HMS Minotaur was the lead ship of the Minotaur-class

Minotaur class cruiser (1906)

The Minotaur class was a three-ship class of armoured cruiser built around 1906 for the Royal Navy. They served during World War I, with all three being present at the Battle of Jutland, where HMS Defence was sunk. The surviving ships were scrapped postwar.-History:The Minotaur class was the last...

 of armoured cruiser of 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...

, launched in 1906.

Career

She served in the First World War with her sisters, taking part in convoy duties from Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 to the Mediterranean. She fought at Jutland

Battle of Jutland

The Battle of Jutland was a naval battle between the British Royal Navy's Grand Fleet and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet during the First World War. The battle was fought on 31 May and 1 June 1916 in the North Sea near Jutland, Denmark. It was the largest naval battle and the only...

 as part of the Second Cruiser Squadron. She was the flagship

Flagship

A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...

 of Rear-Admiral Herbert Heath

Herbert Heath

Admiral Sir Herbert Leopold Heath KCB MVO was Second Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Personnel in the Royal Navy.-Military career:...

 and captained by A. C. S. Hughes-D'Aeth. Unlike her sister, Defence

HMS Defence (1907)

HMS Defence was a armoured cruiser built for the Royal Navy in the mid-1900s. She was the last armoured cruiser built for the Royal Navy. She was stationed in the Mediterranean when the First World War began and participated in the pursuit of the German battlecruiser and light cruiser...

, she survived the battle, and the War, to be sold for breaking up to Ward of Milford Haven on 12 May 1920.