HMS Earl of Peterborough (1915)

HMS Earl of Peterborough was a First World War Royal Navy Lord Clive-class monitor, named after Charles Mordaunt, 3rd Earl of Peterborough, a British general of the War of the Spanish Succession who fought in Spain. The ship's original 12-inch main battery was stripped from an obsolete Majestic-class battleship, HMS Mars.

Earl of Peterborough Ship's badge

Earl of Peterborough at Mudros. HMS Roberts astern
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Earl of Peterborough
Builder	Harland and Wolff, Belfast
Yard number	480
Laid down	16 January 1915
Launched	26 August 1915
Completed	23 September 1915
Decommissioned	1921
Fate	Scrapped, 1921
General characteristics
Class and type	Lord Clive-class monitor
Displacement	6,150 tons
Length	335 ft (102.1 m)
Beam	87 ft (26.5 m)
Draught	9.7 ft (3.0 m)
Propulsion	2 shafts, reciprocating steam engines, 2 boilers, 2,310 hp
Speed	6.5 knots (12.0 km/h; 7.5 mph)
Complement	187
Armament	1 × twin BL 12-inch (305 mm) guns 2 × single 3-inch (76 mm) guns

The Lord Clive-class monitors were originally built in 1915 to engage German shore artillery in occupied Belgium during the First World War. Earl of Peterborough, however was differently employed, being dispatched to the Eastern Mediterranean upon completion for service with the fleet there. Early in 1916 she shelled Turkish positions in the Dardanelles and during the remainder of the war was active against Turkish units in Egypt, Palestine and Turkey itself.

Following the armistice in November 1918, Earl of Peterborough and her sisters were put into reserve pending scrapping, as the reason for their existence ended with the liberation of Central Power-led coastlines. In 1921 Earl of Peterborough was scrapped along with all her sisters.

References

• Buxton, Ian (2008) [1978]. Big Gun Monitors. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84415-719-8.
• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
• Dittmar, F. J.; Colledge, J. J. (1972). British Warships 1914–1919. London: Ian Allan. ISBN 978-0-7110-0380-4.
• Preston, Antony (1985). "Great Britain and Empire Forces". In Gray, Randal (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. pp. 1–104. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.