Video
HMS Renown(1895); Key Ship Series 1, Ship 10
HMS Renown 1895John FisherNaval CommunicationsNaval GunneryRoyal NavyRoyal YachtsSecond Class BattleshipsWarship Design
Study HMS Renown(1895); Key Ship Series 1, Ship 10, a Dr. Alex Clarke video from 30 Apr 2023, with 16 time notes. Topics include HMS Renown 1895, John Fisher, Naval Communications.
Time notes
- 0:01Why HMS Renown was a key second-class battleshipChapter
Renown emerged from a delayed battleship programme as a fast, overseas flagship rather than a conventional line-of-battle ship.
- 1:00How delayed 12-inch guns reshaped RenownNotable Point
A delayed heavy-gun programme and the need to sustain work at Pembroke Dockyard turned an improved Centurion design into Renown.
- 3:33A fast flagship before the battlecruiser eraNotable Point
Renown's speed and flagship role anticipated Fisher's later fast capital ship thinking, while his attachment to the name connects her with the Renown class battlecruisers.
- 7:44Fisher's practical approach to fleet signallingChapter
Renown's flagship service illustrates why Fisher focused on reliable visual signalling for fast manoeuvre at sea.
- 8:19Why flag-signalling rules for port failed at seaNotable Point
Halyard position could convey meaning in a close anchorage, but distance, funnels, and changing formation made that convention unreliable at sea.
- 13:17Range and speed for an overseas flagshipNotable Point
Renown combined a 19-knot top speed with unusually long endurance, making a smaller battleship credible on distant stations.
- 14:48What a Renown-type ship might have meant in the PhilippinesNotable Point
A brief Spanish-American War counterfactual tests how much strategic weight Renown's speed, endurance, and battery could carry overseas.
- 15:43Why the 10-inch gun lost its place between cruisers and battleshipsNotable Point
Renown's main battery opens a wider lesson about how an intermediate gun calibre can lose its tactical niche as warship types evolve.
- 17:21Renown's mixed battery and torpedo-boat defenceChapter
Renown's layered battery combined heavy guns, quick-firing secondary weapons, and 12-pounders, but mounting position and sea state limited what could actually fire.
- 18:46Why the 76 mm gun endured against small, fast threatsNotable Point
Renown's 12-pounders illustrate the long-lived value of a gun large enough to hit hard but light enough to fire rapidly and in numbers.
- 21:09Renown's torpedo sting and Harvey armour schemeNotable Point
Five 18-inch torpedo tubes gave the fast battleship a stern chase weapon, while Harvey armour protected her belt, decks, barbettes, turrets, conning tower, and bulkheads.
- 22:21Renown as a visible instrument of imperial naval powerChapter
From the Diamond Jubilee review to the North American, West Indies, and Mediterranean stations, Renown served as a high-profile flagship.
- 24:14A flagship tailored to Fisher's way of commandNotable Point
A Malta refit adapted Renown to Fisher's practical and social requirements, while his successor's rejection of her reveals competing ideas of a proper flagship.
- 25:58How Renown became a royal yachtNotable Point
Successive refits adapted Renown for royal tours and diplomatic travel, trading armament for accommodation and ceremonial usefulness.
- 29:01Renown's final service as a training and support shipChapter
After her royal-yacht career, Renown became a stoker training ship, a tender to HMS Victory, and accommodation for the 1911 Coronation Review.
- 29:54Why Renown mattered so much to FisherChapter
Renown outlived her original military niche because Fisher kept finding roles for the flagship he had helped shape.