The ''Erebus'' class of warships was a

class Class, Classes, or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used d ...

of 20th century

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

monitor Monitor or monitor may refer to: Places * Monitor, Alberta * Monitor, Indiana, town in the United States * Monitor, Kentucky * Monitor, Oregon, unincorporated community in the United States * Monitor, Washington * Monitor, Logan County, Wes ...

s armed with a main battery of two 15-inch /42 Mk 1 guns in a single turret. It consisted of two vessels, '' ''Erebus'''' and '' ''Terror'''', named after the two ships lost in the

Franklin Expedition Franklin's lost expedition was a failed British voyage of Arctic exploration led by Captain (Royal Navy), Captain Sir John Franklin that departed England in 1845 aboard two ships, and , and was assigned to traverse the last unnavigated sec ...

. Both were launched in 1916 and saw active service in World War I off the Belgian coast. After being placed in reserve between the wars, they served in World War II, with ''Terror'' being lost in 1941 and ''Erebus'' surviving to be scrapped in 1946.

Ships

* ''Erebus'' was built by

Harland & Wolff Harland & Wolff Holdings plc is a British shipbuilding and Metal fabrication, fabrication company headquartered in London with sites in Belfast, Arnish yard, Arnish, Appledore, Torridge, Appledore and Methil. It specialises in ship repair, ship ...

, Govan. She was laid down on 12 October 1915, launched on 19 June 1916 and commissioned in September 1916. After seeing service in both World Wars, ''Erebus'' was scrapped in 1946. * ''Terror'' was built by

, Belfast. She was laid down on 26 October 1915, launched on 18 May 1916 and commissioned in August 1916. She saw extensive service in both World Wars. In the Second World War ''Terror'' served in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

in support of the North Africa campaign. She sunk in Benghazi harbour on 23 February 1941, after being damaged by

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

Junkers Ju 88 The Junkers Ju 88 is a twin-engined multirole combat aircraft designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Junkers Aircraft and Motor Works. It was used extensively during the Second World War by the ''Luftwaffe'' and became one o ...

bomber while operating as anti-aircraft defence.

Service

The class was to see most of its service for shore bombardment (

naval gunfire support Naval gunfire support (NGFS), also known as naval surface fire support (NSFS), or shore bombardment, is the use of naval artillery to provide fire support for amphibious assault and other troops operating within their range. NGFS is one of seve ...

, "NGS") role. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, they operated off the German-occupied Belgian coast bombarding naval forces based at

Ostend Ostend ( ; ; ; ) is a coastal city and municipality in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerke, Raversijde, Stene and Zandvoorde, and the city of Ostend proper – the la ...

and

Zeebrugge Zeebrugge (; from , meaning "Bruges-on-Sea"; , ) is a village on the coast of Belgium and a subdivision of Bruges, for which it is the modern port. Zeebrugge serves as both the international port of Bruges-Zeebrugge and a seafront resort with ...

including the

Zeebrugge raid The Zeebrugge Raid (; ) on 23 April 1918, was an attempt by the Royal Navy to block the Belgium, Belgian port of Bruges-Zeebrugge. The British intended to sink obsolete ships in the canal entrance, to prevent German vessels from leaving port. ...

. ''Erebus'' was damaged by a remote controlled explosive motor boat and ''Terror'' was torpedoed by motor

torpedo boat A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of ...

s. Both ships were placed in reserve between the wars but returned to service in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, when they were again used to provide fire support to British troops. ''Erebus'' participated in the invasion of Normandy June 1944 as part of Task Force O off

Omaha beach Omaha Beach was one of five beach landing sectors of the amphibious assault component of Operation Overlord during the Second World War. On June 6, 1944, the Allies of World War II, Allies invaded German military administration in occupied Fra ...

In popular culture

Douglas Reeman's 1965 novel ''H.M.S. Saracen'' is a fictional account of the service of an ''Erebus'' class monitor in the Mediterranean Sea in both World Wars.

References

Bibliography

* &nbs
Vol. 1
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Vol. 2
* * *Dittmar, F. J. & Colledge, J. J., "British Warships 1914–1919", (Ian Allan, London, 1972), * * *Gray, Randal (ed), "Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921", (Conway Maritime Press, London, 1985), *

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Erebus Class Monitor Monitor classes Ship classes of the Royal Navy