BELLEROPHON.
SUPERB.
TEMERAIRE.
These ships are some of our earliest Dreadnoughts. Their displacement is 18,900 tons, length 490 ft. Parsons’ turbines of 23,000 h.p. propel them at a maximum speed of 21 knots, which they can maintain for several hours without difficulty. Ten 12-in. guns form the primary armament, which is mounted in five twin turrets, so disposed as to allow eight guns to fire on the broadside. They carry, further, sixteen 4-in. quick-firing guns to repel attack by torpedo craft, and there are three torpedo tubes below water.
On the waterline and the big-gun positions there is 11-in. armour. The maximum supply of coal and oil is 2,700 tons. The complement is 800 officers and men. These battleships cost about £1,700,000 to build and complete.
DREADNOUGHT.
(Completed 1906.)
This famous battleship was laid down at Portsmouth in October, 1905, and completed by December, 1906, and thus established a record for speedy construction. She was designed by a committee of experts to meet the requirements of modern naval tactics, and with various modifications the main principles she embodied have since been almost universally adopted. She displaces 17,900 tons, and is 520 ft. long. Parsons’ turbines of 23,000 h.p. give her a speed of 21 knots. She was the first battleship ever fitted with turbine machinery.
The armament consists of ten 12-in. guns, mounted in five twin turrets, which are so placed as to give a broadside fire of eight and an axial fire of six guns. For keeping off torpedo craft a battery of twenty-four 12-pounder quick-firers is provided. There are five submerged torpedo tubes. Waterline and vitals are protected by 11-in. armour, as also are the gun turrets. The ship has a great amount of internal protection against mine or torpedo explosion. She can carry 2,700 tons of coal. The complement numbers about 800 officers and men. This battleship cost upwards of £1,800,000 to build and equip.
LORD NELSON CLASS.
(Completed 1908-09.)
LORD NELSON.
AGAMEMNON.
These battleships are sometimes called semi-Dreadnoughts, because they approximate to the Dreadnought type in tonnage and armament. The displacement is 16,500 tons, length 410 ft., and engines of 16,750 h.p., giving a speed of over 18 knots. Each of these vessels is armed with four 12-in. and ten 9·2-in. breech-loading guns, all mounted in armoured turrets. The four 12-in. and eight of the 9·2-in. guns are in twin turrets, the other two 9·2-in. being in single turrets. The disposition of the armament is such that four 12-in. and five 9·2-in. can fire on each broadside. An outstanding defect is the smallness of the double 9·2-in. turrets, which hardly give elbow room to the crews and do not allow full advantage to be taken of the extraordinary rapidity with which the 9·2-in. piece can be worked when there is plenty of space.
On the whole, however, these ships are extremely powerful units. For driving off torpedo craft there are twenty-four 12-pounder quick-firers mounted in the superstructure. Five torpedo tubes are fitted. Armour protection consists of a 12-in. belt amidships, and there is similar plating on the 12-in. turrets, the smaller turrets having 8-in. armour. The fuel capacity is 2,500 tons. Each battleship carries 750 officers and men and cost £1,650,000 to build and complete.