Editing Invincible-class battlecruiser (section)

==Service history==
All three ships entered service from the second half of 1908. Initially, ''Invincible'' and ''Inflexible'' were assigned to the [[Home Fleet]], while ''Indomitable'' took the [[George V of the United Kingdom|Prince of Wales]] (later [[George V of the United Kingdom|King George V]]) to the tercentennial celebrations in Canada, before also joining the [[Home Fleet]]. ''Invincible''{{'}}s electrically driven turrets proved to be a failure despite two lengthy refits in 1909 and 1911 and were converted to hydraulic power during her refit in early 1914 at the enormous cost of £151,200. The situation was so bad during her gunnery trials in October 1908 that the [[captain (Royal Navy)|captain]] of {{HMS|Excellent|shore establishment|6}}, the Royal Navy's gunnery school described their operation thusly: "When the order was given to train the turret, elevate or run a gun in or out, it was only necessary to push a button, or move a switch, but the result was often a flash of blue flame which seemed to fill the turret."<ref>Captain Reginald Tupper, quoted in Roberts, p. 85</ref>

In 1914, ''Invincible'' was refitting in England, while ''Inflexible'' and ''Indomitable'', together with the newer {{HMS|Indefatigable|1909|2}} formed the nucleus of the [[British Mediterranean Fleet|Mediterranean Fleet]], where ''Inflexible'' served as flagship from November 1912. It was in the Mediterranean that the first naval action of the [[First World War]] took place, when the British pursued the German warships {{SMS|Goeben||2}} and {{SMS|Breslau||2}} upon the outbreak of war.

===World War I===
====Pursuit of Goeben and Breslau====
{{Main|Pursuit of Goeben and Breslau}}
''Indomitable'', accompanied by ''Indefatigable'', under the command of [[Admiral]] [[Archibald Berkeley Milne|Sir Archibald Berkeley Milne]] encountered the battlecruiser ''Goeben'' and the light cruiser ''Breslau'' on the morning of 4 August 1914 headed east after a cursory bombardment of the French Algerian port of [[Philippeville, Algeria|Philippeville]], but Britain and Germany were not yet at war so Milne turned to shadow the Germans as they headed back to [[Messina]] to recoal. All three battlecruisers had problems with their boilers, but ''Goeben'' and ''Breslau'' were able to break contact and reached Messina by the morning of the 5th. By this time war had been declared, after the German invasion of Belgium, but an Admiralty order to respect Italian neutrality and stay outside a six-mile (10&nbsp;km) limit from the Italian coast precluded entrance into the passage of the [[Strait of Messina]] where they could observe the port directly. Therefore, Milne stationed ''Inflexible'' and ''Indefatigable'' at the northern exit of the Straits of Messina, still expecting the Germans to break out to the west where they could attack French troop transports, the light cruiser {{HMS|Gloucester|1909|2}} at the southern exit and sent ''Indomitable'' to recoal at [[Bizerte]] where she was better positioned to react to a German sortie into the Western Mediterranean.<ref>Massie, p. 39</ref>

The Germans sortied from Messina on 6 August and headed east, towards [[Constantinople]], trailed by ''Gloucester''. Milne, still expecting [[Rear Admiral]] [[Wilhelm Souchon]] to turn west, kept the battlecruisers at Malta until shortly after midnight on 8 August when he set sail for [[Cape Matapan]] at a leisurely {{convert|12|kn|0}}, where Goeben had been spotted eight hours earlier. At 2:30&nbsp;p.m. he received an incorrect signal from the Admiralty stating that Britain was at war with Austria – war would not be declared until 12 August and the order was countermanded four hours later, but Milne followed his standing orders to guard the Adriatic against an Austrian break-out attempt, rather than seek ''Goeben''. Finally on 9 August Milne was given clear orders to "chase ''Goeben'' which had passed Cape Matapan on the 7th steering north-east."  Milne still did not believe that Souchon was heading for the Dardanelles, and so he resolved to guard the exit from the [[Aegean Sea|Aegean]], unaware that the ''Goeben'' did not intend to come out.<ref>Massie, pp. 45–46</ref> ''Indomitable'' remained in the Mediterranean to blockade the [[Dardanelles]], but ''Inflexible'' was ordered home on 18 August.<ref name=c25>Preston, p. 25</ref>

