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Friday 3 August 2012

Victorian and Edwardian Miscellany: Royal Navy: Part 1

Over the years I have managed to collect a few photographs of ships of the Royal Navy from the late Victorian and Edwardian periods, and I thought that they might be of general interest to regular blog readers.

The Admiral-class battleships are one of my favourites designs. They were precursors of the Pre-Dreadnoughts and the first significant 'class' of ironclad battleships built by the Royal Navy.

The leadship of the class was HMS Collingwood.


Her particulars were:
  • Displacement: 9,500 tons
  • Length: 325 feet
  • Beam: 68 feet
  • Draught: 26 feet 4 inches
  • Propulsion: 2 × Humphries compound inverted steam engines (9,600 ihp) each driving a propeller
  • Maximum Speed: 16.8 knots
  • Complement: 498
  • Armament: 4 × BL 12-inch guns; 6 × BL 6-inch guns; 12 × 6-pounder QF guns; 4 × 14-inch torpedo tubes
  • Armour: Belt: 8–18 inches; Bulkheads: 7–16 inches; Deck: 2–3 inches; Conning Tower: 2–12 inches; Barbettes: 10–11.5 inches; Battery Screens: 6 inches
The final ship in the class was HMS Benbow. She was unique as she was armed with two of the largest guns that available, the BL 16.25-inch'


Her particulars were:
  • Displacement: 10,600 tons
  • Length: 330 feet
  • Beam: 68 feet 6 inches
  • Draught: 27 feet 10 inches
  • Propulsion: 2 × Maudslay compound inverted steam engines (10,860 ihp) each driving a propeller
  • Maximum Speed: 17.5 knots
  • Complement: 523
  • Armament: 2 × BL 16.25-inch guns; 10 × BL 6-inch guns; 12 × 6-pounder QF guns; 5 × 14-inch torpedo tubes
  • Armour: Belt: 8–18 inches; Bulkheads: 7–16 inches; Deck: 2–3 inches; Conning Tower: 2–12 inches; Barbettes: 10–11.5 inches; Battery Screens: 6 inches
To me these ships the epitome of good Victorian battleship design, and remain amongst my all-time favourite warships.

6 comments:

  1. Bob,

    First you write that the HMS Benbow has two 16.25" guns . . . then list her primary armament as four 12" guns . . . seems to me that you need to edit your post, eh?


    -- Jeff

    ReplyDelete
  2. Bob

    Great photos. Love the ships from this era. Thanks for posting.

    Cheers

    PD

    ReplyDelete
  3. Bluebear Jeff,

    Thanks for spotting the error. It has now been corrected.

    All the best,

    Bob

    ReplyDelete
  4. Peter Douglas,

    I am very pleased that you liked the photographs.

    All the best,

    Bob

    ReplyDelete
  5. Vulture,

    As you have no doubt discovered, there are more to come!

    All the best,

    Bob

    ReplyDelete

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