HMS Irresistible (1898)
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HMS ''Irresistible''—the fourth British
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 ...
ship of the name—was a
pre-dreadnought Pre-dreadnought battleships were sea-going battleships built from the mid- to late- 1880s to the early 1900s. Their designs were conceived before the appearance of in 1906 and their classification as "pre-dreadnought" is retrospectively appl ...
battleship A battleship is a large, heavily naval armour, armored warship with a main battery consisting of large naval gun, guns, designed to serve as a capital ship. From their advent in the late 1880s, battleships were among the largest and most form ...
. The design of these ships were developments of earlier British battleships: they mounted more powerful 40-
calibre In guns, particularly firearms, but not artillery, where a different definition may apply, caliber (or calibre; sometimes abbreviated as "cal") is the specified nominal internal diameter of the gun barrel bore – regardless of how or wher ...
guns and featured heavier armour protection, all while maintaining the preceding ' top speed of . ''Irresistible'' was
laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one ...
in April 1898, was launched in December that year, and was completed in October 1901. Commissioned in 1902, she initially served with the
Mediterranean Fleet The British Mediterranean Fleet, also known as the Mediterranean Station, was a formation of the Royal Navy. The Fleet was one of the most prestigious commands in the navy for the majority of its history, defending the vital sea link between ...
until April 1908, when she was transferred to the
Channel Fleet The Channel Fleet and originally known as the Channel Squadron was the Royal Navy formation of warships that defended the waters of the English Channel from 1854 to 1909 and 1914 to 1915. History Throughout the course of Royal Navy's history th ...
. Now outclassed with the emergence of the
dreadnought The dreadnought was the predominant type of battleship in the early 20th century. The first of the kind, the Royal Navy's , had such an effect when launched in 1906 that similar battleships built after her were referred to as "dreadnoughts", ...
class of ships, she entered service with the
Home Fleet The Home Fleet was a fleet of the Royal Navy that operated from the United Kingdom's territorial waters from 1902 with intervals until 1967. In 1967, it was merged with the Mediterranean Fleet creating the new Western Fleet. Before the First ...
in 1911 following a refit. In 1912, she was assigned to the
5th Battle Squadron The 5th Battle Squadron was a squadron of the British Royal Navy consisting of battleships. The 5th Battle Squadron was initially part of the Royal Navy's Second Fleet. During the First World War, the Home Fleet was renamed the Grand Fleet. His ...
. Following the outbreak of the
First World War 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 ...
, ''Irresistible'', along with the squadron, was assigned to the Channel Fleet. After operations with the
Dover Patrol The Dover Patrol and later known as the Dover Patrol Force was a Royal Navy command of the First World War, notable for its involvement in the Zeebrugge Raid on 22 April 1918. The Dover Patrol formed a discrete unit of the Royal Navy based at Dov ...
, during which she bombarded German forces in northern France, she was assigned to the Dardanelles Campaign in February 1915. She took part in numerous unsuccessful attacks on the Ottoman forts guarding the Dardanelles in February and March. These operations included several raids by landing parties to destroy Ottoman
coastal artillery Coastal artillery is the branch of the armed forces concerned with operating anti-ship artillery or fixed gun batteries in coastal fortifications. From the Middle Ages until World War II, coastal artillery and naval artillery in the form of ...
batteries. On 18 March, she struck a
naval mine A naval mine is a self-contained explosive weapon placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Similar to anti-personnel mine, anti-personnel and other land mines, and unlike purpose launched naval depth charges, they are ...
that caused extensive flooding and disabled her engines. Without power, she began to drift into the range of Turkish guns, which laid down a withering fire. Attempts to tow her failed, so her surviving crew was evacuated and ''Irresistible'' was abandoned and eventually sank. Her crew suffered around 150 killed in the sinking.