On 3 November 1914, [[Winston Churchill|Churchill]] ordered the first British attack on the Dardanelles following the opening of hostilities between Turkey and Russia. The attack was carried out by ''Indomitable'' and ''Indefatigable'', as well as the French [[pre-dreadnought battleship]]s {{ship|French battleship|Suffren||2}} and {{ship|French battleship|Vérité||2}}. The intention of the attack was to test the fortifications and measure the Turkish response. The results were deceptively encouraging. In a twenty-minute bombardment, a single shell struck the magazine of the fort at [[Sedd el Bahr]] at the tip of the Gallipoli peninsula, displacing (but not destroying) 10 guns and killing 86 Turkish soldiers. The most significant consequence was that the attention of the Turks was drawn to strengthening their defences, and they set about expanding the mine field.<ref>Carlyon p. 47</ref> This attack actually took place before a formal [[declaration of war]] had been made by Britain against the [[Ottoman Empire]] which happened on 6 November. ''Indomitable'' was ordered to return to England in December where she joined the 2nd Battlecruiser Squadron (BCS).<ref name=r22>Roberts, p. 122</ref>

====Battle of Heligoland Bight====
{{Main|Battle of Heligoland (1914)}}
''Invincible''{{'}}s first action was as part of the battlecruiser force under the command of [[David Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty|Admiral Beatty]] during the Battle of Heligoland Bight operation on 28 August 1914. Beatty's ships had originally been intended as distant support of the British cruisers and destroyers closer to the German coast in case large units of the [[High Seas Fleet]] sortied in response to the British attacks. They turned south at full speed at 11:35<ref group=Note>The times used in this section are in [[Coordinated Universal Time|UTC]], which is one hour behind [[Central European Time|CET]], which is often used in German works.</ref> when the British light forces failed to disengage on schedule and the rising tide meant that German capital ships would be able to clear the bar at the mouth of the [[Jade estuary]]. The brand-new light cruiser {{HMS|Arethusa|1913|2}} had been crippled earlier in the battle and was under fire from the light cruisers {{SMS|Strassburg||2}} and {{SMS|Cöln|1909|2}} when Beatty's battlecruisers loomed out of the mist at 12:37. ''Strassburg'' was able to duck into the mists and evade fire, but ''Cöln'' remained visible and was quickly crippled by fire from the squadron. But Beatty was distracted from the task of finishing her off by the sudden appearance of the elderly light cruiser {{SMS|Ariadne||2}} directly to his front. He turned in pursuit, but reduced her to a flaming hulk in only three salvos at a range under {{convert|6000|yd|m}}. At 13:10 Beatty turned north and made a general signal to retire.<ref name=m9>Massie, pp. 109–113</ref> At this time, ''Invincible'', trailing the main body of battlecruisers, opened fire on ''Cöln''. She fired 18 rounds, all misses,<ref>Tarrant, p. 33</ref> before Beatty's main body encountered the crippled ''Cöln'' shortly after turning north and she was sunk by two salvos from {{HMS|Lion|1910|2}}.<ref name=m9/>

===Battle of the Falklands===
{{Main|Battle of the Falkland Islands}}
[[File:HMS Invincible, Battle of the Falkland Islands (Warships To-day, 1936).jpg|thumb|''Invincible'' during the pursuit of the German cruiser squadron]]
The West Indies Squadron of [[Christopher Cradock|Rear Admiral Christopher Cradock]] was destroyed by the German [[East Asia Squadron]] commanded by [[Maximilian von Spee|Admiral Graf von Spee]] during the [[Battle of Coronel]] on 1 November 1914. In response, the [[British Admiralty|Admiralty]] ordered that a squadron be sent to destroy the Germans. The squadron, under the command of [[Doveton Sturdee|Admiral Sir Doveton Sturdee]], consisted of ''Invincible'' (flag) and ''Inflexible''. They departed on 11 November and rendezvoused with several other cruisers under Rear Admiral Stoddard at [[Abrolhos Marine National Park|Abrolhos Rocks]] off the coast of [[Brazil]] on the 26th. The combined force departed the following day and reached [[Stanley, Falkland Islands|Port Stanley]] on the morning of 7 December.<ref>Massie, pp. 248–251</ref>

