship fate=Sold September 1936
|Ship notes=
|Ship badge=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class={{sclass|Abercrombie|monitor||warship}}
|Ship displacement={{convert|6150|LT|t}}
|Ship length= * {{convert|334.5|ft|m|abbr=on}} [[Length overall|oa]]
* {{convert|320|ft|m|abbr=on}} [[Length between perpendiculars|pp]]
|Ship beam= {{convert|90|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship height=
|Ship draught={{convert|10.2|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=2 shaft triple expansion reciprocating steam
|Ship speed={{convert|6|kn}}
|Ship range={{convert|1340|nmi|abbr=on}} at 6 knots
|Ship endurance=
|Ship boats=
|Ship complement=198
|Ship armament=*'''(as built)''':
*2 × [[14"/45 caliber gun#United Kingdom service|{{convert|14|in|adj=on|0}}/45 caliber guns]]
*2 × [[12-pounder gun|12-pounder (3-inch) guns]]
*1 × [[Ordnance QF 3-pounder Vickers|3-pounder]] [[anti-aircraft]] gun
*1 × [[QF 2-pounder naval gun|2-pounder]] AA gun
*'''(1918)''':
*2 × {{convert|14|in|adj=on|0}}/45 caliber guns
*1 × [[BL 6 inch Mk XII naval gun|BL {{convert|6|in|adj=on|0}} Mk XII guns]]
*2 × 12-pounder AA guns
*1 × 3-in AA gun
*1 × 3-pounder AA gun
*2 × 2-pounder AA gun
|Ship armour=*Belt {{convert|4|in|mm|abbr=on}}
*Bulkheads 4 in
*Barbette {{convert|8|in|mm|abbr=on}}
*Turret {{convert|10|in|mm|abbr=on}}
*Deck {{convert|2|in|mm|abbr=on}} - {{convert|1|in|mm|abbr=on}}
|Ship aircraft=
|Ship aircraft facilities=Fitted to carry a seaplane
|Ship notes=
}}
|}

'''HMS ''Roberts''''' was an {{sclass|Abercrombie|monitor|0}} [[Monitor (ship)|monitor]] of the [[Royal Navy]] that served in the [[World War I|First World War]].

==Background==
On 3 November 1914, [[Charles M. Schwab]] of [[Bethlehem Steel]] offered [[Winston Churchill]], then [[First Lord of the Admiralty]], the use of four [[14"/45 caliber gun|{{convert|14|in|abbr=on|0}}/45cal BL MK II]] twin gun turrets, originally destined for the [[Greece|Greek]] ship {{ship|Greek battleship|Salamis||2}}.  These turrets could not be delivered to the German builders, due to the British naval blockade.  The [[Royal Navy]] immediately created a class of monitors, designed for shore bombardment, to use the turrets.

''Roberts'' was laid down at the [[Swan Hunter]],  Ltd shipyard at [[Wallsend]] on 17 December 1914.  The ship was named ''Stonewall Jackson'' in honour of the [[Confederate States of America|CSA]] General [[Stonewall Jackson|Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson]], however as the [[United States]] was still neutral, the ship was hurriedly renamed HMS ''M4'' on 31 May 1915.  She was then named HMS ''Earl Roberts'' on 19 June 1915 and again renamed HMS ''Roberts'' on 22 June 1915

==Service history==
''Roberts'' sailed for the [[Naval operations in the Dardanelles Campaign|Dardanelles]] in June 1915.  She remained in the Eastern Mediterranean until returning to England in February 1916.  She served as a guard ship at [[Great Yarmouth|Yarmouth]] until the end of the War. She decommissioned in May 1919, and was initially sold for breaking up in May 1921, but was retained by the Admiralty for trials.

Around 1925 she was considered for conversion to a mobile [[airship]] base with a [[mooring mast]] and fueling capabilities, but nothing came of this proposal.<ref>{{cite book|last=Buxton|first=Ian|title=Big Gun Monitors: Design, Construction and Operations, 1914 - 1945|edition=2|publisher=Seaforth Publishing, Pen and Sword Books Ltd, Sth Yorkshire S70 2AS, Great Britain |year=2008|page=43|isbn=978-1-59114-045-0}}</ref>  In the 1930s, she was used for testing underwater protection for new construction warships.  She was finally sold in September 1936 to the Ward shipyard at [[City of Preston, Lancashire|Preston]] for breaking up.

==In command==
*Captain [[Herbert Neville Garnett|H.N. Garnett]], (May 1915–?)
*Commander [[Wilfred Arthur Thompson|W.A. Thompson]], (?)
*Commander [[Kenneth Dewar]], (August 1916 – 1917)
*Commander [[Bolton Eyres-Monsell, 1st Viscount Monsell|B.M. Eyres-Monsell]], (September 1918–?)
*Lieutenant-Commander [[E.J.J. Southby]], (January 1919{{spaced ndash}}May 1919)

==Citations==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* Dittmar, F. J. & Colledge, J. J., "British Warships 1914-1919", (Ian Allan, London, 1972), {{ISBN|0-7110-0380-7}}
* Gray, Randal (ed), "Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921", (Conway Maritime Press, London, 1985), {{ISBN|0-85177-245-5}}

== External links ==
* {{Commons category-inline|HMS Roberts (ship, 1915)}}
* [http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Ships/HMSRoberts.html Writeup at Roll of Honour]

{{Abercrombie class monitor}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts (1915)}}
[[Category:Abercrombie-class monitors]]
[[Category:Ships built on the River Tyne]]
[[Category:1915 ships]]
[[Category:World War I monitors of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Ships built by Swan Hunter]]