Design

The design for the ''Formidable'' class was prepared in 1897; it was an incremental improvement over the preceding and es. ''Formidable'' adopted the larger size of the ''Majestic''s, while taking the stronger
Krupp armour Krupp armour was a type of steel naval armour used in the construction of capital ships starting shortly before the end of the nineteenth century. It was developed by Germany's Krupp Arms Works in 1893 and quickly replaced Harvey armour as th ...
of the ''Canopus'' design. In addition, the new design incorporated longer (and thus more powerful) main and secondary guns and an improved
hull Hull may refer to: Structures * The hull of an armored fighting vehicle, housing the chassis * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a sea-going craft * Submarine hull Ma ...
form. These characteristics produced a ship with better armour protection than either earlier class, and the same high speed of ''Canopus''. ''Irresistible'' was long overall, with a
beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Radio beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially lo ...
of and a draught of . She displaced normally and up to fully loaded. Her crew numbered 780 officers and ratings. The ''Formidable''-class ships were powered by a pair of 3-cylinder
triple-expansion engine A compound steam engine unit is a type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages. A typical arrangement for a compound engine is that the steam is first expanded in a high-pressure (HP) Cylinder (engine), cylinder, then ha ...
s, with steam provided by twenty
Belleville boiler There have been a vast number of designs of steam boiler, particularly towards the end of the 19th century when the technology was evolving rapidly. A great many of these took the names of their originators or primary manufacturers, rather than a m ...
s. The boilers were trunked into two
funnels A funnel is a tube or pipe that is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, used for guiding liquid or powder into a small opening. Funnels are usually made of stainless steel, aluminium, glass, or plastic. The material used in its constructi ...
located amidships. The ''Formidable''-class ships had a top speed of from . ''Irresistible'' had a
main battery A main battery is the primary weapon or group of weapons around which a warship is designed. As such, a main battery was historically a naval gun or group of guns used in volleys, as in the broadsides of cannon on a ship of the line. Later, th ...
of four 40-calibre guns mounted in twin-
gun turret A gun turret (or simply turret) is a mounting platform from which weapons can be fired that affords protection, visibility and ability to turn and aim. A modern gun turret is generally a rotatable weapon mount that houses the crew or mechanis ...
s fore and aft; these guns were mounted in circular barbettes that allowed all-around loading or elevation. The ships also mounted a
secondary battery A rechargeable battery, storage battery, or secondary cell (formally a type of Accumulator (energy), energy accumulator), is a type of electrical battery which can be charged, discharged into a load, and recharged many times, as opposed to a ...
of twelve 45-calibre guns mounted in
casemate A casemate is a fortified gun emplacement or armoured structure from which guns are fired, in a fortification, warship, or armoured fighting vehicle.Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary When referring to antiquity, the term "casemate wall" ...
s, in addition to ten 12-pounder guns and six 3-pounder guns for defence against
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. As was customary for battleships of the period, she was also equipped with four torpedo tubes submerged in the hull. ''Irresistible'' had an armoured belt that was thick; the transverse bulkheads on either end of the belt were thick. Her main battery turret sides were thick, atop
barbette Barbettes are several types of gun emplacement in terrestrial fortifications or on naval ships. In recent naval usage, a barbette is a protective circular armour support for a heavy gun turret. This evolved from earlier forms of gun protection ...
s, and the casemate battery was protected with 6 in of Krupp steel. Her
conning tower A conning tower is a raised platform on a ship or submarine, often armoured, from which an officer in charge can conn (nautical), conn (conduct or control) the vessel, controlling movements of the ship by giving orders to those responsible for t ...
had thick sides as well. She was fitted with two armoured decks, thick, respectively.