Spee, making a leisurely voyage back to the Atlantic, decided to destroy the radio station at Port Stanley and sent the armoured cruiser {{SMS|Gneisenau}} and the light cruiser {{SMS|Nürnberg|1906|2}} on the morning of 8 December to see if the harbour was clear of British warships. They were spotted at 07:30 although the pre-dreadnought {{HMS|Canopus|1897|2}}, grounded in Stanley Harbour to defend the town and its wireless station, did not receive the signal until 07:45. It mattered little because Sturdee was not expecting an engagement and most of his ships were coaling. Furthermore, the armoured cruiser {{HMS|Cornwall|1902|2}} and the light cruiser {{HMS|Bristol|1910|2}} had one or both of their engines under repair. The armed merchant cruiser ''Macedonian'' was patrolling the outer harbour entrance while the armoured cruiser {{HMS|Kent|1901|2}} was anchored in the outer harbour, scheduled to relieve the ''Macedonian'' at 08:00. The Germans were not expecting any resistance and the first salvo from ''Canopus''{{'}}s guns at 09:20 caused them to sheer off from their planned bombardment of the wireless station and fall back on Spee's main body.<ref>Massie, pp. 254–261</ref>

Sturdee's ships did not sortie from the harbour until 9:50, but they could see the retreating German ships on the southwest horizon. The ''Invincible''s, fresh out of dry dock, had a {{convert|5|kn}} advantage over Spee's ships which all had [[fouled bottom]]s that limited their speeds to {{convert|20|kn}} at best. The light cruiser {{SMS|Leipzig|1905|6}} was lagging behind the other ships and Inflexible opened fire on her when the range dropped to {{convert|17500|yd|km}} at 12:55. ''Invincible'' opened fire shortly afterwards and both ships began straddling Leipzig as the range closed to {{convert|13000|yd|m}}. At 01:20 Spee ordered his squadron to separate and ordered his light cruisers to turn to the southwest while his armoured cruisers turned to the north east to cover their retreat. The German ships opened fire first at 13:30 and scored their first hit at 13:44 when {{SMS|Scharnhorst}} hit ''Invincible'', although the shell burst harmlessly on the belt armour. Both sides fired rapidly during the first half-hour of the engagement before Sturdee opened up the range a little to put his ships outside the effective range of the German guns. British gunnery was very poor during this period, scoring only four hits out of 210 rounds fired. The primary cause was the smoke from the guns and funnels as the British were downwind of the Germans,<ref>Massie, pp. 261–266</ref> although one gun of ''Invincible''{{'}}s 'A' turret jammed at 13:42 and was out of action for thirty minutes.<ref>Tarrant, p. 61</ref>
[[File:HMS Infexible Falklandy.jpg|thumb|left|''Inflexible'' picking up survivors from SMS ''Gneisenau'']]
Spee turned to the south in the hope of disengaging while the British had their vision obscured, but only opened the range to {{convert|17000|yd|m}} before the British saw his course change. This was futile as the British battlecruisers gave chase at {{convert|24|kn}}. Forty minutes later the British opened fire again at {{convert|15000|yd|m}}. Eight minutes later Spee turned again to the east to give battle. This time his strategy was to close the range on the British ships so he could bring his {{convert|15|cm|abbr=on}} secondary armament into play. In this he was successful and the 15&nbsp;cm guns were able to open fire at 15:00 at maximum elevation. On this course the smoke bothered both sides, but multiple hits were made regardless. Those made by the Germans either failed to detonate or hit in some insignificant area. On the contrary ''Gneisenau'' had her starboard engine room put out of action. Sturdee ordered his ships at 15:15 back across their own wakes to gain the windward advantage. Spee turned to the northwest, as if to attempt to [[Crossing the T|cross the British T]], but actually to bring ''Scharnhorst''{{'}}s undamaged starboard guns to bear as most of those on his port side were out of action. The British continued to hit ''Scharnhorst'' and ''Gneisenau'' regularly during this time and ''Scharnhorst'' ceased fire at 4:00 before [[capsizing]] at 16:17 with no survivors. ''Gneisenau'' had been slowed by earlier damage and was battered for another hour and a half by ''Inflexible'' and ''Invincible'' at ranges down to {{convert|4000|yd|m}}. Despite the damage her crew continued to fire back until she ceased firing at 16:47. Sturdee was ready to order 'Cease fire' at 17:15 when an ammunition hoist was freed up and she made her last shot. The British continued to pound her until 17:50, after her captain had given the order to scuttle her at 17:40. She slowly capsized at 18:00 and the British were able to rescue 176 men.<ref>Massie, pp. 261–273</ref> ''Invincible'' and ''Inflexible'' fired 513 and 661 twelve-inch shells respectively during the battle,<ref name=c25/> but ''Inflexible'' had been hit only three times and ''Invincible'' had been hit twenty-two times. Two of her bow compartments were flooded and one hit on her waterline abreast 'P' turret had flooded a coal bunker and temporarily given her a 15° list. Only one man was killed and five wounded aboard the battlecruisers during the battle.<ref>Massie, p. 280</ref>

