HMS Orion (1910)
Orion at anchor, about 1913
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| History | |
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 United Kingdom
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| Name: | Orion |
| Namesake: | Mythological hunter Orion |
| Builder: | HM Dockyard, Portsmouth |
| Laid down: | 29 November 1909 |
| Launched: | 20 August 1910 |
| Commissioned: | 2 January 1912 |
| Decommissioned: | March 1922 |
| Out of service: | 12 April 1922 |
| Fate: | Sold for scrap, 19 December 1922 |
| General characteristics (as built) | |
| Class and type: | Orion-class dreadnought battleship |
| Displacement: | 21,922 long tons (22,274 t) (normal) |
| Length: | 581 ft (177.1 m) (o/a) |
| Beam: | 88 ft 6 in (27.0 m) |
| Draught: | 31 ft 3 in (9.5 m) |
| Installed power: |
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| Propulsion: | 4 × shafts; 2 × steam turbine sets |
| Speed: | 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph) |
| Range: | 6,730 nmi (12,460 km; 7,740 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement: | 738–1,107 (1916) |
| Armament: |
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| Armour: | |
HMS Orion was the lead ship of her class of four dreadnought battleships built for the Royal Navy in the early 1910s. She spent the bulk of her career assigned to the Home and Grand Fleets, generally serving as a flagship. Aside from participating in the failed attempt to intercept the German ships that had bombarded Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby in late 1914, the Battle of Jutland in May 1916 and the inconclusive Action of 19 August, her service during World War I generally consisted of routine patrols and training in the North Sea.
After the Grand Fleet was dissolved in early 1919, Orion was transferred to back to the Home Fleet for a few months before she was assigned to the Reserve Fleet. She served as a gunnery training ship from mid-1921 until she was listed for disposal the following year. The ship was sold for scrap in late 1922 and subsequently broken up.
The Orion-class ships were designed in response to the beginnings of the Anglo-German naval arms race and were much larger than their predecessors of the Colossus-class battleship to accommodate larger, more powerful guns and heavier armour. In recognition of these improvements, the class was sometimes called "super-dreadnoughts". The ships had an overall length of 581 feet (177.1 m), a beam of 88 feet 6 inches (27.0 m) and a deep draught of 31 feet 3 inches (9.5 m). They displaced 21,922 long tons (22,274 t) at normal load and 25,596 long tons (26,007 t) at deep load as buit; by 1918 Orion's deep displacement had increased to 29,108 long tons (29,575 t). Her crew numbered 754 officers and ratings as of 1914.
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