Service history


Pre-First World War

The
keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element of a watercraft, important for stability. On some sailboats, it may have a fluid dynamics, hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose as well. The keel laying, laying of the keel is often ...
for HMS ''Irresistible'' was
laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one ...
at
Chatham Dockyard Chatham Dockyard was a Royal Navy Dockyard located on the River Medway in Kent. Established in Chatham, Kent, Chatham in the mid-16th century, the dockyard subsequently expanded into neighbouring Gillingham, Kent, Gillingham; at its most extens ...
on 11 April 1898 and launched on 15 December 1898 in a very incomplete state to clear the building ways for the construction of the battleship . ''Irresistible'' was completed in October 1901. The ship was commissioned at Chatham Dockyard on 4 February 1902 by Captain George Morris Henderson and a complement of 870 officers and men for
Mediterranean Fleet The British Mediterranean Fleet, also known as the Mediterranean Station, was a formation of the Royal Navy. The Fleet was one of the most prestigious commands in the navy for the majority of its history, defending the vital sea link between ...
service. She left
Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...
in late March 1902, arriving the following month at
Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...
where she relieved the
turret ship Turret ships were a 19th-century type of warship, the earliest to have their guns mounted in a revolving gun turret, instead of a broadside arrangement. Background Before the development of large-calibre, long-range guns in the mid-19th centur ...
as a
guard ship A guard ship is a warship assigned as a stationary guard in a port or harbour, as opposed to a coastal patrol boat, which serves its protective role at sea. Royal Navy In the Royal Navy of the eighteenth century, peacetime guard ships were usual ...
. In May 1902 she visited
Augusta, Sicily Augusta (, archaically ''Agosta''; ; Ancient Greek, Greek and , Medieval: ''Augusta'') is a town and in the province of Syracuse, Italy, Syracuse, located on the eastern coast of Sicily (southern Italy). The city is one of the main harbours in ...
, and in August 1902 she went to
Piraeus Piraeus ( ; ; , Ancient: , Katharevousa: ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens city centre along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf in the Ath ...
. In late December 1902 she was back in Greek waters when she visited
Astakos Astakos (, meaning "lobster") is a town and a former municipality in Aetolia-Acarnania, West Greece, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Xiromero, of which it is a municipal unit.
in the
Ionian Sea The Ionian Sea (, ; or , ; , ) is an elongated bay of the Mediterranean Sea. It is connected to the Adriatic Sea to the north, and is bounded by Southern Italy, including Basilicata, Calabria, Sicily, and the Salento peninsula to the west, ...
with HMS ''Bulwark'' and HMS Pioneer. She suffered two mishaps during her years in the Mediterranean, colliding with the Norwegian merchant steamer while steaming in fog on her way to her commissioning on 3 March 1902, sustaining considerable damage to the side of her hull, and running aground at
Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...
on 5 October 1905. She underwent a refit there after her grounding, and a second refit there between October 1907 and January 1908. In April 1908, ''Irresistible'' was transferred to the
Channel Fleet The Channel Fleet and originally known as the Channel Squadron was the Royal Navy formation of warships that defended the waters of the English Channel from 1854 to 1909 and 1914 to 1915. History Throughout the course of Royal Navy's history th ...
, where she collided with a
schooner A schooner ( ) is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel defined by its Rig (sailing), rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more Mast (sailing), masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than t ...
while steaming in fog on 4 May 1908, suffering no damage. She was assigned to the Nore Division in 1909, and was reduced to a nucleus crew in May 1910. Her Channel Fleet service ended on 1 June 1910, when she paid off at Chatham Dockyard for a refit. Her refit completed, ''Irresistible'' commissioned at Chatham on 28 February 1911 to serve in the 3rd Division,
Home Fleet The Home Fleet was a fleet of the Royal Navy that operated from the United Kingdom's territorial waters from 1902 with intervals until 1967. In 1967, it was merged with the Mediterranean Fleet creating the new Western Fleet. Before the First ...
, at the
Nore The Nore is a long sandbank, bank of sand and silt running along the south-centre of the final narrowing of the Thames Estuary, England. Its south-west is the very narrow Nore Sand. Just short of the Nore's easternmost point where it fades int ...
. In 1912, she was assigned to the
5th Battle Squadron The 5th Battle Squadron was a squadron of the British Royal Navy consisting of battleships. The 5th Battle Squadron was initially part of the Royal Navy's Second Fleet. During the First World War, the Home Fleet was renamed the Grand Fleet. His ...
.