====Battle of Dogger Bank====
{{Main|Battle of Dogger Bank (1915)}}
On 23 January 1915, a force of German battlecruisers under the command of Admiral [[Franz von Hipper]] sortied to clear the [[Dogger Bank]] of any British fishing boats or small craft that might be there to collect intelligence on German movements. But the British were reading their coded messages and sailed to intercept them with a larger force of British battlecruisers under the command of Admiral Beatty, which included ''Indomitable''. Contact was initiated at 07:20 on the 24th when the British light cruiser ''Arethusa'' spotted the German light cruiser {{SMS|Kolberg}}. By 07:35 the Germans had spotted Beatty's force and Hipper ordered a turn to the south at {{convert|20|kn}}, believing that this would suffice if the ships that he saw to his northwest were British battleships and that he could always increase speed to {{SMS|Blücher||2}}'s maximum speed of {{convert|23|kn}} if they were British battlecruisers.<ref>Massie, pp. 376–384</ref>

Beatty ordered his battlecruisers to make all practicable speed to catch the Germans before they could escape. ''Indomitable'' managed to exceed 26 knots and Beatty recognised her performance with a signal at 08:55 "Well done, ''Indomitable''"<ref>Massie, p. 385</ref> Despite this achievement ''Indomitable'' was the slowest of Beatty's ships and gradually fell behind the newer and faster battlecruisers. By 10:48 ''Blücher'' had been heavily damaged by fire from all the other battlecruisers and her speed had dropped to {{convert|17|kn}} and her steering gear had been jammed; Beatty ordered ''Indomitable'' to attack her. But due to a combination of a mistake by Beatty's flag lieutenant in signalling, and heavy damage to Beatty's flagship {{HMS|Lion|1910|2}} which had knocked out her radio and caused enough smoke to obscure her signal [[halyard]]s so that Beatty couldn't communicate with his ships, the rest of the battlecruisers turned away from Hipper's main body and engaged ''Blücher''.<ref>Massie, pp. 385–406</ref> ''Indomitable'' fired 134 shells at ''Blücher'' before she capsized and sank at 12:07.<ref name=c25/> After the end of the battle ''Indomitable'' was ordered to tow ''Lion'' back to port as one of her engines had been knocked out, the other was failing and she'd been holed a number of times beneath the waterline. It took over a day and a half at speeds of {{convert|7|-|10|kn}}.<ref>Massie, pp. 410–412</ref>

