The Bellerophon class was a class

Ship class

A ship class is a group of ships of a similar design. This is distinct from a ship-type, which might reflect a similarity of tonnage or intended use. For example, the is a nuclear aircraft carrier of the Nimitz class....

 of three dreadnought

Dreadnought

The dreadnought was the predominant type of 20th-century battleship. The first of the kind, the Royal Navy's had such an impact when launched in 1906 that similar battleships built after her were referred to as "dreadnoughts", and earlier battleships became known as pre-dreadnoughts...

 battleship

Battleship

A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...

s that were built in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 prior to World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, and served in the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 during the war. The Bellerophons were near carbon copies of the previous , with the exception of a second tripod mast. The lead ship, , was laid down on the same day of Dreadnoughts final completion, which was also built at Portsmouth Dockyard.

Design

Changes to the hull gave a more complete internal protection and allowed the larger ships to make the same speed with the same powerplant. While Dreadnought had bulkhead

Bulkhead (partition)

A bulkhead is an upright wall within the hull of a ship or within the fuselage of an airplane. Other kinds of partition elements within a ship are decks and deckheads.-Etymology:...

s that protected only the magazines

Magazine (artillery)

Magazine is the name for an item or place within which ammunition is stored. It is taken from the Arabic word "makahazin" meaning "warehouse".-Ammunition storage areas:...

, the Bellerophons had complete bulkheads running longitudinally through the ship. The 12-pounder guns that had been added to Dreadnought for protection from torpedo boat

Torpedo boat

A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval vessel designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs rammed enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes, and later designs launched self-propelled Whitehead torpedoes. They were created to counter battleships and other large, slow and...

s were recognised as being insufficient and their secondary armament

Battleship secondary armament

The secondary armament of a capital ship are smaller, faster-firing weapons that are typically effective at a shorter range than the main weapons...

 was made up of 4 inches (102 mm) guns. A mainmast added ahead of the aft funnel was still affected by the plume of the fore funnel and was not considered a success. These changes did require some compromises in the design resulting in thinner armour, reducing the belt armor from 11 to 10 inches (254 mm), and a reduced coal

Coal

Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...

 bunkerage, which limited the steaming endurance.

General characteristics

The Bellerophons design was virtually identical to that of the preceding , with some minor improvements. The tripod foremast, which on Dreadnought was behind the forward funnel, was positioned in front of the forward funnel so that lookouts stationed on the observation platform could be out of the smoke plume. A second tripod mast was placed in front of the second funnel.

The ships of the Bellerophon class were 160.3 m (525.9 ft) long. They had a beam of 25.2 m (82.7 ft), a draught of 8.3 m (27.2 ft), and normally displaced 18,800 tonne

Tonne

The tonne, known as the metric ton in the US , often put pleonastically as "metric tonne" to avoid confusion with ton, is a metric system unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. The tonne is not an International System of Units unit, but is accepted for use with the SI...

s with a maximum displacement of 22,102 tonnes.

Propulsion

The Bellerophon class had the same propulsion design as the previous Dreadnought. The ships were powered by four-shaft Parsons turbines in 18 coal-fired boilers. The ships' powerplants delivered at a rated 23,000 shp.

Armament

The Bellerophons armament featured an improved second battery. Sixteen 4 in (10.2 cm) guns replaced the twenty-seven 3 in (7.6 cm) guns on Dreadnought. However, the main armament was the same having ten 12 in (30.5 cm) guns in five twin turrets.

Construction

Ship	Builder	Engine builder	Laid down	Launched	Commissioned	Cost according to
	Portsmouth Dockyard, Portsmouth Portsmouth Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island... , England England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...	Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company The Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Limited was a British shipbuilding company in the Govan area on the Clyde in Glasgow. Fairfields, as it is often known, was a major warship builder, turning out many vessels for the Royal Navy and other navies through the First World War and the... , Parsons turbines	6 December 1906	27 July 1907	20 February 1909
	Armstrong Elswick Works, Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne... , England England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...	Wallsend Co., Parsons turbines	6 February 1907	7 November 1907	9 June 1909
	Devonport Dockyard HMNB Devonport Her Majesty's Naval Base Devonport , is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy . HMNB Devonport is located in Devonport, in the west of the city of Plymouth in Devon, England... , Plymouth Plymouth Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound... , England England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...	Hawthorn Leslie and Company Hawthorn Leslie and Company R. & W. Hawthorn Leslie and Company, Limited, usually referred to as Hawthorn Leslie, was a shipbuilding and locomotive manufacturer. The Company was founded on Tyneside in 1886 and ceased building ships in 1982.-History:... , Parsons turbines	1 January 1907	24 August 1907	15 May 1909

External links

• World War I Naval Combat - HMS Bellerophon
• MaritimeQuest Bellerophon Class Overview
• Dreadnought Project Technical material on the weaponry and fire control for the ships