First World War

Britain entered the
First World War 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 ...
in August 1914; the 5th Battle Squadron was based at
Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...
and assigned to patrol duties in the
English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...
under the Channel Fleet. ''Irresistible'' covered the landing of the Plymouth Marine Battalion 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 ...
, Belgium, on 25 August, and thereafter covered the occupation. In October–November 1914, ''Irresistible'' was temporarily attached to the
Dover Patrol The Dover Patrol and later known as the Dover Patrol Force was a Royal Navy command of the First World War, notable for its involvement in the Zeebrugge Raid on 22 April 1918. The Dover Patrol formed a discrete unit of the Royal Navy based at Dov ...
. Her duties included bombardment of
German Army The German Army (, 'army') is the land component of the armed forces of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (G ...
forces along the Belgian coast in support of Allied troops fighting on the front. On 3 November, she was detached to support East Coast Patrols during the German
raid on Yarmouth The Raid on Yarmouth, on 3 November 1914, was an attack by the Imperial German Navy on the British North Sea port and town of Great Yarmouth. German shells only landed on the beach causing little damage to the town, after German ships laying m ...
, though she did not see action with German warships. ''Irresistible'' returned to the Channel Fleet later in November 1914. The 5th Battle Squadron was transferred to
Sheerness Sheerness () is a port town and civil parish beside the mouth of the River Medway on the north-west corner of the Isle of Sheppey in north Kent, England. With a population of 13,249, it is the second largest town on the island after the nearby ...
on 14 November to guard against a possible German invasion. The squadron was transferred back to Portland on 30 December.


