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.