====Dardanelles Campaign====
{{Main|Naval operations in the Dardanelles Campaign}}
After the Battle of the Falklands ''Invincible'' and ''Inflexible'' were repaired and refitted at [[Gibraltar]]. ''Invincible'' sailed to England and joined the 3rd Battlecruiser Squadron while ''Inflexible'' arrived at the Dardanelles on 24 January 1915 where she replaced ''Indefatigable'' as the flagship of the Mediterranean Fleet. She bombarded Turkish fortifications on 19 February, the start of the [[Battle of Gallipoli]], to little effect, and again on 15 March, with the same results. She was part of the first line of British ships on 18 March as they attempted to suppress the Turkish guns so the minefields could be swept.<ref name=r22/> She was moderately damaged by Turkish gunfire, but was seriously damaged by a mine, probably about {{convert|100|kg|abbr=on}} in size, that blew a large hole in her starboard bow and flooded the forward torpedo flat, drowning 39 men. She had to be beached at the island of [[Bozcaada]] ([[Tenedos]]) to prevent her sinking, as she'd taken in some {{convert|1600|LT}} of water, but she was temporarily repaired with a [[cofferdam]] over the {{convert|30|x|26|ft|m|adj=on}} hole. She sailed to Malta, escorted by the battleship {{HMS|Canopus|1897|2}} and cruiser {{HMS|Talbot|1895|2}} on 6 April. She nearly foundered when her cofferdam worked loose in heavy weather en route and had to be towed stern-first by ''Canopus'' for six hours while the cofferdam was repaired. She was under repair at Malta until early June before she sailed for home.<ref>Burt, pp. 56–57.</ref> She reached the UK on 19 June where she joined the 3rd BCS.<ref name=r22/>

Towards the end of the year, the British battlecruiser force was organised into three [[Squadron (naval)|squadrons]], with the 3rd BCS consisting of the three ''Invincible''-class ships under the command of Rear Admiral [[Horace Hood]] in ''Invincible''. The 1st and 3rd BCS had sortied in response to the German [[bombardment of Yarmouth and Lowestoft]] on 24–25 April 1916, but failed to locate the German ships in heavy weather. During the return home, ''Invincible'' was rammed by the patrol yacht ''Goissa''. ''Goissa''{{'}}s bow was embedded in ''Invincible''{{'}}s side which partially stoved-in. ''Invincible''{{'}}s speed was reduced to {{convert|12|kn}} through flooding and she was forced to haul out of line and proceed independently to [[Rosyth]] for repairs which lasted until 22 May.<ref>Tarrant, pp. 95–96.</ref>

===Battle of Jutland===
{{Main|Battle of Jutland}}
At the end of May 1916, the 3rd Battlecruiser Squadron was temporarily assigned to the [[Grand Fleet]] for gunnery practice. On 30 May, the entire Grand Fleet, along with Admiral Beatty's battlecruisers, had been ordered to sea to prepare for an excursion by the German [[High Seas Fleet]]. To support Beatty, Rear Admiral Hood took his three battlecruisers ahead of the Grand Fleet. At about 14:30 ''Invincible'' intercepted a radio message from the British light cruiser {{HMS|Galatea|1914|2}}, attached to Beatty's Battlecruiser Force, reporting the sighting of two enemy cruisers. This was amplified by other reports of seven enemy ships steering north. Hood interpreted this as an attempt to escape through the [[Skagerrak]] and ordered an increase in speed to {{convert|22|kn}} at 15:11 and steered East-Southeast to cut off the fleeing ships. Twenty minutes later ''Invincible'' intercepted a message from Beatty reporting five enemy battlecruisers in sight and later signals reporting that he was engaging the enemy on a south-easterly course. At 16:06 Hood ordered full speed and a course of south-southeast in an attempt to converge on Beatty. At 16:56, with no British ships in sight, Hood requested Beatty's course, position and speed, but never received a reply.<ref>Tarrant, pp. 98–99</ref>

