HMS Terror (I03)

HMS Terror underway in Plymouth Sound, October 1933
History
United Kingdom
NameTerror
Operator Royal Navy
BuilderHarland & Wolff, Belfast
Yard number493
Laid down26 October 1915
Launched18 May 1916
Completed6 August 1916
Commissioned22 July 1916
FateScuttled 24 February 1941
General characteristics (as built)
Class and typeErebus-class monitor
Displacement8,450 long tons (8,586 t)
Length
  • 380 ft (115.8 m) (p/p)
  • 405 ft (123.4 m) (o/a)
Beam88 ft 2 in (26.9 m)
Draught11 ft 8 in (3.6 m)
Installed power
Propulsion2 × screws; 2 × triple-expansion steam engines
Speed12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) (service)
Range2,480 nmi (4,590 km; 2,850 mi)
Complement204
Armament
  • 1 × twin 15 in (381 mm) guns
  • 1 × single 3 in (76 mm) AA gun
  • 2 × single 12 pdr, 3 in (76 mm) guns
Armour
General characteristics (1939 refit)
Armament
  • 1 × twin 15 in (381 mm) guns
  • 6 × single 4 in (102 mm) guns
  • 2 × quadruple 0.5 in (12.7 mm) machine guns

HMS Terror was an Erebus-class monitor built for the Royal Navy during the First World War in Belfast. Completed in 1916, she was assigned to the Dover Patrol where her primary duties involved bombarding German targets on the coast of occupied Belgium, particularly at the ports of Zeebrugge and Ostend. In October 1917 Terror was hit by three torpedoes, taking severe damage to the bow, and had to be towed into Portsmouth for repair. In April 1918 she participated in the Zeebrugge raid and provided gunnery support for the Fifth Battle of Ypres in September of the same year.

After the war the monitor was attached to HMS Excellent, the Royal Navy's gunnery school in Portsmouth and participated in gunnery trials in the 1920s. In January 1934 Terror became the base ship at Sembawang Naval Base in Singapore where she remained for the rest of the decade. From May 1939 to the end of the year she underwent an extensive refit in Singapore's dockyards.

After the outbreak of the Second World War and the completion of her refit, Terror was ordered home to Europe in January 1940. From early March, she served in the Mediterranean and defended Malta from Italian air raids before supporting the land-based assault of Italian positions in North Africa at the end of the year. In January 1941 the ship helped capture Bardia and Tobruk before attempting to defend Benghazi from German air attacks in February. After being damaged by two air attacks and two mines on 22 and 23 February, Terror was scuttled off the coast of Libya in the early hours of 24 February. The crew were evacuated to the minesweeper Fareham and corvette Salvia before she sank.