These are armoured cruisers of 13,550 tons. They are 480 ft. in length, and have engines of 23,000 h.p., giving a speed of 23 knots. The armament consists of six 9·2-in. and four 7·5-in. guns, all mounted in single turrets, and so disposed that six heavy guns bear on each broadside. There are, besides, twenty-four 3-pounder quick-firers for use against torpedo-craft, and three submerged torpedo tubes. The armour belt and turrets are 6 in. thick. The maximum coal capacity is 2,000 tons, and a complement of over 700 officers and men is carried. Each vessel cost about £1,200,000 to build and complete.
BLACK PRINCE CLASS.
(Completed 1906.)
BLACK PRINCE.
DUKE OF EDINBURGH.
These armoured cruisers have a displacement of 13,550 tons, are 480 ft. long, and have engines of 23,000 h.p., giving a speed of 23·3 knots. They are armed with six 9·2-in., ten 6-in., and twenty 3-pounder guns, with three torpedo tubes. The big guns are mounted in single turrets, the 6-in. weapons being in an armoured battery.
Owing to the low freeboard of these ships, their 6-in. guns are too near the water to be worked in rough weather. They are protected on the waterline by a 6-in. armour belt, with similar plating on the gun turrets and battery. The full coal capacity is 2,000 tons. These cruisers carry 700 officers and men. They cost nearly £1,200,000 to build and complete.
DEVONSHIRE CLASS.
(Completed 1905-06.)
ANTRIM.
CARNARVON.
HAMPSHIRE.
DEVONSHIRE.
ROXBURGH.
ARGYLL.
Armoured cruisers displacing 10,850 tons, 450 ft. in length, with engines of 20,500 h.p., giving a speed of 22·3 knots. The armament is weak for vessels of this size, and consists only of four 7·5-in. and six 6-in. guns, with twenty small quick-firers and two torpedo tubes.
The 7·5-in. guns are mounted in turrets, the 6-in. weapons in casemates. There is a 6-in. belt amidships, and 6-in. plating on the turrets and casemates. The maximum coal capacity is 1,800 tons. A complement of 655 officers and men is carried. The average cost, complete, of these ships was nearly £900,000.