Armstrong Whitworth Elswick Yard

Armstrong Whitworth Elswick Yard had three large building slips and six smaller slips, it was situated five miles upstream from the company's Walker yards, by the outbreak of war, the company had transferred most of the shipbuilding work to their new yards at Walker. During the conflict submarines and warships were built at Elswick, with the works mainly being engaged in ordnance work. Armstrong Witworth employed around 25,000 people across their three shipyards on the Tyne.

1st June 1914 HMS Swiftsure
HMS Swiftsure
HMS Swiftsure, Pre-Dreadnought Battleship. Built Armstong, Elswick, laid down February 1902, completed June 1904, cost £957,520.
Swiftsure Class. (Two ship class - sister ship HMS Triumph). Designed originally for overseas navy these ships were quite distinctive from the normal British designs with wide spaced funnels and prominent cranes between them, including smaller main gun turrets. The ships were only considered Second Class Battleships in British service.
HMS Swiftsure.
The two ships had slightly different main guns as they were armed by their respective builders. They were the only British battleships to mount a 7.5 inch gun although that calibre was used in some cruisers. Likewise the 14 pounder anti torpedo boat guns were unique to this class.
Size: Length 462 feet 6 inch waterline 475 feet 3 inch overall, beam 71 feet 2 inches, draught 24 feet 8 inches, displacement 11,740 load 13,432 tons deep.
Propulsion: 2 shaft Triple Expansion, 12,500 ihp, Speed 19 knots.
Armour: 7-3inch belt, 10inch barbettes, 10inch gun houses, 3-1inch decks.
Armament: 4 x 10inch 45 cal BL (2 x 2), 14 x 7.5inch BL (14 x 1), 14 x 14 pounder QF (14 x 1), 2 x 12 pounder QF (2 x 1), 4 x 6 pounder (4 x 1), 2 x 18inch TT
Crew complement 729 Officers and ratings.
Originally designed by Sir Edward Reed for Chile to counter Argentinean armoured cruisers but owing to financial problems the ships were put up for sale before completion. The ships were purchased by the British government in December 1903 mainly to prevent their possible sale to Russia. The design emphasised speed and a heavy secondary armament at the expense of protection and main armament. Crew 729.
World War 1 Service:

Flagship East Indies Squadron.
November 1914 escorted Indian Convoy.
December 1914 Detached to Suez.
February 1915 joined Dardanelles Squadron.
2 March 1915 attack on forts.
5-9 March 1915 attacks on forts at Smyrna.
18 March 1915 onwards supported landings at Helles.
18 September 1915 unsuccessfully attacked by German submarine (U21?).
18 January 1916 bombardment of Dedeagatch.
February 1916 attached to 9th Cruiser Squadron in the Atlantic.
11 April 1917 paid off at Chatham to release crews.
Mid 1917-February 1918 accommodation ship.
Autumn 1918 prepared for use as block ship but not used before the Armistice.
1920 sold for scrap.

John Doran

If you can provide any additional information, please add it here.

Want to know more about Armstrong Whitworth Elswick Yard?

There are:1 items tagged Armstrong Whitworth Elswick Yard available in our Library

These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Great War.

Those known to have served at
Armstrong Whitworth Elswick Yard
during the Great War 1914-1918.

This page is new, as yet no names have been submitted.

All names on this list have been submitted by relatives, friends, neighbours and others who wish to remember them, if you have any names to add or any recollections or photos of those listed, please Add a Name to this List

The Wartime Memories Project is the original WW1 and WW2 commemoration website.

1st of September 2024 marks 25 years since the launch of the Wartime Memories Project. Thanks to everyone who has supported us over this time.

Want to find out more about your relative's service? Want to know what life was like during the Great War? Our Library contains many many diary entries, personal letters and other documents, most transcribed into plain text.

Looking for help with Family History Research?
Please see Family History FAQ's

Please note: We are unable to provide individual research.

Can you help?
The free to access section of The Wartime Memories Project website is run by volunteers and funded by donations from our visitors.
If the information here has been helpful or you have enjoyed reaching the stories please conside making a donation, no matter how small, would be much appreciated, annually we need to raise enough funds to pay for our web hosting or this site will vanish from the web.
If you enjoy this site please consider making a donation.

Announcements

18th Dec 2024
Please note we currently have a massive backlog of submitted material, our volunteers are working through this as quickly as possible and all names, stories and photos will be added to the site. If you have already submitted a story to the site and your UID reference number is higher than 265120 your submission is still in the queue, please do not resubmit.

Wanted: Digital copies of Group photographs, Scrapbooks, Autograph books, photo albums, newspaper clippings, letters, postcards and ephemera relating to the Great War. If you have any unwanted photographs, documents or items from the First or Second World War, please do not destroy them. The Wartime Memories Project will give them a good home and ensure that they are used for educational purposes. Please get in touch for the postal address, do not sent them to our PO Box as packages are not accepted.

World War 1 One ww1 wwII greatwar great battalion regiment artillery
Did you know? We also have a section on World War Two. and a Timecapsule to preserve stories from other conflicts for future generations.

Recomended Reading.

Available at discounted prices.

The Wartime Memories Project
- Armstrong Whitworth Elswick Yard during the Great War -

Armstrong Whitworth Elswick Yard

Want to know more about Armstrong Whitworth Elswick Yard?

Those known to have served at
Armstrong Whitworth Elswick Yard
during the Great War 1914-1918.

Can you help?

If you enjoy this site please consider making a donation.

Announcements

Recomended Reading.

Links

The Wartime Memories Project - Armstrong Whitworth Elswick Yard during the Great War -

Armstrong Whitworth Elswick Yard

Want to know more about Armstrong Whitworth Elswick Yard?

Those known to have served at Armstrong Whitworth Elswick Yard during the Great War 1914-1918.

Can you help?

If you enjoy this site please consider making a donation.

Announcements

Recomended Reading.

Links

The Wartime Memories Project
- Armstrong Whitworth Elswick Yard during the Great War -

Those known to have served at
Armstrong Whitworth Elswick Yard
during the Great War 1914-1918.