Dardanelles campaign

On 1 February 1915, ''Irresistible'' sailed from Sheerness in company with the battleship , bound for the eastern
Mediterranean Sea 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 Eur ...
. There, the British and French fleets, under the overall command of British Admiral Sackville Carden, were preparing to launch a major attack on the
Dardanelles The Dardanelles ( ; ; ), also known as the Strait of Gallipoli (after the Gallipoli peninsula) and in classical antiquity as the Hellespont ( ; ), is a narrow, natural strait and internationally significant waterway in northwestern Turkey th ...
strait; the Entente commanders hoped to force the Dardanelles and enter the
Sea of Marmara The Sea of Marmara, also known as the Sea of Marmora or the Marmara Sea, is a small inland sea entirely within the borders of Turkey. It links the Black Sea and the Aegean Sea via the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits, separating Turkey's E ...
, where they could attack the capital of the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
,
Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...
, directly. She took part in the opening bombardment of the Ottoman forts guarding the entrance to the Çanakkale (Dardanelles) on 18–19 February as part of the 2nd Division, though she did not actively engage the Ottoman coastal defences during the attack. Another attack took place on 25 February; ''Irresistible'' and the battleship being tasked with providing long-range covering fire while other battleships closed with the fortresses to engage them directly. During their operation, the battleship came under fire from the guns from Battery "Orkaniye". Counter fire from ''Irresistible'' forced the Ottomans to cease firing, knocking out two guns in the process. By 15:00, the leading British and French battleships had silenced the Ottoman guns, allowing for minesweepers to advance and attempt to clear the minefields; most of the fleet withdrew while the minesweepers worked. By clearing these fields, Allied warships could now enter the Dardanelles themselves, opening the route to attack additional fortifications around the town of Dardanus. While other vessels shelled the forts there, ''Irresistible'' and the battleship sent men ashore to destroy an abandoned artillery battery near Kumkale, with both ships remaining off shore to support the raid. The 75-man team from ''Irresistible'' landed unopposed at
Sedd el Bahr Sedd el Bahr (, , meaning "Walls of the Sea") is a village in the Eceabat District, Çanakkale Province, Turkey. It is located at Cape Helles on the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey. The village lies east of the cape, on the shore of the Dardanelle ...
, but quickly came under attack from a superior Ottoman force and was compelled to retreat. 6-inch fire from ''Irresistible'' broke up the Ottoman attack, however, and the landing party was able to make their way to the fort, where they found four of the six heavy guns still operable. They destroyed the guns with gunpowder from the Ottoman
magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...
before proceeding to Fort Helles. The Ottoman defences were too strong there, and so the British party retreated after they destroyed a pair of 12-pounder guns outside the fort. Two days later, ''Irresistible'' repeated the operation with another 78-man landing party under the command of Lieutenant F. H. Sandford, again at Sedd el Bahr. This time, the target was a battery of six 6-inch
Krupp Friedrich Krupp AG Hoesch-Krupp (formerly Fried. Krupp AG and Friedrich Krupp GmbH), trade name, trading as Krupp, was the largest company in Europe at the beginning of the 20th century as well as Germany's premier weapons manufacturer dur ...
mortars Mortar may refer to: * Mortar (weapon), an indirect-fire infantry weapon * Mortar (masonry), a material used to fill the gaps between blocks and bind them together * Mortar and pestle, a tool pair used to crush or grind * Mortar, Bihar, a village i ...
. The men again came under attack from the Ottoman defenders, and again forced their way to their objective using heavy fire from ''Irresistible''s 6-inch guns to suppress the Ottomans. All six mortars were packed with gunpowder and destroyed, and the landing party returned to the ship without a single casualty. The following day, Admiral
John de Robeck Admiral of the Fleet Sir John Michael de Robeck, 1st Baronet, (10 June 1862 – 20 January 1928) was an officer in the Royal Navy. In the early years of the 20th century he served as Admiral of Patrols, commanding four flotillas of destroyers. ...
, the British fleet commander, transferred his flag from ''Vengeance'' to ''Irresistible'', while the latter was in
Mudros Moudros () is a town and a former municipality on the island of Lemnos, North Aegean, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Lemnos, of which it is a municipal unit. It covers the entire eastern peninsula o ...
for repairs. De Robeck ordered another attack on 28 February, though bad weather hampered British progress; later in the day, a break in the weather led him to order ''Irresistible''s landing party, again under Sandford's direction, to go ashore. In the course of the raid, the party destroyed eight heavy guns in a battery near Kumkale, six 12-pounder field guns, and four
Nordenfelt gun The Nordenfelt gun was a multiple-barrel organ gun that had a row of up to twelve barrels. It was fired by pulling a lever back and forth and ammunition was gravity fed through chutes for each barrel. It was produced in a number of different ...
s on the way back to the ship. Again, the men returned without a single casualty. On 3 March, another attack was launched against the fortresses, and ''Irresistible'' contributed a reconnaissance party that went ashore under cover of a heavy bombardment from the fleet's battleships. During their exploration of the area around Erenköy, they discovered a battery of six 15-pounder field guns, which they destroyed. They proceeded to the main fort and found that it had been evacuated under the heavy bombardment. Again, they returned to the ship with no casualties. The next day, a larger landing force of marines went ashore; ''Irresistible'' provided support off Kumkale. After the landing party came under
sniper A sniper is a military or paramilitary marksman who engages targets from positions of concealment or at distances exceeding the target's detection capabilities. Snipers generally have specialized training and are equipped with telescopic si ...
fire from windmills above the village, ''Irresistible'' demolished them before shifting fire to the town itself. The Ottoman fire proved to be too heavy, however, and the marines had to retreat to their ships. ''Irresistible'' remained de Robeck's
flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of navy, naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically ...
until 6 March, when ''Vengeance'' returned. The next attack came on 8 March; the powerful superdreadnought , with her guns, was to demolish the main Ottoman fortress at Rumili, the "Hamidieh I", "Hamidieh II", and "Namazieh" batteries, and the fortress at Chemenlik. While she attacked those objectives, ''Irresistible'' and three other battleships were tasked with covering her from mobile field guns in the straits. Poor visibility hampered British shooting and made it easy for the Ottoman field guns to continually shoot and relocate before the battleships could locate them and return fire. The repeated failures to destroy the fortresses guarding the straits convinced the British command that further attempts were pointless until the minefields protecting the fortresses could be cleared, which would allow the battleships to engage and destroy them at very close range. Accordingly,
trawlers Trawler may refer to: Boats * Fishing trawler, used for commercial fishing * Naval trawler Naval trawlers are vessels built along the lines of a fishing trawler but fitted out for naval purposes; they were widely used during the World War I, Fir ...
were sent in during the night to clear the minefields while the British and French fleets replenished ammunition and gathered reinforcements. While this work was ongoing, ''Irresistible'', ''Albion'', and the battleship were sent in on 9 March to raid Ottoman defences; ''Irresistible'' inflicted damage on a bridge used to support the fort at Kumkale. The next morning, ''Irresistible'', the battleship , the
light cruiser A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to thi ...
, and the
seaplane carrier A seaplane tender is a boat or ship that supports the operation of seaplanes. Some of these vessels, known as seaplane carriers, could not only carry seaplanes but also provided all the facilities needed for their operation; these ships are rega ...
made another foray to attack targets of opportunity.


