Formidable-class battleship
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The Royal Navy's Formidable class of battleships were an eight-ship class of pre-Dreadnoughts built in the late 1890s. They were similar in appearance to and had the same armament as the Majestic and Canopus classes, although the Formidables were not as large, being 30 feet smaller than the Canopus class. Unlike those two battleship classes, they had no deck or barbette armour, but the class did have belt and turret armour, with the latter being increased from the 6 inches that the other two classes had to 9 inches.
After the first three, there was a change in design for the last five ships starting with London. The main difference was in thinner deck armour and the consequent lower displacement. These latter ships are sometimes known as the London class but are in effecta sub-class of the Formidable class. The last two ships to be built, Prince of Wales and Queen, were not commissioned until 1904 not long before the launching of HMS Dreadnought, the first all big gun battleship. With the creation of the new Dreadnought type battleships and battlecruisers, the Formidables were consigned to less demanding roles for much of the First World War.
Ships
- Formidable - Torpedoed by U-24 off Portland Bill January 1, 1915 while on patrol with loss of 547 of her 750 crew.
- Irresistible - Hit a mine during the Dardanelles Campaign in 1915, and subsequently sank three hours later.
- Implacable - Served in and survived the First World War to be sold for scrap in 1921.
- London - Took part in the Dardanelles Campaign. She was later converted to a minelayer.
- Bulwark - Suffered an internal explosion in November 1914 at Sheerness killing all but 12 out of her 750 crew.
- Venerable - Served in the First World War, broken up in 1920.
- Queen - Also served in the Dardanelles Campaign in 1915. She was broken up in 1920.
- Prince of Wales - Took part in the Dardanelles Campaign. She was broken up in 1921.
Formidable class characteristics
- Displacement: 15,800 tons (15,700 tons London class)
- Length: 431 ft
- Beam: 75 ft
- Draught: 25 ft 11 in (26 ft for London class)
- Complement: 780 (750 for London class)
- Armament:
- 4 x 12-inch guns
- 12 x 6-inch guns
- 16 x 12-pounder guns
- 6 x 3-pounder guns
- 4 x 18-inch submerged torpedo tubes
- Armour:
- belt 9 inches
- barbettes: 12 inches,
- gunhouses: 10 inches
- deck:1 to 3 inches (1 to 2.5 for London-class)
- Propulsion: Water tube boilers, 2 x vertical triple expansion engines, 2 shafts, 15,500 ihp
- Speed: 18.0 knots