Great Britain. Royal Navy - Monitors of the Royal Navy: how the fleet brought the great guns to bear: the story of the monitors in two world wars

1 Severn

When she was launched Severn had the twin 6 inch turret shown here, it was replaced by two single turrets when the first set of guns were worn out after the Belgian Coast operation. Note the very low profile of the hull and the propellers mounted in a tunnel so as to reduce draft.

2 Section of Monitor Hull

The bulges protruded well outside the hulls making boat handling extremely difficult. They did afford good protection from underwater weapons and made the ships very stable but slow.

3 A 14 inch Monitor

These ships had U.S. made turrets which were electrically operated where as all Royal Navy experience was with hydraulic operation.

4 A 12 inch Monitor.

These ships proved to have insufficient range to operate against German batteries on the Belgian coast but did good work in net defence and as guard-ships.

5 Ney

Ney was the least satisfactory of all the monitors as she was so unreliable and slow. The 15 inch turret had to be mounted on top of a column because of the height of the diesel engine beneath it. Her sister ship Soult did some good service. Note the short funnel required by the diesel engine.

6 Erebus in 1944

Compare the line drawing to photograph no. 6 showing Erebus before radar and extra anti-aircraft guns were added. All the extra "clutter" aft made her even more difficult to steer than when she was new. Bacon suugested that she should be fitted with a rudder at the bow so that she could back away from the Belgian coast whilst still using her main armament, but this was never fitted. Note that she has a proper bridge instead of the conning tower fitted to earlier monitors. In a following wind the smoke from the funnel would envelop the bridge to the great annoyance of the watchkeepers.

7 A 9.2 inch Small Monitor

These were most useful little ships, cheap to build and operate and moderately sea worthy. They gave excellent service in many theatres.

8 Abercrombie

Abercombie was the last monitor to be built, she spent most of her active life supporting American troops who nicknamed her "Little Dumbo". Note that her bulge now protrudes above the water line which made boat handling much easier. She was fitted with the most up to date radar and fire control equipment as can be seen from the drawing.

10 Diagram of Monitors and Pontoons for the Great Landing Two 12 inch monitors would push each of the three pontoons fully loaded with men, tanks and equipment. The raft in the bows would run onto the beach against the sea wall to allow men and tanks to get ashore, covered by fire from the monitors.

9 System for Night Firing

A ship steaming on a known course at a known range from the target would train its director on a searchlight in a position roughly opposite to the target and fire in the reverse direction to that indicated by the director.