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Hms Monmouth (1901)The sixth HMS Monmouth of the British Royal Navy was the name ship of her class of armoured cruiser of 9,800 tons displacement. She was sunk at the Battle of Coronel in 1914. Built in 1901, with her heaviest guns being fourteen 6-inch quick-firers, she had a weak armament for armoured cruiser. In addition, most of the casemate 6-inch guns were situated so close to the waterline that they were unusable in all but the calmest weather. Her armor was also much too thin for an armored cruiser and could be easily penetrated by German shells. These problems would prove disastrous for her thirteen years later at Coronel. She served on the China Station between 1906 and 1913, before being put in the Reserve Fleet in January 1914. On the outbreak of the First World War she was remobilised and sent to the 5th Cruiser Squadron of Admiral Sir Christopher Cradock. She participated in the Battle of Coronel off the coast of Chile in 1914. Totally outmatched and with a green crew, she was quickly overwhelmed, beiong unable to use many of her guns due to the storm weather. Early in the battle, an 8.2-inch shell from SMS Gneisenau penetrated the weak armor of the forward 6-inch gun turret, destroying it and causing a massive fire on the forecastle. More serious hits followed, and she soon could no longer hold her place in the line of battle. When it was clear that Monmouth was out of action, Gneisenau shifted fire to HMS Good Hope. A short while later, drifting and on fire, Monmouth was sunk by the newly arrived SMS Nrnberg, seventy-five 4.1-inch shells being fired from the German light cruiser at close range. There were no survivors. See HMS Monmouth for other ships of this name. Monmouth
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