Loss

By mid-March, it had become clear that the plan to sweep the minefields had failed. In response, de Robeck, who had succeeded Carden as the commander of the Dardanelles campaign, proposed to launch a major daylight attack on the fortresses, suppress them as best as possible at longer range, and to clear the minefields at the same time. This would then allow the battleships to demolish the forts at close range. Ottoman opposition was expected to be very heavy, as they had been reinforcing their defences throughout the campaign; by this time, they had massed forty-two guns or larger, along with numerous mobile field guns. The attack was launched on 18 March, and ''Irresistible'' was again part of 2nd Division, which formed the second wave of the attack. ''Irresistible'' joined the fray at 14:39, shortly after the French battleship was mined and sunk in the straits; she and several other battleships attempted to suppress Ottoman guns that were firing on boats that were picking up survivors from ''Bouvet''. ''Irresistible'' engaged the "Namazieh" Battery, which at that time was not actively firing. She quickly came under heavy fire from the "Hamidieh I" battery, which targeted the ship with four-shell salvos. At 15:14, ''Irresistible'' was rocked by an explosion, and by 15:32, had begun to take on a
list A list is a Set (mathematics), set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of t ...
, prompting de Robeck to order her to withdraw to avoid further damage. At 16:15, ''Irresistible'', having idled her engines, struck a mine that caused extensive damage to the ship. The mine detonated under her starboard engine room, flooding it and killing all but three of the men on duty there. The bulkhead that divided the starboard from the port engine room collapsed under the sudden weight of water, disabling that engine as well. Unable to maneuver, with a list of 7 degrees to starboard, and down by the stern, ''Irresistible'' became an attractive target for the Ottoman gunners. She drifted helplessly into range of Turkish guns, which laid down a heavy fire on her. Her main gun turrets began to malfunction, and she was obscured by smoke and spray. De Robeck ordered the battleship to take her under tow and pull her out of range of the Ottoman guns, and the
destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...
came alongside and rescued most of the crew—28 officers and 582 men—despite the punishing Ottoman shelling. A group of ten men remained aboard to try to secure a line from ''Ocean''. By the time ''Ocean'' had arrived it had become clear that ''Irresistible'' could not be saved. Her list had increased and the fire from the Ottoman guns had become very heavy, so the remaining men were evacuated and ''Ocean'' began to withdraw. With the heavy losses that day—''Bouvet'', ''Irresistible'', and ''Ocean'', which had been mined and disabled after withdrawing from her attempt to rescue ''Irresistible''—de Robeck issued the order to break off the attack. That evening, the destroyer entered the Dardanelles to torpedo and sink the two abandoned battleships to prevent their capture in case they had remained afloat, but could find no sign of them. The Ottomans later reported that the derelict ''Irresistible'' had drifted closer to shore and suffered further severe damage from their shore batteries before sinking at about 19:30. ''Irresistible''s crew suffered about 150 casualties during her sinking.


Notes


References

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Further reading

* * * *


External links


History on the Imperial War Museum website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Irresistible (1898) Ships built in Chatham 1898 ships Formidable-class battleships Maritime incidents in 1902 Maritime incidents in 1905 Maritime incidents in 1908 Maritime incidents in 1915 Ships sunk by mines World War I battleships of the United Kingdom World War I shipwrecks in the Dardanelles Ships sunk by coastal artillery