Hood continued on course until 17:40 when gunfire was spotted in the direction to which his light cruiser {{HMS|Chester|1915|2}} had been dispatched to investigate other gunfire flashes. ''Chester'' encountered four light cruisers of Hipper's 2nd Scouting Group and was badly damaged before Hood turned to investigate and was able to drive the German cruisers away from ''Chester''. At 17:53 ''Invincible'' opened fire on {{SMS|Wiesbaden||2}} and the other two ''Invincible''s followed two minutes later. The German ships turned for the south after fruitlessly firing torpedoes at 18:00 and attempted to find shelter in the mist. As they turned ''Invincible'' hit ''Wiesbaden'' in the engine room and knocked out her engines while ''Inflexible'' hit {{SMS|Pillau||2}} once. The 2nd Scouting Group was escorted by the light cruiser {{SMS|Regensburg||2}} and 31 destroyers of the 2nd and 9th Flotillas and the 12th Half-Flotilla which attacked the 3rd BCS in succession. They were driven off by Hood's remaining light cruiser {{HMS|Canterbury|1915|2}} and the five destroyers of his escort. In a confused action the Germans only launched 12 torpedoes and disabled the destroyer {{HMS|Shark|1912|2}} with gunfire. Having turned due west to close on Beatty's ships, the ''Invincible''s were broadside to the oncoming torpedoes, but ''Invincible'' turned north, while ''Inflexible'' and ''Indomitable'' turned south to present their narrowest profile to the torpedoes. All the torpedoes missed although one passed underneath ''Inflexible'' without detonating. As ''Invincible'' turned north, her helm jammed and she had to come to a stop to fix the problem, but this was quickly done and the squadron reformed heading west.<ref>Tarrant, pp. 103–105</ref>
[[File:InvincibleWrecksp2470.jpg|thumb|left|The wreck of ''Invincible'' prior to the ship finally sinking]]
At 18:21, with both Beatty and the Grand Fleet converging on him, Hood turned south to lead Beatty's battlecruisers. Hipper's battlecruisers were {{convert|9000|yd|m}} away and the ''Invincible''s almost immediately opened fire on Hipper's flagship {{SMS|Lützow||2}} and {{SMS|Derfflinger||2}}. ''Indomitable'' hit ''Derfflinger'' three times and {{SMS|Seydlitz||2}} once,<ref>Campbell, pp. 185–187</ref> while the ''Lützow'' quickly took 10 hits from {{HMS|Lion|1910|2}}, ''Inflexible'' and ''Invincible'', including two hits below the waterline forward by ''Invincible'' that would ultimately doom her.<ref>Campbell, p. 183</ref> But at 18:30 ''Invincible'' abruptly appeared as a clear target before ''Lützow'' and ''Derfflinger''. The two German ships then fired three salvoes each at ''Invincible'', and sank her in 90 seconds. A 305&nbsp;mm (12-inch) shell from the third salvo struck ''Invincible''{{'}}s midships 'Q' turret, flash detonated the magazines below, and the ship blew up and broke in half, killing all but 6 of her crew of 1,032 officers and men, including Hood.<ref>Campbell, p. 159</ref>

''Inflexible'' and ''Indomitable'' remained in company with Beatty for the rest of the battle. They encountered Hipper's battlecruisers only {{convert|10000|yd|m}} away as the sun was setting about 20:19 and opened fire. ''Seydlitz'' was hit five times before the battlecruisers were rescued by the [[pre-dreadnought battleship]]s of Rear Admiral Mauve and the British shifted fire to the new threat. Three of the predreadnoughts were hit before they too were able to turn into the gloom.<ref>Campbell, pp. 252–254, 272</ref>

===Post-Jutland career===
The loss of three battlecruisers at Jutland (the others were {{HMS|Queen Mary||2}} and {{HMS|Indefatigable|1909|2}}) led to the force being reorganised into two squadrons, with ''Inflexible'' and ''Indomitable'' in the 2nd BCS. However, after Jutland there was little significant naval activity, for the ''Invincible''s, other than routine patrolling, thanks to the [[Kaiser Wilhelm II|Kaiser's]] order that his ships should not be allowed to go to sea unless assured of victory. The end of the war saw the end for many of the older vessels, not least the two remaining ''Invincible''-class ships. Both were sent to the Reserve Fleet in 1919, and were [[paid off]] in March 1920.<ref name=r22/>

After the end of the war, Chile began seeking additional ships for its navy. In April 1920, Chile bought [[Chilean battleship Almirante Latorre|''Canada'']] and four destroyers, all of which had been ordered by Chile prior to the war's outbreak and requisitioned by the British for the war.<ref>Livermore, p. 48</ref> Further planned expansion included ''Inflexible'' and ''Indomitable'', but when the secret negotiations to acquire them were leaked to the press, a major uproar erupted in Chile. The most visible dissension came from a bloc of officers in the navy, who publicly opposed any possible purchase and instead promoted a "New Navy" which would acquire submarines and aircraft. They argued that these weapons would cost less and give the country, and its lengthy coastline, better protection from external threats. The ships were not bought for reasons of cost, but neither were the aircraft its supporters had been hoping for.<ref>Somervell, pp. 393–394</ref> Both were sold for [[ship breaking|scrap]] on 1 December 1921.<ref name=r22/>