Career
Colossus began trials on 28 February 1911, and these continued until July of the same year. She took on board a full crew on 31 July and was commissioned at Devonport on 8 August in the second division of the home fleet. This division was renamed the Second Battle Squadron (2BS) on 1 May 1912. She took part in the Parliamentary review of the Fleet in July 1912, and exercised with the Home Fleet in October and November. She visited Cherbourg with part of the fleet in March 1913. In December she was transferred to form part of the First Battle Squadron (1BS). On 29 July 1914 she sailed for Scapa Flow as the possibility of war loomed.
During the First World War she remained based at Scapa flow until 1918, except for a brief period from 22 October to 3 November 1914 when she was stationed at Lough Swilly.
In November 1915 she was made flagship of 1BS, relieving HMS St Vincent. On 31 May 1916 she was present at the only major battleship engagement of World War I, the Battle of Jutland. In this engagement she led a battle squadron comprising HMS Neptune, HMS Collingwood and HMS St Vincent. After the Grand Fleet had deployed, Colossus was seventeenth in line, and her look-out sighted the head of the German High Seas Fleet at 17.51. She opened fire at 18.30, when the range had closed, but without discernible effect. At 19.00 she fired at an armoured cruiser, believed to be SMS Wiesbaden, at a range of under 10,000 yards. This cruiser later sank, having been fired on by several ships. From 19.00 to 19.20 she was, together with HMS Collingwood, in action with the I Scouting Group, which comprised the German battlecruiser force. Several hits were reported on SMS Derfflinger. At 19.16 Colossus was damaged by heavy shellfire on the forward superstructure. There was no serious damage and the fighting efficiency of the ship was not affected. Six men were injured. Other than the ships of the Fifth Battle Squadron - HMS Warspite, HMS Malaya, HMS Barham and HMS Valiant - Colossus was the only British battleship hit by gunfire at Jutland.
From June to September 1917 she was under refit, and moved with the Grand fleet when the main base was transferred to Rosyth in April 1918. She was present at the surrender of the German fleet on 21 November 1918.
On the dispersal of the Grand Fleet after the war she became flagship of Vice-Admiral, Reserve Fleet, at Devonport. On 30 June 1921 she was put on the disposal list as being surplus to requirement, but was rescued to become a boys' training ship, in a militarily non-effective state. On 23 July 1923 she was reduced to a training hulk; she was sold to Charlestown Shipbreaking Industries in August 1928 and broken up from 5 September that year.
Read more about this topic: HMS Colossus (1910)
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—Lawrence Kutner (20th century)
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—Margaret S. Mahler (1897–1985)