page_title: HMS Emperor of India
section_title: First World War
hierarchical_section_title: HMS Emperor of India / Service history / First World War
caption_attribution_description: English: Taking shells for 13.5 inch guns aboard British battleship HMS Emperor of India.
context_page_description: HMS Emperor of India was an Iron Duke-class battleship of the British Royal Navy. She was originally to have been named Delhi but was renamed before she was completed, to honour King George V, who was also Emperor of India. The ship was laid down on 31 May 1912 at the Vickers shipyard, and was launched on 27 November 1913. The finished ship was commissioned a year later in November 1914, shortly after the start of the First World War. She was armed with a main battery of ten 13.5-inch guns and was capable of a top speed of 21.25 knots.
  Upon commissioning, Emperor of India joined the 4th Battle Squadron of the Grand Fleet, based at Scapa Flow. She took part in numerous sorties into the northern North Sea to enforce the blockade of Germany, along with frequent training exercises and gunnery drills. Emperor of India was in dock for a refit in late May 1916, so she was unavailable for the Battle of Jutland. The increased danger from submarines led both the Grand Fleet and the German High Seas Fleet to pursue more cautious strategies after Jutland, which led to a less eventful war.
context_section_description: On 23–24 December, the 4th and 2nd Squadrons conducted gunnery practice north of the Hebrides. The following day, the entire fleet sortied for a sweep in the North Sea, which concluded on 27 December; this was Emperor of India's first fleet operation. Another round of gunnery drills followed from 10–13 January 1915 west of the Orkney and Shetland Islands, this time with the entire fleet. On the evening of 23 January, the bulk of the Grand Fleet sailed in support of Beatty's Battlecruiser Fleet, but the main fleet did not become engaged in the Battle of Dogger Bank that took place the following day. From 7–10 March, the Grand Fleet conducted a sweep in the northern North Sea, during which it conducted training manoeuvres. Another such cruise took place from 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 from 17–19 April, followed by gunnery drills off Shetland on 20–21 April.
  The Grand Fleet conducted a sweep into the central North Sea on 17–19 May without encountering any German vessels. In mid-June, the fleet conducted another round of gunnery training. On 2–5 September, the fleet went on another cruise in the northern end of the North Sea and conducted gunnery drills. Throughout the rest of the month, the Grand Fleet conducted numerous training exercises. On 13 October the majority of the fleet conducted another sweep into the North Sea, returning to port on the 15th. From 2–5 November, Emperor of India participated in another fleet training operation west of Orkney Another such cruise took place from 1–4 December.
  The typical routine of gunnery drills and squadron exercises occurred in January. The fleet departed for a cruise in the North Sea on 26 February; Jellicoe had intended to use the Harwich Force to sweep the Heligoland Bight, but bad weather prevented operations in the southern North Sea. As a result, the operation was confined to the northern end of the sea. On the night of 25 March, Emperor of India and the rest of the fleet sailed from Scapa Flow to support the Battlecruiser Fleet and other light forces that raided the German zeppelin base at Tondern. By the time the Grand Fleet approached the area on 26 March, the British and German forces had already disengaged and a severe gale threatened the light craft. Iron Duke, the fleet flagship, guided the destroyers back to Scapa while Emperor of India and the rest of the fleet retired independently.
  On 21 April, the Grand Fleet conducted a demonstration off Horns Reef to distract the Germans while the Russian Navy relaid its defensive minefields in the Baltic Sea. The fleet returned to Scapa Flow on 24 April and refuelled before proceeding south in response to intelligence reports that the Germans were about to launch a raid on Lowestoft. The Grand Fleet did not arrive in the area until after the German High Seas Fleet had withdrawn, however. On 2–4 May, the fleet conducted another demonstration off Horns Reef to keep German attention focused on the North Sea. Emperor of India was not available for the Battle of Jutland on 31 May–1 June, as she was in dock for a refit. Following Jutland, she was transferred to the 1st Battle Squadron, where she again served as the second division flagship. She remained in the 1st Squadron for the rest of the war.
  On 18 August, the Germans again sortied, this time to bombard Sunderland; Vice Admiral Reinhard Scheer, the German fleet commander, hoped to draw out Beatty's battlecruisers and destroy them. British signals intelligence decrypted German wireless transmissions, allowing Jellicoe enough time to deploy the Grand Fleet in an attempt to engage in a decisive battle. Both sides withdrew, however, after their opponents' submarines inflicted losses: the British cruisers Nottingham and Falmouth were both torpedoed and sunk by German U-boats, and the German battleship SMS Westfalen was damaged by the British submarine E23. After returning to port, Jellicoe issued an order that prohibited risking the fleet in the souther
caption: Loading shells aboard the ship during the war
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