page_title: HMS Erin
section_title: 1914–1915
hierarchical_section_title: HMS Erin / Construction and career / 1914–1915
caption_attribution_description: English: The British battleship HMS Erin in a floating dry dock, circa in 1918. The location may be Invergordon, Scotland (UK). In the left foreground are several old warships employed as barracks and for other stationary support duties. The one furthest right may be HMS Algiers (formerly HMS Triumph of 1873). That at the far left, with two smokestacks closely spaced side-by-side, may be HMS Mars of 1897.
context_page_description: HMS Erin was a dreadnought battleship of the Royal Navy, originally ordered by the Ottoman government from the British Vickers Company. The ship was to have been named Reşadiye when she entered service with the Ottoman Navy. The Reşadiye class was designed to be at least the equal of any other ship afloat or under construction. When the First World War began in August 1914, Reşadiye was nearly complete and was seized at the orders of Winston Churchill, the First Lord of the Admiralty to keep her in British hands and prevent her from being used by Germany or German allies. There is no evidence that the seizure played any part in the Ottoman government declaring war on Britain and the Entente Cordiale.
  Aside from a minor role in the Battle of Jutland in May 1916 and the inconclusive Action of 19 August the same year, Erin's service during the war generally consisted of routine patrols and training in the North Sea. The ship was deemed obsolete after the war; she was reduced to reserve and used as a training ship. Erin served as the flagship of the reserve fleet at the Nore for most of 1920. She was sold for scrap in 1922 and broken up the following year.
context_section_description: Captain Victor Stanley was appointed as Erin's captain. On 5 September, she joined the Grand Fleet, commanded by Admiral John Jellicoe, at Scapa Flow in Orkney and was assigned to the Fourth Battle Squadron (BS). Erin sailed with the ships of the Grand Fleet as they departed from Loch Ewe in Scotland on 17 September, for gunnery practice west of the Orkney Islands the following day. After the exercise, they began a fruitless search for German ships in the North Sea that was hampered by bad weather. The Grand Fleet arrived at Scapa Flow on 24 September to refuel before departing the next day for more target practice west of Orkney. In early October the Grand Fleet sortied into the North Sea to provide distant cover for a large convoy transporting Canadian troops from Halifax, Nova Scotia and returned to Scapa on 12 October. Reports of submarines in Scapa Flow led Jellicoe to conclude that the defences there were inadequate and on 16 October, he ordered that the bulk of the Grand Fleet be dispersed to Lough Swilly, Ireland. Jellicoe took the Grand Fleet to sea on 3 November for gunnery training and battle exercises and the 4th BS returned to Scapa six days later. On the evening of 22 November, the Grand Fleet conducted another abortive sweep in the southern half of the North Sea; Erin stood with the main body in support of Vice-Admiral David Beatty's 1st Battlecruiser Squadron. The fleet was back at Scapa Flow by 27 November. On 16 December, the Grand Fleet sortied during the German raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby but failed to intercept the High Seas Fleet. Erin and the rest of the Grand Fleet made another sweep of the North Sea on 25–27 December.
  Jellicoe's ships, including Erin, practised gunnery drills on 10–13 January 1915 west of the Orkney and Shetland Islands. On the evening of 23 January, the bulk of the Grand Fleet sailed in support of Beatty's battlecruisers but the fleet was too far away to participate in the Battle of Dogger Bank the following day. On 7–10 March, the fleet made a sweep in the northern North Sea, during which it conducted training manoeuvres. Another cruise took place on 16–19 March. On 11 April, the Grand Fleet conducted a patrol in the central North Sea and returned to port on 14 April; another patrol in the area took place on 17–19 April, followed by gunnery drills off Shetland on 20–21 April.
  The Grand Fleet conducted sweeps into the central North Sea on 17–19 May and 29–31 May without encountering German vessels. During 11–14 June, the fleet practised gunnery and battle exercises west of Shetland and more training off Shetland from 11 July. On 2–5 September, the fleet went on another cruise in the northern North Sea and conducted gunnery drills. Throughout the rest of the month, the Grand Fleet conducted training exercises and then made another sweep into the North Sea from 13 to 15 October. Erin participated in another fleet training operation west of Orkney during 2–5 November. The ship was transferred to the Second Battle Squadron sometime between September and December.
caption: Erin in a floating drydock, about 1918
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