The Edgar-class was a nine-ship class of protected cruiser

Protected cruiser

The protected cruiser is a type of naval cruiser of the late 19th century, so known because its armoured deck offered protection for vital machine spaces from shrapnel caused by exploding shells above...

 built around 1891 for 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...

.

Design

Crescent and Royal Arthur were built to a slightly modified design with a raised forecastle and a pair of 6 inch guns replacing the forward 9.2 inch gun, and are sometimes considered a separate class. The Edgar-class are noted for being the first ships fitted with anti torpedo bulges

Anti-torpedo bulge

The anti-torpedo bulge is a form of passive defence against naval torpedoes that featured in warship construction in the period between the First and Second World Wars.-Theory and form:...

, when four ships of the class had a refit in 1914.

Building programme

The following table gives the build details and purchase cost of the members of the Edgar class. Standard British practice at that time was for these costs to exclude armament and stores. (There are unexplained discrepancies between the costs quoted in different issues of Brassey's Naval Annual

Brassey's Naval Annual

The Naval Annual was a book that sought to bring together a large amount of information on naval subjects, which had hitherto been obtainable only by consulting numerous publications and chiefly from foreign sources...

; this is illustrated by the table in the notes.)

Ship	Builder	Maker of Engines	Date of			Cost according to
			Laid Down	Launch	Completion	(BNA Brassey's Naval Annual The Naval Annual was a book that sought to bring together a large amount of information on naval subjects, which had hitherto been obtainable only by consulting numerous publications and chiefly from foreign sources...  1895)	(BNA Brassey's Naval Annual The Naval Annual was a book that sought to bring together a large amount of information on naval subjects, which had hitherto been obtainable only by consulting numerous publications and chiefly from foreign sources...  1905)	(BNA Brassey's Naval Annual The Naval Annual was a book that sought to bring together a large amount of information on naval subjects, which had hitherto been obtainable only by consulting numerous publications and chiefly from foreign sources...  1906)
Edgar HMS Edgar (1890) HMS Edgar was a first class cruiser of the Royal Navy, and lead ship of the Edgar class. She was built at Devonport and launched on 24 November 1890...	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...	Elder	3 Jun 1889	24 Nov 1890	2 Mar 1893	£401,083	£428,081	£410,980
Hawke HMS Hawke (1891) HMS Hawke, launched in 1891, was the sixth British warship to be named Hawke. She was an Edgar-class protected cruiser.-Service:...	Chatham Dockyard Chatham Dockyard Chatham Dockyard, located on the River Medway and of which two-thirds is in Gillingham and one third in Chatham, Kent, England, came into existence at the time when, following the Reformation, relations with the Catholic countries of Europe had worsened, leading to a requirement for additional...	Elder	16 Jun 1889	11 Mar 1891	16 May 1893	£365,491	£413,101	£400,702
Endymion HMS Endymion (1891) HMS Endymion was a first class cruiser of the Edgar class. She was launched on 22 July 1891. She took part in suppressing the Boxer Rebellion in China, during which time future rear admiral and VC recipient Eric Gascoigne Robinson served aboard her...	C & W Earle Earle's Shipbuilding Earle's Shipbuilding was an engineering company that was based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England from 1845 to 1932.-Earle Brothers:... , Hull Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull , usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea. Hull has a resident population of...	Earle	22 Nov 1889	22 July 1891	26 May 1894	£350,459	£397,973	£375,250
Royal Arthur HMS Royal Arthur (1891) HMS Royal Arthur was a first class cruiser of the Edgar class, previously named Centaur, but renamed in 1890 prior to launching. Royal Arthur, and her sister ship Crescent, were built to a slightly modified design and are sometimes considered a separate class... ex-Centaur	Portsmouth Dockyard	Maudslay	20 Jan 1890	26 Feb 1891	2 Mar 1893	£402,414	£427,620	£412,033
Gibraltar HMS Gibraltar (1892) HMS Gibraltar, was an Edgar class cruiser launched in 1892 for service in the Royal Navy. She was built and engineered by Messrs Napier of Glasgow. Of 7,700 loaded displacement, she was coal-fired with four double-ended cylindrical boilers driving two shafts. She could make with forced draught...	Robert Napier & Sons, Govan Govan Govan is a district and former burgh now part of southwest City of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the south bank of the River Clyde, opposite the mouth of the River Kelvin and the district of Partick....	Napier	2 Dec 1889	27 Apr 1892	1 Nov 1894	£347,634	£377,741	£373,236
Grafton HMS Grafton (1892) HMS Grafton was a first class cruiser of the Edgar class. She was launched on 30 January 1892. She served in the First World War in the Gallipoli Campaign, along with her sisters Endymion, Edgar and Theseus...	Thames Ironworks Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company The Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company, Limited was a shipyard and iron works straddling the mouth of Bow Creek at its confluence with the River Thames, at Leamouth Wharf on the west side and at Canning Town on the east side...  Leamouth Leamouth Leamouth is the area to the west of the mouth of the River Lea at the River Thames at . The northern part of the area lies within a meander of the Lea; the southern part is bounded in the west by the former East India Docks, on two sides by the Lea and by the River Thames to the south...	Humphrys	1 Jan 1890	30 Jan 1892	18 Oct 1894	£351,851	£381,958	£372,890
St George HMS St George (1892) HMS St George was a first class cruiser of the Edgar class. She was launched on June 23, 1892.She took part in the 40 minute long Anglo-Zanzibar War and served in the First World War. She was designated as a depot ship in 1909, and sold for breaking up at Plymouth on July 1, 1920.-References:*...	C & W Earle Earle's Shipbuilding Earle's Shipbuilding was an engineering company that was based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England from 1845 to 1932.-Earle Brothers:... , Hull Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull , usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea. Hull has a resident population of...	Maudslay	23 Apr 1890	23 Jun 1892	25 Oct 1894	£377,204	£407,540	£388,755
Theseus HMS Theseus (1892) HMS Theseus was an Edgar-class protected cruiser of the Royal Navy. The Edgars were basically smaller versions of the Blake class. Theseus was launched at Leamouth, London in 1892 and commissioned on 14 January 1896....	Thames Ironworks Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company The Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company, Limited was a shipyard and iron works straddling the mouth of Bow Creek at its confluence with the River Thames, at Leamouth Wharf on the west side and at Canning Town on the east side...  Leamouth Leamouth Leamouth is the area to the west of the mouth of the River Lea at the River Thames at . The northern part of the area lies within a meander of the Lea; the southern part is bounded in the west by the former East India Docks, on two sides by the Lea and by the River Thames to the south...	Maudslay	16 Jul 1890	8 Sep 1892	14 Jan 1894	£347,577	£377,913	£370,359
Crescent HMS Crescent (1892) HMS Crescent was a first class cruiser of the Edgar class. Crescent, and her sister ship Royal Arthur, were built to a slightly modified design and are sometimes considered a separate class. She was built at Portsmouth and launched on 30 March 1892. As at 11 January 1895 she was leaving Australia...	Portsmouth Dockyard	Penn	13 Oct 1890	30 Mar 1892	22 Feb 1894	£383,068	£411,108	£392,453

External links

• www.worldwar1.co.uk