HMS ''Prince Eugene'' was one of eight s built for the
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 ...
in 1915 to conduct
shore bombardments during 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 ...
. The ship was assigned to the
Dover Patrol for the duration of the war and provided
cover for the Inshore Squadron during the
First Ostend Raid. She was sold for
scrap in 1921.
Design and description
The ''Lord Clive'' design was derived from that of the preceding , modified to suit the smaller and lighter
main battery. The ships had an
overall length of , a maximum
beam of , and a deep
draught of . She
displaced at
deep load. To improve
stability,
torpedo bulges were incorporated into the hull. Her crew numbered 12 officers and 182
ratings.
''Prince Eugene'' was powered by a pair of four-cylinder
triple-expansion steam engines each driving one
propeller shaft using steam provided by two coal-burning
water-tube boilers. The engines developed a total of and were designed for a maximum speed of , although the ships proved to be significantly slower, with ''Prince Eugene'' reaching an adjusted speed of during her
sea trial
A sea trial or trial trip is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a "shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on op ...
s. The ''Lord Clive''s had a range of at a cruising speed of .
The ships were armed with a pair of
BL Mk VIII guns in a single twin-gun turret; ''Prince Eugene''s turret was taken from the elderly
predreadnought battleship . The ship's
anti-aircraft armament consisted of a
() and a
2-pounder () guns on high-angle mounts.
Construction and career
''Prince Eugene'' was named after
Prince Eugene of Savoy
Prince Eugene Francis of Savoy-Carignano (18 October 1663 – 21 April 1736), better known as Prince Eugene, was a distinguished Generalfeldmarschall, field marshal in the Army of the Holy Roman Empire and of the Austrian Habsburg dynasty durin ...
and has been the only ship of the Royal Navy to be named after the general. The ship was
laid down on 1 February 1915 at
Harland & Wolff's
Govan
Govan ( ; Cumbric: ''Gwovan''; Scots language, Scots: ''Gouan''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile a' Ghobhainn'') is a district, parish, and former burgh now part of southwest Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the sout ...
shipyard
A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are shipbuilding, built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Compared to shipyards, which are sometimes m ...
,
launched on 14 July and
commissioned on 2 September.
During a refit from December 1918 to March 1918, ''Prince Eugene'' was modified to accept a single gun in a limited-traverse mount aft of her
funnel. Delivery of the mounts was slow and the ship had not received hers by the war's end in November 1918. ''Prince Eugene'' was
decommissioned in early 1919 and was sold for scrap on 9 May 1921. She arrived at
Thos. W. Ward's
Preston, Lancashire
Preston () is a city on the north bank of the River Ribble in Lancashire, England. The city is the administrative centre of the county of Lancashire and the wider City of Preston, Lancashire, City of Preston local government district. Preston ...
,
scrapyard on 10 August 1923 to begin demolition.
[Buxton, pp. 74, 77]
Citations
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Prince Eugene
Lord Clive-class monitors
Ships built in Govan
1915 ships
World War I monitors of the United Kingdom
Royal Navy ship names
Ships built by Harland and Wolff